how can i teach my puppy tricks?

Question

my yorkie puppy is about 4 months old, i was wondering how i can teach him tricks, starting with 'hand' and 'stay' etc. we taught him to sit very quickly, but nowadays, he doesnt really focus on us that much and doesnt really listen as well. what's the best way to get him to focus and how do we teach him individual tricks?

Answer 1

SIT COMMAND

The "sit" exercise is probably the most practical skill you can teach your pup. Whether you're waiting at the curb of a crowded street or competing in an obedience trial, you'll thank yourself (and your dog) for taking the time to master this exercise.

Teaching a pup to "sit" also provides a obedience gateway to all the other basic exercises - including "sit-stay", "down" and "heel." Training should be fun and relatively easy. Use a food lure and positive reinforcement. Short training sessions will help your pup learn quickly he or she will be eager to work if the reward is enticing enough.

STEPS - Find a quiet indoor environment with few distractions. Start by using a small piece of food to lure your dog's nose to point directly upward (toward the treat) and move the treat backwards over his head so that he naturally lowers his haunches to a sitting position. Don't hold the treat too high or he may jump up for it.

As soon as he sits, give him the treat. Repeat the exercise, adding the word "sit" so the dog can learn quickly what you expect of him; rather than you forcing his body into sitting position, allow him to discover what is required on his own.
Dogs are creatures of routine - they will learn quickly when they do the same thing over and over again.

Once this exercise has been mastered at home, take it onto the road. Try asking him to sit in other places like on the sidewalk. Then have him follow the instruction in a busy, distracting place like a park, supermarket entrance or a crowded sidewalk. As your puppy proves he has learned the meaning of the word "sit", taper off his rewards so that he only gets a treat every third or fourth time he sits.
Reward your dog unpredictably - but always continue to offer rewards at times - then can you only best maintain his interest in this exercise.

THINK POSITIVELY

The key to successful training is patience and a positive attitude. Scolding and physical force will only turn your dog off to the fun of these exercises. Try to keep your sessions short -about 5 to 10 minutes once or twice daily. Work with him only at times when he seems enthusiastic and attentive and end each session on a positive note. The more successful he feels, the more rewarding your efforts will be.

HANDSHAKE

It's best if your dog knows and can perform the basic obedience commands of "sit", "stay" and "down" reliably before advancing to tricks. Most tricks are built on these commands and your dog should learnhow to pay attention to you during training sessions.

Teaching your dog to "shake" is easy. To teach your dog, have a food treat ready. Give the command to "sit". Reward him with verbal praise but withhold the treat for the time being. When he has held the sit position for a few seconds, give the command "shake". It is better to use one word commands, so stick to "shake" instead of "give me your paw."

Gently pick up one of his front legs in the vicinity of his elbow and slide your hand downwards toward what would be his wrist. Stop at the point at which you are lightly holding his wrist and give it a little shake. Don't let your dog move from the sit position when you pick up his leg. If he does, begin again. Now you can reward your dog if he doesn't budge. Practice a few times until he lifts his paw on his own when you give the command.

Continue to practice this exercise over and over again. Always use a happy singsong voice to praise him and use lots of other positive reinforcements. Eventually, your dog will understand what you are asking and will want to shake your hand quite often!

Every step in the right direction should be rewarded. Tricks are fun – learning how to do them should be fun for the pup too.

I have a Mini Dachshund - and Dachshunds by nature are very stubborn... but just keep trying - do the exercises daily and keep practising with your pup - sooner or later he'll get it! Just be patient. You may also think of investing in some dog training manuals - they have many tips that always come in handy!

Answer 2

1. Start simply, a step at a time, and be patient. Keep training sessions short. Also, focus on being positive.

2. Puppies tend to have ADD (that's a joke) so some inattention is natural. And, let's start with that (paying better attention). Next time you take a walk, call your dog's name. When the dog looks up at you, give them a treat (a piece of their kibble). Do that 10-20 times on a 20 minute walk and what the dog learns is: "why my owner calls my name and I look over, good things happen!". That's a start to building attention--getting the dog to consistently respond to his name.

3. Get clicker-savvy (website below). It's the simpliest and easiest way to train any animal. The Sea World dolphin trainers use 'em. Almost all of the best agility competitors who's dogs compete at the highest levels use clickers for parts of their training.

4. If you feed your puppy twice a day, take a cup full of food from one of the meals (or maybe just an entire meal). Set that kibble aside. That use it as rewards for "done good" during the day. Every time the puppy sits on command--praise and a piece of kibble. Every time the puppy responds to his name--praise and a piece of kibble.

5. Here's a great tricks book for your purposes: The Only Dog Tricks Book You'll Ever Need, by Gerilyn Bielakiewicz. There are a lot of dog trick sites and books out there but this one is a great combo: cheap, wide diversity (from simple to advanced), positive-based and clicker compatable.

Answer 3

Those aren't tricks you're wanting to teach your puppy, that's basic manners. The first thing most puppies learn (and very quickly) is sit. After that you can move on to down, teach them to come when called and then start stay. You need to keep in mind that stay, espcially, is started very slowly. You and your puppy would really benefit if you took your puppy to puppy kindergarten classes so he can be socialized and you'll have a good instructor to teach you how it's done.

Answer 4

Hey there. One thing that will help your puppy to listen is to always keep your training sessions short, and then to pick a "boring" place to start to teach him.
I always pick up my dog's toys and chewies, and I usually just happen to be training just before dinnertime. This is not a coincidence! :)
Use super treats like cheese, dried liver, steak, and chicken. Make it worth it for your pup to pay attention to you.
Then, make a plan before you call your dog. If you want to teach a "hand" touch, start by being low to the ground. Have your treats in one hand and get your pup's attention, then put your empty hand out to the side. Your pup will naturally go to sniff that hand - when he does, say "Yes!" and give a treat from your other hand immediately. Repeat.
Notice that you *don't* say, "Hand, hand, handhandhandhand". This is because puppies don't speak English. Get the dog to do the hand touch a lot, and in different places, and then you can start to say "Hand" right before you know the pup is going to put his nose into your hand.
I don't name behaviors until I'd bet $20 that the dog will do it. Same goes for everything else that you teach. So:

-keep training sessions short
-use incredible treats
-be in a "boring" place at first w/no distractions
-don't name the trick anything until the pup is reliable

Have fun!
http://clickertraining.com/

Answer 5

actually you have done good. I raised Yorkies for 25 years and they are a long lived breed. this also means they are pups longer most trainers agree that you really can't train a pup until it is at least 6 months old. Use the treat he loves best and try to work one trick at a time for ( a couple of minutes) a couple of times a day.

Answer 6

Try clicker training it is great fun and good for teaching all kinds of tricks. Look on the web under clicker training you will get all sorts of info including which books are on the market to help.

If you don't fancy clicker training, any other motivational reward based training will do just as well. Try play training with a game with toy as the reward etc.

Whatever you do keep it short and finish with your dog still interested don't overdo it 4* 5min sessions are far better than 1* 20min session.

Answer 7

To help your puppy learn to focus on you, you might want to try teaching him the "watch me" command. Take a treat, let him see that you have it, then hold it up near your eyes and say "watch me". Try to get him to look at you for a few seconds, then say "good boy!" and give him the treat! As he gets better at this, you can try increasing the time he has to look at you and introducing more distractions.

For individual tricks, try to figure out away to show him what you want him to do or make it as easy as possible for him to succeed. With "stay", just put him on a leash, put him in a sit, give the "stay" command, and step backwards one step. If he stays, return to him and give him praise and a treat. If he gets up, put him back in the sit and repeat. Then start increasing the distance you walk away. Turn your back to him, walk around him, have distractions, just keep upping the difficultly level as he gets better. I'm not sure what "hand" is; I'm guessing you want him to touch your hand with his nose or paw? For that, you may want to start by physically touching your hand to his nose or paw and then giving him praise and a treat. Once he figures out that this is how he gets rewarded, hold your hand out in front of him a short distance so that he has to touch it himself.

Answer 8

Get some treats. Also you can do puppy classes at petsmart ... or you can type in gooogle
how to do ____ .
And then type in the trick.
Only focus on one trick or two while training him.
Any questions ask me ...
cus I have t get off the computer
):
haha. bye! Happy holidays and good-luck!

Answer 9

Hi, I have a boston bulldog and he's few months old too. I've taught him "sit" and "stay" but for you puppy to remember these tricks, i suggest that you use "treats" for your puppy.

Try some nibble-cut apples, they love them and acknowledge every trick performed with a treat and a sweet "good dog!"

it's really working for me.

Good luck! :D

Answer 10

Hello:

If its just a matter of the dog learning tricks, it just takes patience on your part and a lot of kind words and rewards. If you want to learn obedience call your local kennel club they usually have courses. Please check this site out she's called Jilli and she's a yorkie, you will love how smart she is.

http://www.jillidog.com