Helpful Dog's Tricks

Most people will train some obedience and manners into their dogs, and sometimes a cute trick or two. That is a great thing for a dog, but how about a trick that is useful for the home; even better.

There are many tricks out there, it’s about finding one that the dog can physically do and that you would like them to do. Personally I don’t want to teach my dogs to open the cabinets for me because I think they would get into trouble but closing them would be a good ‘trick’. This is really an easy trick as all you have to do is get them to target a nose touch or paw touch to the vertical surface of the cabinet.

You can also get your dog to put away their toys, you most likely have to back-chain this behavior by starting with dropping a toy in the box. After you get them to do that have them get a toy and bring it to the box to drop; lastly they have to find the toys to bring to the box. This would be broken into many steps but can be easily trained on a motivated dog.

You can also have your dog find your items, from car keys to tissues. Each item requires a cue and training on how to pick up and get to you (sometimes the box of tissues are better than one). Or if they don’t fetch well, perhaps just a marker of a point or bark that it’s right there. Most dogs love finding people, so start naming them and have your dog search for their favorite people and you can send messages on their collars or have them hold a note.

With any trick it doesn’t just have to be cute it can be useful too. Look up more online or check out what service dog do and see if you can get your dog to that high of a degree. Enjoy the little things inside that work your dog's mind as well as body!