In this article, we will discuss the best way to train a dog. No doubt, dogs are our best and loyal friends, they not only provide us with hours of entertainment but also provide a shoulder to cry on and endless love and affection. Would you like to train a dog to serve your needs and for that if you are thinking to get help from professional trainer then this is the best approach? However, it will cost your lots of penny so the best alternative is to train your dog on your own. You will be happy to know that there are several philosophies and approaches to training a dog. A little research and awareness will make you a great trainer.
Best Way to Train a Dog:
1.) Salute
Training your dog to salute is a quite interesting trick to welcome family members or friends who are in military service. Stick a yellow post-it note or a small piece of tape above your dog’s eye. Now, your dog will try to remove it and in order to do so, he will raise his paw. Now, you need to give him plenty of praise and reward with a treat.
If the dog has long fur or afraid of the tape then there is another great method to teach the trick. You need to ask your dog to give the paw, and then raise it over his head. Say the command As soon as it reaches over his eye, say the command, and give him a treat. You should keep in mind that your dog will not learn the trick in few days, the training process may take few weeks also.
2.) Garbage Collection
Garbage collection trick seems crazy but the fact is it is indeed a helpful trick. You will not have to do lots of hard work to train your dog if he enjoys chasing tissues, sweet wrappers and any other type of garbage. Now, this is your opportunity to get some benefit out of your dog habits. You have to teach your dog to collect garbage in similar way as you teach him to play. Take your dog to park and throw some tissues or paper and command him to fetch the tissue and bring it back to you. Use your finger to teach the meaning of fetching. If he is not interest in picking the tissues then walk over to the item with a treat so that your dog will follow you. Once your dog masters holding the item in his mouth just move away gradually from your dog while commanding him to stay. Do not forget to give him treat after each move this will encourage him.
3.) Dance
Dancing is quite interesting move which generally considered being perfect for smaller dogs, but there is no problem with larger breeds also. If you have overweight dog, then avoid this trick as he may have the problem with his hind legs. To train a dog to dance is somewhat difficult but not impossible to do. you should start with you dog sitting position and then raise a treat up and over the dog’s head. Then, repeat a command such as “up”, “dance” or “spin” and encourage him to rise up on his hind legs. Try to move the treat slightly behind him to get him to stand up. Once your dog has got good balance you need to move the treat in front of his nose in circular movement until he spins in a circle.
4.) Army Crawl
The army crawling training is not only a fun trick but also helps him improve his physical fitness. Some dogs do this trick naturally without any training in order to attempt to sneak onto the couch or hover up crumbs from the carpet. You need to start with a command to lie down and then hold a treat firmly between the fingers so that the only smell and lick but can’t able to take it. Just drag the treat in front of your dog’s nose slowly along the floor. As soon as he starts to crawl praise him with the treat. Do not let your dog to stand up and if he did then start from the beginning. Gradually, increase the distance of crawling and once he has mastered the trick you are done. But to maintain this habit, you should command the dog to lie down at ten feet away, and then ask him to crawl towards you.
5.) High Five
This is the easiest trick to train a dog. You need to start by commanding the dog to sit and then reward him with a treat. Now, repeat the trick but hold the treat in front of him slightly out of reach. Give him a command “high five” whilst gently tapping one of his feet. The dog will raise his paw to take treat but you need to catch it with your free hand. Keep repeating the steps until the dog raises his foot automatically when you give the command.
