Teaching your Dog Useful Tricks and Commands!

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Teaching your canine friends a few tricks can provide fun for dog and owner alike and gives loving dog owners another mechanism to interact positively with their four-legged friends. Many tricks can also have a truly practical purpose, such as ensuring your dog sits still when required for their safety, at the vets or when tackling obstacles when out on walks!

When you are training your dog to perform a command each lesson should be short but completed regularly and with many repetitions to help your dog learn. Dog owners will need to provide something motivational to their dog in order to get them to complete the command or task and whilst some dogs may perform tricks or commands for praise alone, many will need an edible treat of some kind to be provided! Remember when using lots of titbits make healthy choices and reduce meal sizes accordingly so your pet doesn’t become overweight!

Scientific Nutritional Products offers our guide to some of the many useful tricks or commands to teach your dog…

Sit

Sit is typically the first thing people teach their dogs and it forms part of basic obedience training. It is also be one of the most useful things to teach your pet. A sitting dog is an alternative action to jumping up when meeting people and by always asking your canine friend to sit prior to crossing a road it can provide a vital safety mechanism. For those dogs which don’t have a great recall, it can be a way of getting them to stop in their tracks and wait for you when out on a walk or playing.

Sit is an easy command to teach. Use a treat initially and place it in front of your canine’s nose allowing them to smell it but not eat it. Then move your hand up and over your dog’s head encouraging them to lower their backend in order to follow the treat with their noses whilst repeating the command ‘sit’. Alternatively you can place a hand on your dog’s hind end and encourage them to sit by applying gentle pressure and then reward with a treat when they do so. Once your dog is sitting, praise and reward him. Practise at every opportunity — not just during training sessions, but asking you dog to sit before having his lead put on or before getting his dinner.

Take a bow

This is fun trick which your dog will enjoy having as his party piece! While your dog is standing facing you, take a small treat in one hand and place it right in front of his nose. Very slowly lower the treat towards the ground just between his front paws; as his nose follows it his front end will go downwards while his back end stays in the air, making it look as though he’s taking a bow. Praise and reward him - he will certainly enjoy showing this trick off to your friends!

Jumping over Obstacles

Jumping is a natural activity for dogs, so getting started with this fun aspect of training is easy. Before you begin, remember that dogs must not be asked to jump over obstacles before they are a year old as this can be detrimental to their developing joints. To train your dog to jump on command start by walking with your dog with you over a small hurdle or obstacle whilst they are on the lead. Once this is established encourage your dog to step over small obstacles alone building gradually to larger jumps. Try throwing your dog’s favourite toy over the obstacle to inspire your dog to follow and you can also use treats and praise!

Lying Down

Training your dog to lie down should be completed after already teaching them to sit. This useful command can be trained by asking your dog firstly to sit and then by holding out a treat tightly between your fingers and let them sniff and lick it. Lower the treat slowly to the floor so that your dog’s nose is pointing down between their paws and let them lick the treat. If your dog stands up, ask them to sit and try again. As soon as their elbows touch the floor, praise your dog and give the treat. Repeat the command down or lie down as you prefer but keep it consistent and always use the same phrase!

We hope this has offered a fun guide to some simple training tricks!

Scientific Nutritional Products offer Glucosamine for Dogs Supplement; Canine Joint Right which contains optimum Glucosamine for Dogs, Chondroitin, MSM, Hyaluronic Acid and Omega 3 promoting joint health to improve mobility and comfort to many dogs.

For more information on Canine Joint Right Glucosamine for Dogs or to receive one-to-one advice specific to your dog and dog joint supplement contact our nutritional specialists on FREEPHONE 0800 032 7774 or Tel: 01377 254900. 

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