# How to teach the basic tricks?



## HeavierThings (Aug 11, 2006)

Before I get my puppy can anyone tell me how you guys trained your puppies to do the basic tricks like Sit, Play dead, High 5, and etc?


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## jimmy_n_golden (Jul 8, 2006)

i ill make a video of how to do it if u want to.


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## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

with puppies it is all about positive motivation.. starting with sit.. put a leash on the pup..then take a treat (i use little pieces of a microwaved hot dog..little little).. if you take the treat and move it back over the top of his head while saying sit and then give him the treat when he sits you will soon have him doing it on command.. move the treat from front to back over the top of his head so that he is looking up at the treat and finally has to sit down to keep seeing it... you can teach that in a day..


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## DevonTT (Aug 5, 2006)

Once he knows "sit," teaching "down" is pretty easy. Have him sit, then say "down" and move your hand (which is holding a treat) to the ground. The dog will bend over to nose at the treat. Pull the treat slightly away, if necessary, so that it's more comfortable for him to go all the way down on his forelegs. The moment he does, say "YES!" and let him have the treat. Hook your thumb in his collar so he stays down and doesn't pop right up again. Give him lots of praise for staying down.

Don't let him have the treat until he's all the way down. If he stands from the sitting position, put him back into the sit and try again.

One other thing... When you bring the treat to the ground, do so with a definite sweeping motion of your hand, as you will be teaching this hand signal as well as the word. With practice, your dog could learn to obey just from the hand signal.


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## HeavierThings (Aug 11, 2006)

sorry for the late reply. Thx for the info and Jimmy a video would be greatly appreciated!


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## sam (May 21, 2005)

*Stay positive!*

Most important...be positive, be happy, have fun! A dog will remember a harsh word or gesture for a long time...possibly forever! After all, how do you think that they get the dolphins to walk through those hoops??? By putting a choke chain or pinch collar on 'em and yanking them through?!?
Your public library, local park district, or online have lots of options. Another posting on the forum listed this site 

http://www.clickerlessons.com/

and they have great stuff!!!

Good luck, and keep us posted!

;-)


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## HeavierThings (Aug 11, 2006)

*Re:*

thx for the site! I have a question about clicker training. Do the tricks the dog learn fully dependant on the clicker? Or can you slowly wean off it?


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

HeavierThings said:


> thx for the site! I have a question about clicker training. Do the tricks the dog learn fully dependant on the clicker? Or can you slowly wean off it?


Now that sounds like a question for Katie....the site Clicker expert. I know there's a few others here that also use Clickers, but Katie knows this stuff.....not sure where she's been though....

I'll see if I can pull her out of hiding....


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## sam (May 21, 2005)

I can use the clicker or my voice (my "word/signal" is a gentle "yes!"). I will say that I have my dogs' FULL attention when they see that I have the clicker out! They know that fun, learning, and treats are on the way!

;-)


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

I have been hiding, sorry :

No, the dog doesn't depend on having the clicker there to do the tricks. The clicker is pretty small and hides in your hand pretty well, you can put it behind your back, in your pocket, etc. So then once the dog knows the trick you can just say "Yes" and give a treat, praise, whatever.


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

katieanddusty said:


> I have been hiding, sorry :
> No, the dog doesn't depend on having the clicker there to do the tricks. The clicker is pretty small and hides in your hand pretty well, you can put it behind your back, in your pocket, etc. So then once the dog knows the trick you can just say "Yes" and give a treat, praise, whatever.


Thanks for coming out of hiding to help......


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