Raise a PAW if you want a treat!
Our tips for effective and purposeful command and trick training
Sit, stay, down, shake…we’ve all heard those and thought, huh? Just standing there, staring at our humans in confusion at one time or another, often at the most inopportune times for our humans. They’re then left wondering why we seem to have mastered “sit” when in the kitchen, only to act like it’s a foreign language when out in public.
Practicing our commands and learning new tricks can be a lot of fun and is an important part of the routine for dogs young and old that we’ve mentioned before, but with a little more attention we can work to ensure those commands stick inside and outside the house - or at least with higher frequency.
If we’re being honest, dog training could probably be about 20 blog posts, but we're gonna take the time today to break down some of our basics - how we started with commands and what high value treats helped me learn them, how often we practice and where, and we’ll finish with some of our favorite tricks, walking through the videos we’ve used to learn them.
The Basics
Let’s go back to the top - Sit, stay, down, shake… Like any new dog pawrent these were the four basic commands we wanted to start with. Not only are they the easiest to learn and practice, they are among the four commands I use the most, maybe outside of shake - but I love that one!
Since the day I was welcomed home, these have been a focus. And continue to be, to make sure that we never forget them! Basic commands are easiest to learn as a young developing pup, but like any skill, we must continue to practice them even if we feel like they have become second nature. Failing to continue practicing and training these commands may result with an adult doggo that doesn’t listen or have basic commands.
Finding the right time to train -
When it came to finding “the right time” to train, my humans focused around three “times” of the day for training opportunities. We did not do training every day at all of these times but these three “times” were a baseline of when optimal training could occur.
Feeding Time: Puppies learn early that morning-time equals breakfast-time, and many puppies are highly food motivated. This was an optimal time to work on our training, especially sit and stay. Of course, going out and going potty was the first thing we would do, but then we would come inside and work for about 5-10 minutes, depending on my focus, on our basic commands. A routine that has stuck with even after growing up.
Post Nap Energy: Does your dog wake up from a nap and instantly demand to be played with? Go from 0-60 in a flash? Once again, get out, go potty, let them get a couple zoomies out, and then work on some training. High energy will help sustain them in a longer training session, but if too energetic could become distracted easily. If they are continuing to lose focus, take a break and try again later. Training after naps will also help burn some of that energy, while also getting their training in.
Bedtime Calmness: After those last zoomies of the night, we start to calm down…well, most of the time! When us dogs start to show signs of calmness and readiness for bed, this is the perfect time to work on training our dogs to be used to grooming. Although not actually working on “commands” we are working on developing a bedtime routine; brushing our fur, our teeth, and getting into our designated sleeping area. Learning a routine is so important for us pups. It helps us feel more safe and less anxious in knowing what comes next.
Finding the right incentive to train with -
Once the pawrents figured out when a good time to train was and we settled into a routine, the next step was finding out which treats were “high value” in my opinion.
High value treats are not all the same for each pup and with my soon discovered sensitive stomach that shortened the list. It also took us a while to find something that didn't get old for me.
At first we started using “training bit” type of treats…although pretty tasty, they had lots of fillers that grew old. We also used fun treats like string cheese or deli meat, but then I got an upset tummy if I had too much. Our best treat so far has been the single ingredient dehydrated or freeze dried meat treats! These types of treats are SO TASTY, easy on the gut, and NEVER get old. I LOVE the chicken, turkey, liver, or beef treats that are either freeze dried or in jerky form. My mom usually grabs a variety, puts them in her training pouch for easy access, and then we get to training.
If we do a longer training session, like learning a new trick, I usually get a lighter meal that day because of all the extra treats I consumed during training. This is the best part about using single ingredient treats though. They are high in protein and do not contain a bunch of filler that is going to upset my stomach.
Advanced - The Fun Stuff…
Once you get the hang of the basics you can start adding to your routine by learning tricks! If you follow me on social media you know some of my favorites already - sit pretty, bang, and hug. These tricks all have a foundation of basic commands, so once you have those down, it makes learning these much easier. In our trick learning journey we have found YouTube to be the best source of learning these tricks with the visual aid of it all. Most videos are broken down into the smallest steps, making it much easier to feel confident that learning/teaching these tricks is very doable!
“Sit Pretty”
Although sometimes considered a more elevated command or trick, sit pretty is actually quite basic to learn. The main struggle for us pups is learning how to balance on our hind legs which can feel a bit unusual at first. If your dog doesn’t have great balance you can start training this trick up against a wall so that they have the extra support.
The basic idea of this trick is to start with “sit” and then have a super high value treat and lure your dog up into the “sit pretty” position. Naturally your dog will raise up with the treat if they want it bad enough. Mark the position with praise and treat. Repeat this process over and over, taking away the treat lure and just using your hand. Mark it and give praise and treats. Once they seem to get this position and movement down, start using the verbal command.
We still use the “sit” command and then just say “pretty” to get into the wanted position, along with hand movements. Most of the time I can nail this command with just the hand movements since that is where most of my focus is, hoping there is a treat in there.
We did use this YouTube video for help with this. This trick is something that we are continually getting better at. Like I said, the position is not something that comes naturally to me, but I have built better core stability and balance with practice.
“Bang”
This was surprisingly one of our earliest tricks that we learned and it was all from a YouTube video. It took two days to really learn it and probably one week to nail it consistently. The way that this video breaks it down into two/three basic commands combined together made it so much easier for both me and my human to teach it to me.
First step was practicing from a “down” position and rolling over with my human luring me with my favorite treat. High praise was given when I rolled onto my back and my arms and belly were up! As soon as i had nailed that, we moved onto starting from a sit position and then getting into down, roll over. This process takes some time and if your pup loses interest, take a break and try again later!
Once your dog starts to understand the complete movement we can move onto the hand and voice command! Say the command along with the hand signal, pause and then lure your dog from sit to down to roll over. This process may take some time until you can take away the luring hand, but you can test your pup by taking it away and seeing if they can piece it together.
Patience humans, it does take time.
Having a dog is a full time commitment. You can have the best behaving pup around, but some sort of training is always necessary. Routine training will help to have a stronger bond with your dog, a more well behaved and less anxious dog, and a more confident dog.
Whether you have a well trained dog that could learn a new trick from YouTube, a puppy that's chewing and barking and needs an introductory puppy class, or a pup with some stronger specific behaviors that may need a personal trainer or a boarding facility. None of these are the wrong option. In fact, we’ve used them all!
No matter what stage of the training journey your dog is in, anytime we are learning or experiencing something new, we need A LOT of patience from our humans.
My pawrents have these five simple rules when we work on training, which helps set expectations and make sure that we all benefit, learn and growth together!
5 Golden Rules of Training:
Don’t repeat yourself over and over
Take a break and try again later
Practice basic commands daily and everywhere you go
Don’t expect perfection
Set your dog up for success
With that, I’m off to find a treat. Talk to you next week and as always, stay friendly!
Graham