How to teach your pet basic tricks?
Teaching your pet to do tricks is a fun extension of basic obedience training and mentally stimulating activities. These basic tricks not only help your pet to result in better health, increased flexibility, balance, and concentration but also provide a boost in your dog’s confidence in him or herself and you. If your pet is not mentally and physically stimulated, it can become bored and may start to develop a wide range of behavioral problems. Continue reading to find some basic tricks that you can teach your pet.
Choose a quiet place to teach your pet
Always start lessons for new tricks in a quiet room in your house away from any distractions. It helps you and your pet to concentrate more on the training session.
Focus on short but regular training sessions
Break your training up into short but regular sessions so your pet isn’t overwhelmed and gets bored. Limit them to 15 minutes. Focus on one task or behavior so that they do not become confused.
Train yourself to control your mood swings
Just like kids, different pets learn differently and at different rates. Adjust your own behavior and attitude to encourage your pet’s ability and confidence to learn. If your pet becomes afraid of your bad mood, she/he will not learn anything new.
Avoid punishing your dog
Punishment-based training is not advised because it can lead to other problems, such as anxiety and a poor relationship between you and your pet. As your pets behave out of fear, rather than making new connections between rewards and behaviors.
Focus on reward-based training
Reward-based training uses treats, praise, toys, and play as motivators to teach your pet some basic as well as advanced tricks. This type of training is the best way to teach your pet something new. Because it is not only effective and simple but also enhances your relationship with your dog.
Give immediate rewards
You must praise or reward your pet within 2 seconds of a desired behavior to reinforce that behavior. If you wait too long, she/he will not associate the reward with the action you asked him to perform.
Small treats help motivate your pet to learn his/her training. When teaching a difficult or important command, use a high-value treat to raise the stakes for him/her.
Give your pet’s favorite treats as rewards
It’s important to find out what your pet really likes and what their favourite things are. Favorite treats are often small pieces of meat, tuna, or cheese. The better the reward, the more your pet will enjoy training and learning.
Teach your pet on an empty stomach.
Don’t feed as large a meal, as usual, a few hours before teaching your pet. The more your pet wants the treat, the more focused she/he’ll be on the training.
Invest in a clicker device to teach your pet some basic tricks
It helps reinforce the dog’s learning speed of good behavior. Click the clicker device, then immediately give the dog a treat. This creates a positive association with the click sound. Later, that sound will “mark” a behavior as correct so the dog knows that she/he did something right.
Avoid confusion in commands
Make sure everyone uses the exact commands your pets learn in training. For example, if you are training your dog not to jump on people, don’t let the kids allow the dog to jump all over them. This will undermine all the training you’ve done.
Avoid confusing your pet while teaching him/her basic tricks
Use the same commands for the behaviors that you want. If you use the same word but insert it into sentences differently every time you say it, your pet may not understand. For example, if you want to teach your dog to lie down, you will confuse them if you say “Lie down” one session and then say “Fido, lie down or no treat” later in the day. This may create a lot of confusion and your dog will be unable to learn anything in this session.
Teach one trick at a time.
Trying to teach it more than one trick at a time can confuse it, because it may not understand what behavior is being rewarded. Wait until your pet has mastered one trick before moving on to the next.
Always end training on a positive note.
Don’t scold your pet with high tones, if the training session did not go well and your pet didn’t get a new command. The best is to end every session in honor to make teaching a good experience for your lovely friend. You can also end the teaching session with a trick she/he’s already mastered to end on praise.
Let’s teach your pet some basic tricks
Teach your pet to “sit.”
When your pet is on all four feet, hold a treat in front of its face to get its attention and slowly move it between its ears. Cats and dogs will follow the treat in the air and lower their rear end to get it. When your pet sits, positively reinforce its behavior by praising it and giving it the treat.
Train your pet to touch an object.
Pets can learn to touch objects such as non-tipping toys and stable surfaces. This trick is best learned after your pet can sit. When your pet comes next to the object, bring a treat nearby to attract your pet. If he/she touches an object, give it a treat. Once your pet is interested in this trick, you can teach it to touch other objects. For example, if you want to teach your cat to touch an object with her paw, wait for the treat until she does.
Teach your pet to “hi-five.”
Start by encouraging your pet to lift its paw off of the ground by giving it a treat. Next, put a treat in your hand and encourage your pet to use their paw to try to grab the treat out of your hand. Give your pet a treat as a reward when it does. Repeat this many times till behavior resembles giving a hi-five.
Teach your pet to come when called.
Food time is the best time to teach any pet this “come” trick. Call your pet’s name and tap on its food bowl to get its attention. When your pet comes, praise them and give them a treat.
When your pet gets used to coming when called, you can also use the command “come” for this trick.
Train your pet to sit up on two legs.
This is a very easy trick that you can teach your pet. Just hold a treat above your pet, but not so close that it can touch it. When your pet sits up on its hind legs, and reaches for the treat with its front paws, use a command like “sit” and give it the treat. That’s it.
Teach your pet to shake hands.
To teach your pet this basic trick, sit in front of your pet and gently touch its paw. When it lifts the paw off the ground, grasp it in yours as though you were shaking hands. Give your pet a treat immediately afterward.
Takeaway
Using the same tricks and tips that are mentioned above you can teach your pet a variety of basic tricks and can fill your book of memories with happy moments of love and joy between you and your lovely friend.
Make sure, don’t panic, be calm, and be gentle with your pet while teaching him/her tricks. A furious attitude will scare him/her, and make him/her reluctant to follow your commands. Simply try again, and again, with praise and treats when he/she gets it right. That’s it for now.
For more articles like this read other interesting pet blogs on howtothing.net.