We all know the old saying „You can’t teach an old dog a new trick”. And many of us usually tend to believe it. But you can’t be more wrong about it. You can definitely teach any dog a new trick; you just have to know the „trick” on how to do it.
Reward the furry little fellow
You just have to remember that the base of any trick, task or whatever you’d like to teach your dog to do is the reward that comes after he/she does it right. For every little accomplishment give something back, and this something should usually be a piece of snack (dog snack, of course) or just anything he she/likes to eat. This way your dog will know that the next time he/she does the trick right, there will be a nice tasty reward waiting. And this is driving forth the motivation to do just about any trick at any age.
How do tell your pawy friend what to do
This is an important aspect, as dogs can’t actually understand what we are saying, even though we’d pretty much like to believe that. So you have to make sure that communication is sound and solid when teaching new tricks. A good way to make sure communication is solid is to use a clicker. It’s pretty simple, just use the clicker and give the dog a treat. After a few clicks, he/she will start to pay attention to the sound knowing that a reward is coming upon hearing it. Do it a few more times, and then only give the reward if he/she pays attention to the clicker.
Teaching a new trick
When teaching any dog a new trick it’s all about patience. The more patient you are, the faster you’ll get it done. And even faster if your furry friend has a knack for new tricks. There are just a few simple things to do when teaching tricks. Let’s take the old stick trick for example. For this, take a stick and lift it up for a few minutes. As dogs are naturally curious, he/she will come to see what it is about, and when the dog touches the stick, click and reward. This way you are getting the dog’s attention and telling him/her that they’ll get a reward when touching the stick. Do it a few more times, and then give a name to the trick. Say the name each time your furry friend touches the stick, click and reward. You should repeat this until your dog remembers that the name is associated with an action and a tasty reward.
Any dog can learn new tricks as long as you have the patience and know the proper way to teach your pawy friend what you want him/her to do. It’s also good to practice at least a few times a week any trick that you taught your dog, so that he/she won’t forget about it as time passes. And when he/she does best, reward best, by using a special reward like something he/she loves, or at least by giving a bigger reward than usual. It should be something that says „Hey! You did great! So you get a great reward for your effort!” And always be there when your furry friend needs you.
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