Tricks for Dogs, Anyone?

No doubt, dogs are indeed man’s best friend. Throughout history, dogs have made it to the growing family of most homes. Further, they have exhibited extraordinary love and extreme loyalty, enough to earn the love and care of human beings.

But loyalty is not the only characteristic that catapulted them to their stature today. One trait that people love from our canine friends is their ability to learn tricks when subjected to consecutive and proper training. From playing fetch to obedience drills, various tricks for dogs are one bonding time for dogs and their owners. 

While dogs are not the most intelligent specie in the whole Kingdom of Animalia, dogs are special because they love to learn new and interesting things. They are curious and they tend to associate learning as a fun thing. As social animals, it is their way to connect with other animals or to their owners. Most of the time, routine activities allow them to learn a couple of concepts such as obedience and simple actions. While the eagerness to learn is there, tricks teach them how to learn things systematically. 

Aside from obedience, a lot of tricks for dogs make them mentally and physically active. For instance, memorizing actions and activities exercise their brains while having fun. It keeps them alert and stimulated at all times.

The key to effective teaching of tricks for dogs is making it fun and exciting for them. Usually, an effective reward system must be imposed. In psychology, this is called Positive Reinforcement. In this way, the dog recognizes the benefit of learning trick as well as obeying his or her master. Aside from food treats, common rewards are praises which are in the form of patting and hugging.

Also, avoid stressing your dog with tall orders. Understand that not all dogs are obedient and not all are comfortable with the process and devices of learning. Most of the time, dogs are not the only ones who need to be very patient, masters too. Experts advise that owners train dogs only for short minutes.

You should avoid boring routines. Start from simple ones and then gradually ascend the difficulty level of the tricks. Furthermore, selected routines or tricks should reflect only one skill at a time. This is to avoid confusion and mixing of complicated concepts. Also, dogs can also be frustrated when faced with a skill that is impossible to learn at a given small range of time. 

It is also important to take in to consideration the characteristic of your dogs. Like humans, our canine friends also have different personalities depending on their breed and the way they were reared. Some are stubborn, and others are playful and active. Activities and tricks should match their characteristics so that they can achieve their full potential.

On the other hand, trainers should also assess their personality as a pet owner. Dogs are pack-oriented animals. Meaning, they tend to see everyone as dominant or submissive to them. As owners and trainers, you should make it a point that you assume the dominant role in the equation.

Truly, there are myriad of benefits tricks for dogs can bring to your relationship as owner and pet. Further, it allows the creation of a two-way relationship not like those which resembles slave and master.