3 Tips for Improving Dog Trick Training

Teaching your dog interesting dog tricks is a fun but uphill task. Dogs do not understand human speech, and as behavioral creatures you need to make sure that your timing in your trick training is as close to perfect as possible, to ensure that your dog is able to learn the tricks correctly. If you have ever tried trick training before, you recognize the importance of the clicker and how it can improve your ability to train your dog or puppy. However, even with the clicker, tricks can be tough to learn, so here are a few tips for improving the success of your trick training.

Basic Command Learning Tips

1. Mix Up a New Trick With an Old Trick

As soon as it appears that your dog understands its new trick, mixing it up with another command that your dog already knows is a good way to help your dog recognize the differences between the two tricks. For example, say you have taught your dog to turn in a circle using the “Turn” command, and you are trying to teach your dog to bow on command using the “Bow” command.

As soon as it appears that your dog is learning “Bow,” try saying “Turn” and then only after your dog turns, say “Bow” again. This will help your dog understand that Bow is a command that you expect your dog to answer in any situation, and it will help associate the behavior with the command more easily. If you do not do this, then your dog may bow often, but not necessarily due to the verbal command you are giving it.

1. Try the Tricks Outside and/or With Distractions

Dogs can learn indoors very easily. There are no distractions, you are the person they want to pay attention to anyway, and they have all of the freedom in the world to think. But when there are distractions, or when they are outside, they do not have that same focus, and it is more difficult to get them to do a trick. However, if you take them outside and teach them the trick outside as well, or add a bunch of distractions in a room and continue to reinforce the trick, your dog will learn to focus in those situations as well.

1. Vary the Ratio For Longer Lasting Tricks

Once your dog has learned the trick, take the clicker away and start varying how often you give them the reward for doing the trick. Dogs that are rewarded at random times are more likely to continue to do the trick for longer, even without a reward. Ideally, you want your dog to continue to do the trick for months or years, but if your dog expects a treat every time, then if your dog stops receiving a treat it will stop doing the trick. If you dog never knows when a treat is coming, it will continue to perform the behavior for longer.

Reinforcing Your Tricks to Help Your Dog Learn

Each of these tips is designed to help make your trick training more effective. They should work well with the clicker training that you already use, because they are helpful for getting your dog to truly recognize the command and focus on the behavior you are hoping to achieve. If you are able to combine these tips with effective clicker training, chances are you will be able to easily get your dog to not only learn these tricks, but keep performing them for longer periods of time in almost all situations.