The Complete Idiot's Guide to Dog Tricks

by Liz Palika

• Effective training techniques to get your best friend to sit, fetch, roll over and much more

• Tactical treats to reward your pooch's progress

• Fun and games for you and your dog

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1: Building a Foundation

1. Teaching You to Train Your Dog
2. Teaching Basic Commands
3.Training the Intermediate Commands
4. Setting Realistic Goals

Part 2: Building-Block Tricks

5. Beginning with Some Easy Tricks
6. Tricks for the Busy Dog
7. Active Tricks for the Agile Dog
8. Let's Have Some Fun!

Part 3: Tricks for Canine Geniuses

9 .Giving Everything a Name
10. Retrieving More Than Toys
11. Resisting Temptation

Part 4: Showstoppers!

12. Putting Your Dog to Work
13. Amaze Your Friends and Amuse Your Neighbors
14. Tricks for Therapy Dogs
15. Dancing With Your Dog
16. Creating A Star!

Appendixes

A A doggy Dictionary
B. Resources
Index

INTRODUCTION
By Liz Palika

Have your ever watched the dogs on television or in the movies and wondered how they were trained to do those amazing tricks? Many dog owners struggle through teaching their dog to come when called and assume those tricks are far beyond their dog's capabilities. But that's not necessarily so. Granted, the dog's physical and mental abilities do come into play; some dogs are more talented than others. But much of trick training is in the training itself. Teaching tricks in small, learn able steps and keeping the training fun and exciting are very important to success.

So get reading, grab some treats, and prepare to have some fun! To get started, here's an easy trick for you to teach your dog:

Teach a trick: Sit pretty!

This teaches your dog to sit up, balancing on his hips and tail, and hold still.

1. Have a leash on your dog, with it in one hand and a treat in your other.

2. Have him sit in front of you and praise him for sitting.

3. Let your dog smell the treat in your hand and slowly lift the treat up from his nose.

4. As he begins to lift his body up to follow the treat, tell him, "Fido, sit pretty! Good!" and pop the treat in his mouth. Make sure he gets the positive reinforcement only when his front paws are up off the ground.

5. Repeat for a total of five repetitions.

At the next training session, repeat the first four training steps. For your next five repetitions, withold the reward until he lifts his body slightly higher. Then pop the treat in his mouth as you priase him.

Your goal is to have your dog sit up completely, with his back straight, and his tail out behind him as a brace. (Dogs without tails are at a slight disadvantage!)

When your dog can sit up completely, begin telling him "Fido, stay," and let him hold it for five seconds before you praise and release him. Very gradually, with time and patience, as his back muscles strengthen, he can hold the position for longer periods of time, but never have him do so for more than a minute each repetition.

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