Trick Dogging

Have you ever seen a dog that can tuck itself in? That can clean up its own toys, push a doll carriage or turn on the light? You think only service dogs or assistance dogs can do such tricks to help their owners? Wrong Your dog can learn and train these things too. Training the small tricks is also called trick dogging. In this process, the dogs learn exercises of different difficulty levels. In trick dogging, it ranges from simple postures to jumps, rolls or gestures. You can do trick dogging in any weather and without much effort. Since you can choose and combine the exercises as you like, trick dogging is suitable for all dogs of all ages. Trickdogging does not count as a dog sport, but stands alone for fun between dog and owner.

The whole thing is not only something for circus dogs. Our dogs are often underchallenged in everyday life. Going for a walk three times a day is hardly a strain on a dog. The physical stimulation is not enough, also the brain of your dog wants to be challenged.
Teaching your dog small tricks is not that difficult and takes only a small amount of time. With three to five minutes of training at a time, you can teach your dog amazing things in a short period of time. However, if your dog has spent the last six years walking and lying on the couch, it will take a little longer to train.

Tools For Trick Dogging

For trick dogging serve a so-called carrying stick, target stick or a clicker. With the targetstick the dog learns to touch certain objects. The targetstick is a simple pointing stick. A telescopic stick or any other elongated object is suitable as a target stick. Clicker is a clicker that gives acoustic signals to the dog. In this way, the dog can be shown any correctly performed action without a time delay. However, the clicker serves only as a secondary reinforcer. This means that each click signal must be followed by a reward, for example in the form of food. However, this requires that the dog knows exactly what this signal means.
Training goals

Trickdogging supports the mental activity of the dog. He is strengthened in a playful way in his self-confidence, occupied and challenged. Trickdogging demands a high level of concentration from the dog, which exerts him more intensively than simple games. The dog becomes more balanced but also more obedient and attentive.
In contrast to conventional obedience exercises, the training is usually carried out more patiently and with more fun. This not only motivates the dog, but also strengthens the bond between owner and dog. So that you do not frustrate your dog, the most important thing is that you do not overtax your dog. This means that you start with easy exercises and always make sure that complex tricks are learned in single steps. You should only continue when your dog has mastered each of the previously learned parts of the trick.

Possible Beginner Exercises

Bowing: You show your dog a point in front of his front paws so that he bows. Now he is rewarded by the clicker before he leaves the position. Another option is to reward the dog with the clicker when he spontaneously assumes this position as a natural stretching movement or play posture. This way your dog can learn the trick faster and more sustainable.

Give paw: In this exercise, you present your dog with the treat in your fist. As soon as your dog uses his paw to get the treat, he is rewarded with the clicker. After that, the treat changes hands until it disappears completely. The next step is to open your fist and offer your whole palm to the dog.

Male: Here your dog straightens up from a sitting position onto his hind legs. In order for your dog to reach this position, you must hold the target stick or a treat just above his head. This way your dog has to lift his front legs to reach it. You must reward every touch at the beginning.

Roll: In order for your dog to learn the roll, you offer him a treat in the down position, which you pass over his back. At the beginning of the exercise you can support your dog by guiding the rolling movement.

Exercise For Advanced

Jumping through the arms: First, try to bring your dog closer to the outstretched arm, which he should then jump over at ground level. Then bend your lower arm more and more into an arc. When your dog has internalized this, you can use your second arm to close the circle. Then raise the circle higher and higher.

Tap: Here your dog learns to move his front paws in unison with you. As a starting point, the pawing exercise serves very well, in which your foot is lifted at the same time. The goal is that your dog touches your knee with his paw. At the beginning you can put your hand on your knee, so that the dog touches your hand with his paw. Then the hand is gradually withdrawn and only the knee is used.

Pro Tricks

Calculate: To make it appear that your dog can do arithmetic, an inconspicuous signal from you is needed, at which the dog starts barking or tapping his paw. As an alternative, he can also learn to bark at the exact moment he sees an arithmetic table. As soon as he has reached the desired number, the board is turned away so that your dog no longer sees it.

Raid: Your dog raises his paws as in the male position. He can then fall over on a signal word like “bang”. Your dog is always rewarded when it assumes the dead dog position.

It is important that you always work with rewards. Both dog and human should always look forward to the daily training. Do not have too high expectations in the beginning and be relaxed and easy. Reward your dog for small steps and show him how much you like him. Make the training the highlight of his day.
To make training with your dog easier, keep a training diary in which you note down every progress and all details. This will make it easy for you to get back into training even after a break. If you do this regularly, after a short time you will have a large collection of tricks and have great fun with your dog.