Tricks to teach to your dog
Sit - Probably the easiest way to teach a dog to sit on command is to have a treat (dog biscuit, piece of cheese, etc.) on your hand, lift it up above the dog's nose and say 'sit!'. If the dog is standing and tries to grab the treat, don't let him get it, but repeat the same maneuver again. When he sits, immediately give him the treat and praise him. Repeat the trick a few times. Another way to teach a dog to sit on command is very simple but takes a little more time: each time you see that your dog is going to sit, tell him to 'sit!' and praise him when he does that (give a treat). It doesn't take very many repetitions for the dog to realize what the command is for, but this still takes longer than the above mentioned method. Some people suggest you to teach a dog to sit on command by pressing his butt on the ground while saying 'sit!'. I suggest you first try the other two methods though, just to see how easy it is to teach a dog even without using force. Later, once he has clearly understood the meaning of the command "sit!" you can use this method if he doesn't obey you. Try to be gentle though, there's no point in causing the dog pain when teaching him tricks.
Shaking hands - Give him the command ("say hello!" or whatever), and gently hold his paw with your hand and give him a treat with another hand. Repeat this a couple of times -- most dogs learn this very fast, if your timing (the command + the praise and treat) is right.
Dance - This trick is easiest to teach to a dog that jumps against people. The advantage of teaching this trick is that once the dog 'dances' on command, he doesn't put as much weight (maybe none at all) on people as when jumping against them, thus it is a very good replacement behavior for a dog who jumps too easily.
When the dog is excited and jumping around you, tell him to 'dance!' and gently hold his front legs and lift them up so that he stands on his hind legs. Then praise him and give him a treat and gently put him back on the ground. Once he knows how to do this, you can see if he can do it without your help.
Find/retrieve - This is easiest to teach if your dog already enjoys carrying things in his mouth, but you can also try to teach a dog to bring his toys to you even if he doesn't like to retrieve
a ball/stick thrown by you. It would be easiest to teach this trick if your dog already can sit on command and stays that way until you give him the permission to go -- this way you can hide a toy etc. while he sits and waits. Bring your dog's toy a few steps away from where he is sitting, so that he can see it, and ask him to find it.(Here you can use the command "find!", or the name of the toy, etc. for any object that you hide and want him to bring to you). Once he goes to the toy, praise him immediately, even if he doesn't touch it. Repeat this each time he is close to the toy and thus try to encourage him to take it into his mouth. The first time he takes the toy into his mouth, praise him and give him a treat, and give him back the toy and play with him for a while. (This is important, otherwise he will think that you always take the toy away from him and thus he won't want to bring it to you). When he has learned to take the desired object into his mouth, try to make your dog bring it all the way to you. First praise him when he comes running with his toy in his mouth, then praise him only when he brings it to your hand (you can trade the toy for a treat). When he has learnt all this, you can start hiding the toy to more difficult places(in another room, or behind a tree on a walk, etc..).
There are two versions of the advanced object search game, and it's possible to teach your dog both versions if you wish. In the first version you hide an object (toy or whatever) somewhere outside (where there are not many other objects to be found), and your dog doesn't need to know what the object is. You just tell him to "find!" or look for your toy or baby, and he is supposed to bring to you any object that he can find with some human smell on it. This can be really useful if you e.g. drop your glove, car keys etc. (Practice a lot with various objects, but start with some easy ones, like his favorite toys.) In the other version of the game the dog has to know the name of the desired object and bring it to you, so you must teach him one object at a time (for example, "ball", "Kong", "bone", etc.). You can play this game in your house, and the better your do can distinguish the various objects by their names.
