Have you ever been jealous of a friend who has a dog that can do all sorts of tricks?
You know the situation: you’re at a barbeque party at a friend’s house, and their dog is putting on a show for everyone there. He’s shaking paws, rolling over, jumping through hoops — all in the hopes of being rewarded with a piece of that juicy burger patty.
Meanwhile, all you can think about is how you can’t even get your dog to sit down properly.
Well, it’s time to change that! With this comprehensive guide, you’ll be able to teach your pup the best dog tricks. These cues will help keep your dog safe and entertained — all while impressing your friends.
Why Teach Your Dog Tricks?
Before we get into the how, let’s explain the why.
Mental Stimulation
Stimulating your dog’s mind is just as important as physical activity, so teaching tricks is a great way of keeping them engaged and preventing boredom.
Bored dogs have a way of finding their own ways of spending their time, and that can sometimes spell trouble for your shoes and furniture.
Physical Exercise
As we’ve already hinted, physical exercise is a big reason why you should teach your dog some tricks.
Of course, sit and stay aren’t going to provide a lot of physical activity, but there are plenty of tricks that will get your dog moving.
Stuff like jumping through hoops, spinning around, or fetching are great activities that you can easily add to your daily walk or play sessions.
Bonding
Dogs love spending time with their owners and being praised for being good boys and girls.
Teaching them tricks is the perfect way to bring those two things together. It will strengthen your bond, improve communication, and make you two just all-around best pals.
Safety
Training, especially when done early in a dog’s life, is essential for keeping your dog safe. Helping your dog learn certain cues and commands as a puppy — like “stay” and “come” — can help keep them out of danger.
Once your dog learns that being obedient is rewarded with treats and praise, they will continue to listen to you in different settings and situations.
Confidence
Confidence is something we often overlook when talking about dogs. Just like people, there are canines out there who are shy and introverted.
Teaching them tricks and praising them for doing well can help them come out of their shell and become more confident about expressing themselves.
Now, without further ado, let’s get into the actual tricks.
Easy Dog Tricks for Beginners
1. Sit and Stay
Teaching your dog to sit and stay are the absolute basics, but they’re essential if you want to progress to the more complex commands.
Start by holding a nice little treat close to your dog’s nose and slowly move it upwards towards their head. As your dog follows the treat, they should naturally lower their bottom. Once they sit, immediately reward them with the treat and praise.
Once they’ve mastered sitting you can move on to teaching them to stay. When your dog is in a sitting position, hold your hand out like a stop sign and say, “Stay.” Take a few steps back and, if they hold the position, reward them with a treat and lots of pets and praise.
2. Shake Paw
This dog trick is a great next step after you’ve taught your pup to sit. While they’re sitting, show them a treat in one of your hands. This will get them excited and eager to please.
Then, extend the other hand to their paw and say “shake” or “paw.” It might take a few attempts to get it right, but once you get a good shake, get that treat out and reward the little furball.
3. Roll Over
To successfully train this trick, always start in the down position, i.e., with the dog lying down on their belly with the legs folded.
Hold a treat in front of their nose and start moving it slowly towards their shoulder. This motion should encourage the dog to start leaning sideways and eventually rolling completely over.
To expedite the process, keep moving the treat slowly in a circular motion and accompany it by saying the “Roll over” command out loud.
4. Spin Around
To teach your dog to spin, hold a treat close to their nose and slowly guide them in a circular motion. They will follow the treat, and you should say, “Spin,” and finish the circle.
It sounds easy enough — and it kind of is — but it might take some practice before your dog is able to do the whole routine with just the motion and the verbal command.
Having a visible treat is a great tool but try not to rely on it too heavily as your dog gets more comfortable with this trick.
5. Play Dead
This is a great trick to use when you want to mix it up a little. It’s a great test of your dog’s awareness and their ability to drop everything and stay still for a moment.
The trick starts in the down position and carries on similar to the rollover routine, except this time, you stop moving the treat once your dog is on their back.
At this point, you should say the command out loud, wait a couple of seconds, and then give the treat.
6. Speak
Speaking, of course, refers to barking in this instance. No matter how smart your dog is, chances are you won’t be able to teach them to actually speak English.
It’s a fairly simple command to teach, but you’ll typically need to wait until your pup is naturally comfortable with barking. Once you feel they’re ready, here’s how you do it.
Wait for your dog to bark on their own. This should be a time when they bark once or twice — not when they are barking like crazy at the mailman or a cat that has crossed their path. Then immediately say the word “Speak” and give them a treat. Do this as often as you can until your dog develops an association between the word, the bark, and the treat.
7. Fetch
With time, you can probably teach your dog to fetch just about anything. But to start, it would be best if you tried with one of their favorite toys.
Say “Fetch” and throw the toy, rewarding them when they bring it back. Gradually introduce new items like a ball or frisbee.
Intermediate Dog Tricks
8. Crawl
Crawling is a fun trick that gives your dog a bit of a mental and physical workout. Start by getting your dog into a down position.
Like with any trick, you will need a tasty treat to offer. Hold it really close to the ground, just in front of the doggy’s nose, and slowly move it forward.
Once you notice them start to stretch towards it, say, “Crawl” out loud to associate the command with the action. As you go on, add obstacles for the dog to crawl under, such as tables and chairs.
9. High Five
The high five is an upgrade on the paw shake, reserved for owners and dogs who are true BFFs.
If your dog has already learned the shake command, then this should be no problem for them.
Get them in the same starting position (sitting down) but this time, instead of extending your hand outwards, hold it up with your palm flat — exactly like you would for an actual, human-to-human high five.
As your furry buddy starts to raise their paw, quickly say, “High five,” and make contact with their paw. You will probably need some repetition before your dog is able to differentiate these two commands.
10. Bow
The bow is a trick that looks impressive but is relatively easy to teach, especially if your pet has already successfully picked up all the previous commands.
This trick starts with the dog in the standing position, looking straight ahead. Show them a treat and bring it close to their nose, but make sure they don’t try grabbing it.
From that position, start moving the treat downwards until you reach the space between the dog’s front paws. Hopefully, your dog has been following along this whole time, so at this point, say, “Bow,” and watch them eat the treat.
With enough practice, the whole motion will get smoother and eventually look like an actual bow. So when you finally throw that barbecue party, your dog can stand at the door and greet your guests as they come in.
11. Jump Through Hoops
For dogs that are a bit more energetic by nature, jumping through hoops is a great way to channel that energy into a really cool trick.
The best thing about this trick is that it looks amazing but is actually really easy to teach. Get yourself a hula hoop (or something similar) and hold it low to the ground. You can either hold it yourself or fix it down with something.
Get a nice, tasty treat and lead your dog through the hoop. Once they clear the whole thing, let them eat the treat.
When they get the hang of it, start moving the hoop to higher positions. At this point, you should consider your dog’s breed.
If you have a Greyhound or a Belgian Malinois, feel free to increase the height. But if it’s a Corgi or a Dachshund, keep the hoop lower to the ground.
Advanced Dog Tricks
12. Back Up
If your dog has mastered the basics, first of all, give them a nice little pat on the head from us. Secondly, try teaching them to back up on command as a fun challenge that also happens to be quite practical.
Get your dog to stand in front of you and face you directly. Take a small step towards them while holding a treat at chest height, but don’t offer it just yet. Your dog should start moving backward to get out of your way, and as they’re doing this, say, “Back up,” and feed them the treat.
At first, do this trick in short bursts until you eventually build up to a full reverse.
13. Peekaboo
Next up, we have one of those tricks that you can use to get those sweet social media likes.
For this adorable trick, start by standing with your dog behind you. Bend down a bit and hold their favorite treat between your knees, just enough to catch their attention.
Call your dog over and show them the treat. When they move between your legs, say, “Peekaboo,” and give them the treat. Keep practicing this until they can do it consistently.
Once they’ve nailed it, you should be able to just say, “Peekaboo,” and watch them run from across the room and between your legs, waiting for that reward.
14. Bring the Leash
This is the kind of trick that will make you feel like your dog is your little assistant.
Start by showing your dog the leash and using the fetch cue you’ve already taught them. Once they fetch the leash, say, “Bring it here,” rewarding them when they carry it over to you.
Since dogs quickly start associating the leash with walking, i.e., their favorite activity in the whole wide world, they should be really enthusiastic about learning this trick.
15. Complex Multi-Step Tricks
Now that your dog is a trick master, let’s step it up with a fun multi-step challenge. The goal here is to teach your dog to string multiple tricks together and put on a real show for your friends.
For example, you can work on something like fetching the leash and then sitting.
Start by placing the leash somewhere your dog can easily see it and reach it (maybe a chair or the couch). Say, “Fetch the leash,” and when they grab it, use your sit command as soon as they bring it to you.
Then, build on it by adding other cues like “Back Up” or “Spin” to keep the whole thing going. You might think something like this would need a ton of practice, but if your dog is already familiar with all the basic tricks, now it’s just a matter of combining them in a way that makes sense.
Training for Function and Fun
At the end of the day, teaching your dog how to do tricks isn’t just about showing off. It’s about creating a stronger bond, establishing safe habits, and encouraging physical and mental engagement.
The time you spend training your dog will be something you cherish for the rest of your life, so be patient, use positive reinforcement, and enjoy the process.
