Are YOU Training Your Dog or Is HE Training You (6 of 6)?

Victoria Stilwell is THE Dog Training Expert

This is the sixth in a series of blogs about dog training:

Introduction
Training Foundation
HouseTraining
Obedience Commands
Overcoming Aggressive Behavior
Advanced Commands/Tricks (you are here)

Advanced Commands/Tricks

The Secrets to Dog Training guide lists the following in its section on advanced commands:

• Advanced Sit and Stay (Down and Stay is a variation)
• Seek
• Beg
• Fetch (Retrieve)
• Catch
• Shake
• Climb
• Crawl
• Jump
• Roll over

I’d consider the first two useful commands and the others – tricks and/or fun things to teach a dog. Since training needs to be fun for a dog to learn anything, it’s worth the effort to teach. A few of these commands might fall into specialty/performance training.

Another addition to this list might be the Come command, probably one of the more important things you want a dog to do. It’s usually covered as a basic obedience command, but it requires a gradual process of moving further and further away from the dog. To get a high success rate, you need to practice A LOT. Never EVER call the dog to you for a reprimand.

Leash training falls into the same category as the Come Command. It requires a lot of repetition and work. The It's PAWSible! Dog Training and Puppy Training DVD devotes several sessions to leash training. So does the Secrets to Dog Training guide, but as an aggressive behavior issue.

valmillsy