The foundations: teaching a trick with rewards
Teaching a trick works exactly like teaching a sit, minus the pressure: you get the movement, often by guiding with a treat, you mark the exact moment with a bright "yes!", you reward with your other hand, then you add the word. No equipment needed, your voice is enough.
A trick builds your dog's confidence
A trick is learnt exactly like a useful cue, except nobody really needs your dog to roll over or shake a paw. With nothing riding on it, your dog dares to offer things of his own accord, he discovers that he is the one deciding, and he grows in confidence, especially if he is shy or inhibited. You, meanwhile, learn to spot the right moment and to break an action down into small steps, without the pressure of a failed recall. A 2014 study compared dogs from traditional clubs, where physical corrections are common, with dogs trained purely with rewards: the latter showed far fewer signs of stress (yawning, lip licking, lowered posture) and looked into their owner's eyes far more often (Deldalle and Gaunet 2014). This is the kind of finding taken up by the American veterinary behaviour society (AVSAB) in its 2021 position statement in favour of humane training.
A little mental work can settle a dog that a long walk would only have wound up: the head tires faster than the legs. That is an observation from the field, not a measured figure, but it fits the well-known need for mental stimulation in dogs.
Before you start: what you need
Nothing technical, nothing to buy.
0 / 5Your "yes!" is enough
Five ways to get the movement
Guiding with the treat
- At first, keep a treat in your guiding hand: hold it against his nose, then move your hand slowly in the direction you want, and his body follows. It is the fastest route for positions and simple paths, like spinning on the spot or weaving between your legs.
- As soon as he follows your hand reliably, take the treat out of that hand: make the same gesture with an empty hand, and reward with the other hand. Otherwise your dog learns to follow a full hand, not to do the movement for real.
Rewarding what he already does
- You wait, and you mark a behaviour he already does on his own: he shakes himself off, he stretches, he yawns. Zero handling: the ideal route for anything a treat cannot guide, and the best exercise for learning to observe your dog.
- If he does not offer it during your session, do not sit there staring at him waiting: keep a few treats within reach during the day and mark the movement the moment he does it himself, when he wakes up or steps out of his bed. This is not a timed session, it is a stakeout.
Moving forward in small steps
- You reward every small step towards the final movement: for instance, he looks at the object, he moves closer, he puts one paw on it, then two. The principle bends to any trick: you break the target movement into small steps and you reward each step taken.
- Only one step changes at a time. And if he fails twice in a row, your step was too big: cut it in half, go back to an easier version, then build back up.
Touching the hand
- Your dog learns to touch your palm or the end of a stick with his nose, then you move that touch point wherever you like: a foundation that unlocks plenty of other tricks afterwards.
- Classic mistake: putting the treat in the hand he is meant to touch. It then turns into a simple guide to follow, not a target to touch.
Imitation
- Your dog does not copy spontaneously: you first have to teach him, through separate training, a "do as I do" cue that tells him to repeat the movement you have just shown him. Once that rule is in place, you show him an action, opening a drawer for example, and he reproduces it.
- A 2015 study found that, for some complex tricks, more dogs got there through imitation than through small steps, and faster, but not for every trick (Fugazza and Miklósi 2015). It is an advanced route, best kept for when the two of you are already well practised: the dedicated guide on imitation explains how to put that cue in place.
The method, in six steps
The same loop, whatever the trick.
Get the movement
Choose how to get it: guide him with a treat, reward what he already does on his own, move forward in small steps towards the final movement, or have him touch your hand. Never any physical handling: do not push his rump, do not lift his paw.
Mark the exact instant
At the precise moment the right movement happens, say a crisp, clear "yes!". Too early or too late, and your dog learns something else.
Reward, with the other hand
The reward comes right after the marker. At first, reward every success: he needs to win often.
Add the word, just once
When he strings the movement together four or five times in a row without hesitating, say the word ("spin") just before the action, once only. Repeating it teaches him the word is optional.
Switch to the empty hand
As soon as he follows your full hand four or five times in a row, make the same gesture with an empty hand, then shrink it bit by bit down to a small signal. If you have guided with a treat, this is the step that is easily forgotten.
Finish on a success
End with something easy and already learnt, then an end signal ("all done") so he can wind down instead of pestering you.
Making a trick hold up outside the living room
A trick learnt in the living room only exists in the living room: grow it in stages, over a few weeks.
Step 1 / 3The trick comes out every time, at home.
- Repeat the trick indoors, in very short sessions, several times a day or a week while he is learning it: what counts is the number of short sessions, not their length.
- Reward every success generously.
The trick works somewhere other than where he learnt it.
- Check that he responds to the word alone, hands still, and not just to the gesture.
- Start again from scratch in other rooms, then outside, asking for less at first.
The trick holds even outdoors, with people about and distractions.
- Only push one "D" at a time: distance (further from you), distraction (with people around), or duration (holding it longer), which only applies to held positions.
- For a brief movement like "touch" or "spin", there is no duration to stretch: you only build distance and distraction.
- When one "D" goes up, ease off on the others.
Move on when: You can start spacing out the reward: reward one success in two, then one in three. The trick only gets sturdier for it.
Which tricks to start with
Start with ground-level tricks, easy and risk-free: the athletic movements can wait, and some are best avoided altogether.
Perfect for starting out
To supervise or to save for later
While your dog is still growing, ask for no jumps and no prolonged standing on the hind legs: ground-level tricks already keep a puppy very happily busy. Growth finishes later in large breeds than in small ones; your vet can tell you where your puppy is up to, with an X-ray to back it up. In large breeds, a 2012 Norwegian study even found that early access to stairs, before 3 months, raised the risk of hip dysplasia (a malformation of the joint that wears it down over time): the same caution applies to steps and staircases.
The mistakes that wreck a trick
Do you need a hand?
You can go it alone
- Your dog is in good shape and spontaneously offers things to do.
- You are aiming at ground-level tricks, with no physical strain at all.
- Your sessions stay short and cheerful, and you always finish on a success.
Better to see a pro
- Your dog stays frozen and dares not offer anything despite weeks of small rewarded successes: build his confidence back up first, this is not a trick problem.
- You notice discomfort, stiffness, or a flat refusal of one particular movement: off to the vet first of all.
- The trick you are after is athletic (a jump, a rise onto the hind legs) and you have doubts about his back or his joints.
- AVSAB — Position Statement on Humane Dog Training (2021)
- Deldalle et Gaunet — Effects of two training methods on stress-related behaviors of the dog (2014)
- Demant et al. — The effect of frequency and duration of training sessions on acquisition and long-term memory in dogs (2011)
- Fugazza et Miklósi — Social learning in dog training: the effectiveness of the Do as I Do method (2015)
- Krontveit et al. — Housing- and exercise-related risk factors associated with hip dysplasia in dogs (2012)
Going further
Frequently asked questions
Which trick should you teach your dog first?
Start with "touch" (he puts his nose on your hand) or with "shake it off". These are ground-level tricks, risk-free, that build confidence fast and call for no equipment. Save the jumps and the rises onto the hind legs for later.
At what age can you teach your dog tricks?
From a very young age, in sessions even shorter than usual, one to two minutes, and as long as you stick to ground-level tricks (touch, shake it off, gentle spin). No jumping and no standing on two legs while he is growing: growth finishes later in large breeds than in small ones, and your vet can tell you where your puppy is up to. An older dog, for his part, still learns very well.
How do you teach your dog a trick?
Get the movement, with a treat to guide him or by rewarding what he already does on his own, mark the exact instant with a "yes!", reward with your other hand, then add the word once only. Keep the sessions short, and always finish on a success.
Do you need special equipment to teach your dog a trick?
No. A marker word ("yes!", "that's it") does exactly the same job: marking the right moment and bridging the gap before the reward. Your voice even has an advantage, it carries your emotions and puts nothing between the two of you.
How long does it take to teach a trick?
It depends on the trick and on the dog. While he is learning, keep the sessions very short, five to ten repetitions, several times in the week. But you do not need to train every day: a 2011 study even found that dogs trained once or twice a week learnt better than dogs trained daily. Aim for regularity and quality, not for the length of a session.
My dog is not getting it, what should I do?
A failure says you went too fast, not that your dog is stubborn. Go back to an easier step, reward more, shorten the session. If he stays frozen and dares not offer anything, or if he refuses one particular movement, rule out pain with the vet first.
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