Got some great dog trick ideas? We’ve got a few of our own and we've put down a few training techniques. Remember, repetition, reinforcement and above all, patience! Take a look, and add your show-stopping tricks and tips to the list!

Dance

If your dog has a tendency to jump up on people, look upon this as an opportunity. When your dog jumps up, lift his paws off you and hold them up in the air for a few seconds. Give him the command “dance” and gently lower him. Upon lowering your pooch, give him plenty of praise and a small treat.

Spin

If your dog jumps up when she sees a treat, make a circular motion in the air with the treat. Chance are, the dog will “follow” the treat and spin around. Give the command “spin” and reinforce the behavior with a small treat.

Ahem. . . It's Potty Time

Ok, so this isn’t one of those talent show tricks, but if your friends see this, they will be amazed (and probably jealous if they have a dog). Attach a small bell to the knob of the door that you consistently use to take your dog out to potty. Make sure that it is dangling low enough for your dog to reach. Before you take your dog outside each time for a potty break, ring the bell by knocking it with your dog’s paws. Before you know it, your dog will ring the bell when he needs to do business!

Take a Bow

Your dog can take a bow by lowering the front of her body and keeping her rear end in the air. This technique works if she knows the “stay” command already. Have your dog stand and stay. Slowly move the food treat down low by the dog’s front paws. As the dog lowers her head to take the treat, say “bow.”

Turn Off the Lights

If your dog is tall enough to reach the lightswitch when jumping up, you can teach your dog to turn off the lights. Hold a treat near the light switch and issue your command “lights off,” or whatever you decide to use. When your dog jumps up and touches the light switch with his paws, reward your dog. Cool trick, but watch out--if you’ve got wallpaper in the room, you might want to try a different trick!

Put your Toys Away

I trained our Dachshund to put his toys away. He picks up a toy, brings it to his toy chest, drops it in and gets another and does it again. First teach the dog to retrieve and place the toy in your hand. Then place your hand over the toy chest and say "put your toys away." As he drops it, pull your hand back and point into the chest. After it falls into the chest, give him a treat. It takes a little while but it is very comical trick. Your dog will eventually pick up all his toys (really fast) and put them all away. Eventually you will not have to place your hand near the toy chest. Just say, “put your toys away.”