New from Healthy Paws Pet Insurance: Dog Tricks That Actually Make Your Life Easier! We all know dogs are a lot of work: training, grooming, cleaning up after them; but there are some things you can teach your dog that will help you out.
On the original article, each skill is accompanied by a video, so you can click here if you want instructions on how to accomplish the training.
The tricks:
Shaking hands, which may make nail clipping easier.
Fetch, which means your dog can get your slippers, your newspaper, or even a canned beverage!
Ring a bell, which can mean less messes if you can get the dog to ring when s/he needs to go outside.
Tug of war, so he can open doors, a helpful adjunct to the going outside and canned beverage fetching.
Wiping paws on the doormat after a walk in the mud.
Closing the door – we wouldn’t want to let the heat or A/C out!
Opening his or her mouth for a dental exam.
Sounds like a pretty good list! The experts recommend clicker training, a positive method that teaches the dog to associate good behavior with a treat or some other reward. Learn more about clicker training.
Teaching your dog new skills can help prevent destructive boredom behaviors, encourage you to spend quality time with your dog, and actually help you out around the house!
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!