30 dog tricks: the ultimate list

Dog trick

There’s nothing as fun as spending time with your dog. Whether you are playing together, going for walks, lying on the couch or just hanging out. All the everyday moments spent with dogs are definitely times to treasure and cherish. Another really fun thing to do with your dog is teaching them tricks! These can be so diverse and different as catching the ball, sitting down, rolling, and many more. Teaching tricks to your dog is a wonderful way of combining fun moments and fostering their development.  

The most important thing to bear in mind here is that the process of teaching always needs to be done by positive training, that is, congratulate your dog when it achieves a goal, but never scold him or her when they don’t do it right. Also, be sure to have some yummy treats at hand: this will definitely contribute to the learning process!

Maybe you already know a few of the most popular tricks and maybe you even already taught them to your dog but, did you know that there are lots of amazing tricks that you can teach your furry friend? Indeed, the list of tricks is long, and here we will show you some of the most fun and popular dog tricks. Read along to find out all about them! 

 

Give me the Paw 

One of the most popular dog tricks and a classic from this list is the paw trick. It is a very simple and easy one: you ask your dog to place its paw in your hand. The steps are as follows: put yourself at the level of your dog, and hold your open hand facing upwards, holding a treat. What your dog will probably do here is to sniff around your hand, investigate the treat that you are holding, and at some point, place its paw on the treat.

This is the precise moment where you have to congratulate your dog, saying something such as “good” or “well done”. Repeat this process several times and, after a while, do it without holding a treat in your hand. But give a treat or reward to the dog when it places the paw in your hand! Finally, do the process again without holding the treat but now say loud and clear the word “paw”. Remember to always congratulate your dog for the behavior.  

Give paw

 

Sit 

Another classic of the world of dog tricks and one of the first ones to be taught is the sit trick. For this trick, the idea is that you teach your dog to sit down on the ground after your verbal command. The most usual and simple word that can be used as command is, of course, the word “sit”. The process is as follows: having treats at hand, wait for your dog to sit down on its own. When it does, congratulate it and share a treat.

Have some more treats at hand and show them to the dog. It will probably start doing all sorts of movements to figure out what it needs to do to get the treat. Wait until it sits and then give the treat to the dog. Repeat this process several times and then add the command word “sit”. After a few times of good practice, your dog will surely learn this trick really fast! 

Sit trick dog

 

Hand Touch 

With the hand touch trick, your dog learns to lean towards your hand and touch it with its nose. It is also a very simple trick which can be learnt quite fast and easily. First, place yourself in front of your dog with both your hands behind your back. Then, move your hand with your open palm towards your dog, as if you were going to give it a handshake. Your dog will most surely approach your hand and sniff it. At this point, say “good” or “well done” to congratulate them. Repeat this several times to give your dog confidence and to reinforce the behavior.

After a few times or repetition, add the word “touch” before placing your hand in front of your dog, and keep on congratulating and rewarding it when it touches your hand with its nose. This trick has different levels, as you can go increasing the distance you have from your dog so, at one point, if you keep on training your furry friend on this trick, it will be able to walk a certain distance towards your hand after your command. 

Hand touch

 

Middle Trick 

With this trick, you teach your dog to come towards you and place itself between your legs, while looking up at you. It is also a relatively easy trick to learn but it might require a bit more practice than the “sit” or the “paw” tricks. The steps are as follows: first, have your dog in front of you. Hold a treat in your hand and place it close to its nose.

Next, move your hand with the treat slowly around you, until you have your hand between your legs in your back. Then, pass the treat between your legs and hold it with your other hand, as a way of marking your dog the way and the position where you want it to stand. Your dog will surely follow the path of the treat and locate itself between your legs. At this point, wait a moment and give the treat to your furry friend while congratulating them. Repeat this process several times until the movement is fluid, and then add the command word “middle” while doing it.  

Middle trick

 

Spinning 

The spinning trick consists of teaching your dog how to walk in a circle with the command “spin”. For this, what you will have to do is, have your dog positioned next to your leg, and facing in the same direction as you are. The next step is to hold a treat in your hand and place it in front of the dog’s nose, while at the same time moving your hand in a circle out and away from you. Once you complete the circle, reward your canine buddy. When you find that the movement becomes natural, you can now add the command “spin”. Repeat the process as many times as it is needed in order to encourage your dog to become more confident. 

 

Paws up 

This trick, which is also quite easy, consists of having your dog put their paws up on a slightly higher platform or object. The steps that you need to follow to teach your dog this trick are the following: first of all, select the platform or object where you want your dog to place their paws. Once you have found the object, be sure to also have a treat in your hand and start moving it slowly and gradually to make your dog follow the treat and lean close towards the desired platform or object.

When your dog’s paws are close to the platform or object, raise your hand with the treat slightly, as a way of making it want to go up and follow the treat. Congratulate your canine buddy as soon as their paws reach the platform or object. Repeat this process several times and then add the command “paws up”. 

Paws up

 

The 8 figure 

The trick of the 8 figure has a medium level difficulty and it may take a few hours and a bit of regular practice for your dog to learn it. For this trick, you will need to have both of your hands closed with treats inside. Put one of your hands near the dog’s nose, as a way of motivating it to move following the treat. Next, put your hand behind yourself and between your legs, while your dog follows. Meet both of your hands right away and start moving your dog with this hand to your other side and back round once again. Repeat this process several times and reward your dog every time it completes the journey. Once the track becomes easier, you can add the command “figure” before you start the hands movement.  

 

Bow 

This trick consists of teaching your dog how to do an elegant and graceful bow gesture. For this, the first step to follow is to place a treat in front of your canine buddy’s nose. Next, start lowering your hand slowly and gradually, and move it softly towards the dog’s chest, as a way of having its head going down for a bit, while its front legs start moving downwards. Before they go fully into a down, be sure to give them proper rewards and congratulate them.

Repeat these steps a few times until it becomes smooth, and gradually increase how much the front legs of the dog go down. The aim is for them to reach the famous “play” position, with their front legs almost fully set on the ground, while the rest of the body is directed upwards. After a bit of practice, you can add the command word “bow”.  

Dog bow

 

Snoot 

The snoot trick is all about making your furry friend place its nose inside a circle made with your own two hands. In this sense, the steps that you should follow to teach your dog this trick are the following: start by making a circle with your hands, meeting your finger with your thumb in a way that they form a small circle, inside which your dog’s nose will go. After this, take a treat and place it inside of this hole, so your dog will sniff around and follow the treat.

When your dog’s nose reaches the circle, reward and congratulate them as a way of encouraging the behavior. You can release the treat once the dog’s nose is inside the hole formed by your fingers. After a bit of practice, you can go on and add the command word “snoot” before you build the circle with your fingers. 

 

Shaking the head 

This trick, as the words describing it clearly indicate, consists of teaching your dog how to shake its head after a command. For this trick, you can begin with your dog sitting down. Hold a treat in your hand and move it up and down, or to the sides. It is a way of having your dog follow the treat and moving its head up and down, as a nod, or to the sides, as shaking its head. Remember to give your dog the treat every time it makes the movements in the correct way.

Repeat this process as many times as you deem necessary for your dog to incorporate the habit. If you want, after the movement becomes fluid and your dog does it comfortably, you can add the command words “what do you say?” or any other similar ones that you like. Be sure to always keep the same command word, as this is a key condition for your dog to respond to your verbal commands. Moreover, do not hesitate to repeat this process as many times as required for your dog to learn this command.  

 

Roll out a yoga mat 

By learning new tricks and abilities, your dog can also help you with your daily tasks and become a part of your routine! One very good example of this is the well-known trick of rolling out the yoga mat. For this trick, you will be teaching your dog how to roll out your yoga mat to help you get ready for your gym or yoga classes. Even though this trick might seem a bit hard, it is actually quite easy to teach. What you need to do first, is to place your rolled-up yoga mat or towel in front of you, and have some treats hidden around the rolled element.

Once you have it ready, bring your dog and let it smell and investigate the mat or towel. Your dog will smell the treats and will do all that it can to try to get them! This is why it will start to push the mat with its nose and paws and finally end up unrolling it. Congratulate your buddy once it achieves the aim, and try to add the command word “help” or some similar one that you like as a way of teaching it to do this process under your command.  

 

Jumping over an obstacle 

This trick consists of teaching your dog how to jump over a specific obstacle. This obstacle can consist of many different things, but bear in mind it should be suitable to the size and age of your dog. Thus, the first step is to select the obstacle which you want your dog to jump over. With your dog’s favorite toy at hand, have them sit on the other side of the selected obstacle, and locate yourself opposite to it, facing your canine buddy.

Using the command word “over” start moving slowly backwards and showing your dog the toy, as a way of encouraging it to go towards you. When it does, it will definitely have to pass over the obstacle in order to get to you. Congratulate your dog when it reaches the other side. Repeat this process as many times as necessary in order to reinforce this behavior. 

Jumping over obstacle

 

Crawl 

With this trick, the idea is to teach your dog to crawl its way toward you after your command. The prerequisite for this trick is the down trick, so they can both be taught together at the same time. In this sense, you can first start by teaching your dog how to go down. For this, hold a treat in your hand and go place it in the direction of the floor, while saying the command word “down”, until your dog reaches the ground fully. Give your dog some yummy treats to congratulate them when they achieve the aim.

After this, you can add the “crawl” command. So, first, ask your dog to do the down trick. Then, place a few treats close to its nose so it can smell them, and start moving your hand backwards, always keeping it at the level of the ground. This will make your dog move towards the treat in the down position and start crawling towards you. Give your dog the treat when it achieves the objective, and repeat the exercise as many times as necessary to reinforce the behavior. 

Crawl

 

Opening a door 

Another very practical and useful trick to teach your dog is the one of opening a door. Even though it may seem a bit difficult, the truth is that it is not as complicated as it sounds. The required steps to follow to teach your dog this trick are the following: first, tie down a dog with a rope to the door handle, so that when you pull down the toy the door opens.

Next, try to get your dog to grab the toy and hold it. Reward them if they hold it, and also try to have them pull the toy away as well. Keep on repeating this process and giving your dog rewards for every improvement it makes. After some good practice, you can slowly start getting the toy away from the scene, until your dog learns how to just push the door handle downwards to open it. 

Opening a door

 

Being shy 

This trick consists in teaching your dog how to put its paw in front of its nose. It is usually called the “being shy” trick because it seems as if your dog is hiding itself and acting shy. It is quite easy to learn, although it may require you to bother your dog a little bit. This is because the first step you need to do is to grab a little piece of sticky tape, roll it in a way that it is sticky on both sides, and then stick it in your dog’s nose. This will bother your dog, so it will surely try to remove it with its paw, directing it towards the nose.

Be sure to congratulate them as soon as their paw touches their nose. Practice these steps a few times until it becomes fluid, and then go to the next step, which is adding the command word “be shy” or “are you shy?”. At some point, you will not be needing the stick tape any more, and your dog will be able to place its paw on its nose just by hearing you say the command words that you have chosen. Remember to always be consistent with the command words, because you could confuse your dog if you do not do it like this. 

Being shy

 

Leg weaves 

This fun and exciting trick consists of teaching your dog how to walk through your legs as you walk. It is a trick that you can try anywhere on the street or in the park, during a regular morning of strolling. It is quite easy and it is useful to have your dog already master the trick of the figure of 8, because this way it will be easier for them to learn the leg weaving trick faster. Here is what you need to do: first of all, be sure to hold a treat in each one of your hands.

Next, start moving your hands from side to side, as a way of making your dog follow the movements. Take big, prominent steps and lure your canine buddy through the leg in the front, so your dog puts itself in front of you and then ends up behind you. Go repeating this process until it becomes natural and until you don’t need your hands to guide the movement anymore. 

Leg weaves

 

Jumping onto your back 

This fun trick consists in teaching your dog how to jump to your back. It is a somewhat difficult trick, and you should consider that it may be a bit hard to do if your dog is a very big size or rather very tiny. However, it is perfectly doable with a medium-sized dog. This trick will also require quite some physical exercise from your side, so be ready for the fun!

First, put yourself on all fours to be stable on the ground, and hold some treats in your hand. Guide your dog to place its four legs on your back, and reward all the advances it makes throughout the whole process. When the movement becomes fluid, you can start doing it by being half standing up and not fully on the ground yourself.  

Jumping on your back

 

Fetching objects 

This is one of the classic tricks to teach your dog and one of the most popular out there. As you may know, it consists in teaching your dog how to go and fetch an object by your command. This trick has a medium-level difficulty, and there are some dogs who grasp it very fast, while others need a little bit more time to practice. The process is as follows: start by finding a toy or object that your dog is familiar with and likes very much. Then, with your dog facing you, drop the object on the floor and congratulate it when it approaches the object or picks it up.

Practice this a few times until your dog gets the object when you throw it. Now you can go to the next level of the trick: throwing the object away from you. Start by regulating the distance, and first throw it close to you. When the dog gets it right, you can increase the throwing distance. You can add the command word “fetch” right after you throw the object.  

Fetching objects

 

Telling secrets 

For this trick you will need to teach your dog how to press its nose against your ear, just as if it were telling you a secret. Start by making a cup shape with your hand and present it to your dog. It will surely start to sniff it around. Congratulate every approach it makes to the hand, and try your dog to put its nose into your hands. Once your dog masters this, you can start by moving your hand towards your ear. The idea is that he picks up on this and places its nose into your hands by your ears.  

 

Holding an object in the mouth 

The so-called “hold” trick consists of teaching your dog how to hold an object in its mouth for a sustained period of time. First, grab an object that your dog likes, and that is soft and easy for him or her to grab. Now, try to get your dog to grab the object in its mouth, and be sure to congratulate every attempt and approach towards this. Remember that the idea is that the dog holds the object still, so try to avoid it from starting to play with the object. Practice this trick with the aim of having your dog hold the object still for longer periods of time.  

Holding an object in mouth

 

Balancing on a beam 

This fun trick consists of teaching your dog how to walk and balance on a beam. It may seem a bit difficult but the fact is that it is not, and you might be surprised to see how fast your dog learns this. The first thing that you will need is a beam, that can be a piece of wood of a certain longitude and about 15 cm wide. Start with the beam or wooden plank on the ground and place a few treats on it.

Hold a few treats on your hand as well, and use them to guide your dog towards the plank, until it gets up on the beam. Reward all of its progress during the learning process. Once your dog is on the plank, start guiding it slowly to walk upon it, following the trace of treats. When this is mastered, you can slowly raise the height of the plank and start using less treats, until your dog can do it all by itself. 

Balancing on a beam

 

Looking sad 

For the “looking sad” trick, the idea is to teach your dog how to place its chin on the floor, as if it were looking sad. This trick can be the perfect one to learn after the “down” trick, because they are quite similar. So, once your dog masters the “down” trick, it will be much easier to teach it the “looking sad” one. This is what you need to do: start by asking your dog to go down. If it already masters the “down” trick, you can do it by the command chosen for that trick. Once it is on the ground, present him your hand with a few treats.

Then, start lowering your hand to the floor and have the dog follow it, until its chin fully reaches the ground. Congratulate them throughout the process and keep practicing until the movement becomes controlled. Next, you can add the word “sad” as a command, and start slowly using less and less treats, so your dog will end up putting the chin on the floor just after it hears the command word “sad”.  

 

Rolling over 

This is another trick that is quite popular and, as you may imagine, it is about having your dog roll over the ground by your command. The first thing you need to do is to get your dog to lie down, while holding a few treats in your hands. Then, with your dog on the ground, start moving your hand with the treats in a loop, and have them follow your circular movement. Reward all the progress the dog does.

The aim is to have your dog follow the full path of the treats until it rolls over and back again. Once this is properly mastered, you can add the command word “roll” and start practicing with it. The idea is to have your dog roll over by your command, without having to use the treats anymore. 

Rolling over

 

Going to sleep 

For this trick, the idea is to teach your dog how to go to bed all by itself by your command. This is quite an easy trick and it helps to have your dog already master the trick “down”. What you need to do to start is put some treats in your dog’s bed, and toss one treat away from the bed so that your dog goes towards it. The idea is that they can then go from there to the bed, to look for the rest of the treats, Congratulate and reward them through all the paths, especially when they reach the bed. Once this specific process is mastered, you can add the command word “bed”. 

 

The Shoot Trick 

The Shoot Trick is also commonly known as the “play dead” trick, and it is quite similar to the “down” trick or to the “roll” trick. For this one, the idea is to have your dog lie still in the ground after your command word or gesture. The first thing to do is to have your dog go to the down position. Then, hold a few treats on your hand and try to guide your dog’s head to be fully on the ground, and make it lie on its back. After this movement is sunken in, you can add the command words “play dead” and even add a gun gesture with your hand. Go rewarding it through the process and try to increase the amount of time that it can lie in the ground without moving. 

Play dead dog trick

 

Jumping through your arms 

This is a trick that agile and active dogs will find especially fun to practice. What you need to do here is to teach your dog how to jump through your arms, as if your arms were sticks. For this, it is a good idea to start practicing in a doorway. You will place your dog on one side of the doorway, and yourself on the other side, holding a treat. Place one of your arms across the doorway and have your dog walk through it to get the treat that awaits him on the other side. Congratulate them and reward their behavior. Once the movement becomes natural, you can move away from the door and practice it somewhere else, just using your arms for it to jump over. You can also add the command word “through”. 

 

Walking around 

This trick focuses on teaching your dog how to walk around an object, which can be a cone, a stone, a stick or anything you consider. The first step is to place the object in front of your dog and have them slowly approach it. Reward every step it makes closer to the object. Next, place a few treats on the other side of the object so that your dog walks round it to get the yummy treat. Repeat the process until it becomes more and more natural. You can then add the command word “round”. 

 

Pushing an object 

For this trick, you will teach your dog how to push an object using its nose or its paws. It is a very easy trick that only requires a few hours of practice. What you need to do first is present your dog with the selected object and aim for it to start sniffing it and approaching it. Congratulate every move it makes towards the object.

Once the dog becomes familiarized with the element, aim for it to start getting closer and closer to the object, until it can begin to push it slowly with their nose or paws. This trick is a process in which you want your dog to get closer and closer to the object. So, therefore, be patient and go step by step. Increase the rewards when the dog gets closer to the object and pushes it forward.  

Pushing an object

 

The Waving Trick 

For this trick, the idea is to teach your dog how to hold its paw up and look as if it were waving. It is good to have your dog already master the “paw” trick, as this is a great start point for the waving trick. Thus, start by having your dog give you its paw. After this, you can start to slowly increase the height of your hand, so the dog will also start to lift its paw higher. Reward your dog every step of the way. Then try to directly move your hand up. When your dog masters this, you can add the command word “wave”, and wait for your dog to lift its paw in a wave with only the use of the command word. 

 

Standing up 

For this trick, the idea is to teach your dog how to stand up like a human, that is, on its two back legs. Your dog will be able to do this for only a bit, but anything is valid! The first thing that you need to do for this trick is to have your dog standing in front of you and, with a few treats, start moving your hand upwards, aiming for the dog to follow the movement.

It will slowly start raising its front legs off the floor. Be sure to congratulate every progress they make. Once your dog can master standing up on his back legs, try to slowly increase the amount of time they can do this. Finally, you can add the command word “stand” or “stand up”. 

 

Fun and development 

All in all, as you can see, the list of tricks is diverse and adaptable to every dog breed, whether it is small dogs, big dogs, energetic dogs or calmer dogs. As we have mentioned above, teaching tricks to your dog is a great way of spending times of fun and leisure, while at the same time promoting their mental and physical development. In this sense, you can take advantage of any of the tricks that we have described here and put it into practice with your cute canine buddy. For clarity’s sake, we will briefly summarize the discussed thirty tricks that are great for fun and the development of your furry friend! 

  1. Give me the Paw 
  2. Sit 
  3. Hand Touch 
  4. Middle Trick 
  5. Spinning 
  6. Paws up 
  7. The 8 figure 
  8. Bow 
  9. Snoot 
  10. Shaking the head 
  11. Roll out a yoga mat 
  12. Jumping over an obstacle 
  13. Crawl 
  14. Opening a door 
  15. Being shy 
  16. Leg weaves 
  17. Jumping onto your back 
  18. Fetching objects 
  19. Telling secrets 
  20. Holding an object in the mouth 
  21. Balancing on a beam 
  22. Looking sad 
  23. Rolling over 
  24. Going to sleep 
  25. The Shoot Trick 
  26. Jumping through your arms 
  27. Walking around 
  28. Pushing an object 
  29. The Waving Trick 
  30. Standing up 

 

Remember to always take the learning process slowly and with patience, as this is essential for your dog to understand what it is being taught and enjoy the process of learning new tricks and acquiring abilities. Have you already tried any of the tricks from this list? We want to know how it went! Let us know in the comments below.  

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Onlinedogworld Team

Onlinedogworld Team

Our readers and writers have one thing in common: a passion for dogs. At Onlinedogworld we try to help dog owners (and dogs) by giving them information about dog breeds, dog training and dog behavior. Our team does their best to make Onlinedogworld the best possible place to go to for dog owners, by keep improving the website.
Onlinedogworld Team

Onlinedogworld Team

Our readers and writers have one thing in common: a passion for dogs. At Onlinedogworld we try to help dog owners (and dogs) by giving them information about dog breeds, dog training and dog behavior. Our team does their best to make Onlinedogworld the best possible place to go to for dog owners, by keep improving the website.

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