Dog Fun Training

Once your Labrador has been put through the paces of basic training, such as behavioral training and obedience training, he is ready to graduate into bit more advanced fun training sessions.

Teaching him new stuff will keep his mental agility skills strong and alive. These tricks are just for sheer fun. They are entertaining and good for laughs too. And there are numerous such tricks that a dog as intelligent as your Labrador Retriever can perform.

Play Scooby Doo

This is a really cute little trick where your dog will cover one eye with a paw and give you an embarrassed look! And here is how you get him to perform.

• 1 Make your doggie sit in front of you.
• 2 Blow some air onto his face in the general direction of his ear. 3 The airflow will make him raise his paw and try to cover his face. (He might try to run away too. Try to restrain him.)
• 4 Say "hide face" when he covers his face.
• 5 Be consistent in practice and soon you will have a Scooby Doo act being performed by your pet.

Now play G I Joe

Add to the novelty of fun training by teaching your pet to "crawl" along on his belly just like the soldiers out in the field.

• 1 First ask him to get "down" on his belly. He will be on the ground with his nose down on the ground too.
• 2 Keep him on his leash, place a treat directly in front of his nose (not too close), and say "crawl."
• 3 Move the treat along the ground without giving it to him.
• 4 Do not allow him to raise his butt from the ground. Press down with your hand if required.
• 5 Cover a short distance in this manner for starters.
• 6 When he has "crawled" for a short distance give him the treat.

This is not a very easy trick and could take up to 3 –4 weeks for him to learn. Be patient. Your G I Joe will soon be crawling the entire length of a room without much prodding!

Speak

You definitely do not want a dumb dog, do you? Go ahead and teach him how to speak!

• 1 Start by using food as the incentive and place a dish of food in front of him. But do not give it to him until he "speaks" (barks).
• 2 When he does bark, say "speak."
• 3 Use a hand signal as well as voice command. Place all four fingers of the hand against your thumb and then open out all the fingers and thumb of your hand. This signal should indicate that you want him to bark.
• 4 Once your doggie has learned this trick you can modify it slightly. Play some music and signal to him when you want him to bark.
• 5 Dogs are quite rhythmic. They respond well to music. So you can have your dog singing along to some melodious music too!

A dog that kisses

With music in the air, can love be far behind? Teach your pooch how to kiss too.

• 1 Sit in front of your dog and give him a nice warm hug and draw back.
• 2 Then say, “Kiss,” make a smacking sound with your lips, and turn your cheek towards your dog.
• 3 Your dog will plant a great big slobbering kiss on your cheek as a token of his affection.
• 4 Practice will teach him to associate the word “Kiss” with the action of planting a slobbering lick on your cheek or anyone else’s for that matter.

Your children will love being kissed by their pet pooch. He too will enjoy all the adulation and praise he gets because of the actions he performs.

A dog that agrees

With music and love in the air, the atmosphere around ought to be one of general camaraderie and agreement. So teach your pooch how to "agree" with you too.

• 1 Make your dog sit in front of you.
• 2 Hold a treat in front of his head.
• 3 Say, "Do you agree” and move the treat up and down.
• 4 In this way your doggie will move his head up and down as if nodding his head in agreement as his eyes follows the treat in your hand.
• 5 Give him the treat when he moves his head up and down.
• 6 Soon the phrase, "Do you agree?” will be sufficient enough to encourage him to move his head up and down.

And you will have a dog that readily agrees with whatever you say!

A Mathematician!

What fun to have a pet that can count! Yes, you can teach your pooch to count and this is how.

• 1 Your doggie will count by barking as many times as the number of objects being counted.
• 2 To guide the number of times he barks, he must first be taught to recognize your silent hand or head signals.
• 3 Place a number of objects that you want him to count in front of him.
• 4 Then say "count."
• 5 He should then give short barks for every signal that you show.
• 6 When he has barked the required number of times, signal him to stop.
• 7 Practice until perfect in counting.
• 8 You can modify the trick by placing two different types of objects in front of him, say 5 yellow balls and 3 red balls, and then ask him to "add."
• 9 Use the same ploy as used for counting.

Your friends will be simply amazed at the intelligence of your pet!

Play dead

All good things do come to an end. So when the trick show is nearing its end, the last logical trick should be “play dead.”

• 1 Ask your dog to go "down."
• 2 Once down, ask him to "Die." With this command, gently nudge him to roll over onto his back with all his paws in the air.
• 3 You can practice "Die" a number of times.
• 4 You can then play God by bringing him to life again by saying “Alive” and prodding him to get up onto his feet again.
• 5 Of course praise him at every step.
• 6 Want a variation of "Die?" Then use the "Bang, bang" plan.
• 7 When you say "Bang, bang" teach your pooch to lift one paw in the air at first. Next he should go flat down on his tummy pretending that he is injured and then he should roll over with paws in the air and play dead.

With this act you can bring the curtains down on your fun trick doggie show.