Many popular trainers out there say “this is the right way to train”, or “that is the wrong way” or whatever else they can say to make them look more valid. The truth is that there is not really a right or wrong way. For me there are easier and harder ways, but they should all work with some amount of patience. You can train a dog to come to you with the word, “stay”, and you can also make a dog stay with the word “shake”, Any and every language in the world is also suitable, even sign language. In fact, I really do not like to use verbal commands at all.
As I said in my last post, #4 Know what you want and #5 Stay consistent. It is also a good idea to become bonded to him so that he trusts you.

Don’t know how to bond with a dog, or any living creature for that matter? Food(gifts) and affection, mixed with some time and proper body language(communication)… that is the recipe for bonding. Ironically this will work for humans too.

Now, for your first trick, make sure you understand Trick or Treat first, and go through the steps. Wait until about 15 minutes before feeding time, measure out his food, and noisily drop it into his dish. Do NOT give it to him yet. Take a small handful of the food and place it into a pocket. If need be, run him around to tire him out a bit, but don’t over do it.

You can actually turn the running part into a simple trick if you want. Get him to follow you while running backwards. Hold the food out in your left hand (always treat from the same hand if possible) and make a “come here” motion with your right. That would be your right arm out, palm up, and moving that hand towards you, just like motioning someone to come to you. He should follow you, especially if he is hungry. Please do not take too long in actually letting him get the food, or he will learn not to trust you. Every so often, it is a good idea to let him catch you, and grab him up in a loving bear hug saying “good boy (or girl)” and pet him aggressively. This will make him excited and eager to keep pleasing you. Continue with a new piece of food in your left outstretched hand, and motioning with your right hand to “come here”, all while running backwards and him following.

If the dog/puppy already is paying you attention, and is focused, you may not have to run backwards. I only suggest this if you are having attention issues, and excessive energy in the dog. Normally all you would have to do is give a quick snap of your fingers to get his attention, then hold out the food and motion him at the same time. Treat him and then back up a little, repeat.

If you are feeling advanced, you may incorporate the stay command at this time. I use a “stop” sign type motion with my hand, just like a cop would motion someone in traffic. If the puppy is not stopping, I just put that “stop” right up to his face. Trust me, he is going to stop. If/when he stops, keep the hand up and in front of you and start backing up slowly. If the pup starts to walk forward, move the “stop” sign right up to him as quickly as possible. You may only be able to get a few steps away at first, but treat every obedience at this time. Under no circumstance are you to treat him if he does not do what you want him to do. You can increase the distance gradually over time. As soon as you get a few moments of him stopping, turn your hand around into the “come here” command and hold the food out. Time for a bear hug and a “good boy”… repeat. Now you are incorporating two commands with only one treat… way to go Fido.

I showed you the come here and stop commands first, for those of you with spunky dogs. If you have an more mild tempered dog, you can start with the sit command if you like. Or move from the above into sit right away. On several different occasions, with different dogs (one Shepard, a Boston, and one Rott) they all picked up several commands in ONE day. Sit, stay, down and come here were obtained on day 1. Another Shepard took me two days to get one trick out of him. I could not figure out how to get his attention, until I used to run backwards command for “come here”. It was all easy after that first trick.

My “sit” command is simply my right fist held up as if Im threatening to punch someone. I am not doing this to intimidate, there is actually a reason for this. Some dogs sit with very little effort needed on your part, but others need some extra help. For those dogs i pinch a piece of food between my right index finger and my right thumb, back far enough that the dog cannot grab it. I let the dog smell the food, but won’t let him get it. As he is sniffing my hand, I turn it around so that the back of my hand pushes his nose up and back. This puts him slightly off balance, and they tend to sit. You may have to gently push the butt down with your left hand, but get a light pressure on the nose from the back of your right hand. It resembles a fist to me at this point, so I just turned it into a command. Once he understands the command, make sure to resume treating with your left hand. Stay consistent, Repeat.

Sit, Stay and Come here, next will be Down and Out.