This article is contributed by Debra Leong, B.V.Sc., Experienced Veterinarian and Trainer at Greenwood Academy

To keep our best friends safe, happy and engaged from the time we first meet them until their senior years, dog training is essential. Training strengthens the bond between you and your pup, allowing them to enjoy learning and interacting with you. It is an enrichment activity and helps your dog better navigate the world.

Basic commands like sit, stay and come (or recall) are fun and also invaluable for your dog’s safety, such as learning how to cross the road or how to safely interact with other dogs in the park. Training starts from puppyhood and continues throughout your dogs’ life. 

When our dogs don’t listen, it’s easy to label our dogs as lazy or not as bright or naughty. But the first step is to change our mindset.

Positive conditioning is one of the most effective and scientific dog training methods. It  involves conditioning your dog to associate a behaviour we want them to do, with something that they love. For example, when your dog hears your verbal cue, they sit, and you give them a treat. Your dog receives a reward everytime they hear a command and they perform the trick. 

Every dog will learn at a different pace. Learning a new behaviour could take days, weeks or months, and that’s ok. 

Try this trick at home

Want to get your dog to do a spin? Here is a step by step guide on how to do so!

1. Be prepared with lots of treats out of sight, like in your pocket or in a treat pouch
2. Show your dog that you are holding a treat between your thumb and index finger
3. Draw a very wide horizontal invisible circle in front of you as you continue to hold the treat (go the same direction each time)
4. Your dog will follow the treat. Try keeping the treat close to your dog’s nose, about 5cm away
5. Immediately after your dog has completed the entire circle, give a treat and say “yes” or “good boy/girl”

Hot tip: Your dog may not follow the treat for the entire circle if they begin in a sitting position. You can try stepping back a few steps for your dog to follow you, which encourages your dog out of a sitting position, then get your dog to follow the treat in a circle.

6. Repeat the first 5 steps a few times
7. Use the same hand to draw the circle, but this time, draw the circle without holding the treat. Once your dog has completed the entire circle, give your dog a treat from your other hand and say “yes” or “good boy/girl”
8. As you repeat step 7, you can try to change the shape of your hand so that you are drawing the circle with only a pointed index finger.
9. Start drawing a smaller and smaller circle so eventually your dog will understand to spin in a tighter circle
10. Once your dog is confidently and reliably spinning with a pointed index finger drawing a small circle (hand signal), you can add a verbal cue
11. Begin with the verbal cue (say “spin”), followed by the hand signal, then provide the treat from the other hand after your dog has completed the spin, and say “yes” or “good boy/girl”
12. Very gradually increase the time between the verbal cue and hand signal, and over time, your dog will learn to spin with just the verbal cue (without the hand signal)

Want more training tutorials?

If you want to learn more about training your pup, reach out to Greenwood Academy, an education provider for animal care – they prepare students to be job ready to meet the current and future requirements of employers within the animal care services industry.