To teach your St. John’s Water Dog tricks, even the simple ones, you should carry some savory snacks, be in a remote suitable location and hold the teaching sessions to 10 – 15 minutes or your St. John’s Water Dog will start to get bored. Don’t forget that when he gets something right give him lots of appreciation and a reward treat, but take care not to get him over thrilled or he might lose concentration.
Teach your St. John’s Water Dog to offer you his paw
To teach your St. John’s Water Dog to offer you his paw, initially get him to sit, then as you say the word ‘paw’ take his paw in your hand and offer him a treat. After that do it again, and after a few successful tries do not take his paw so fast. State the word ‘paw’, count to 1 and then after that take it. You need to observe that he is raising his paw upward as you state the word. If he doesn’t then go back to stating it at the exact same time. Do it a few more times then slow your reaction once again. After 2 or 3 sessions most St. John’s Water Dogs pick this trick up quite easily.
Teach your St. John’s Water Dog to give you a high five
Like a lot of tricks the high five is a continuation of a basic trick, and in this case the paw trick. Hold a treat in between your two fingers and raise your hand just a little higher than you’d raise it for the paw trick. Your St. John’s Water Dog will think you want to perform the paw trick and will reach for the treat with his paw as we had taught him previously. While he rises you say “high 5” and give your St. John’s Water Dog the snack. Once your St. John’s Water Dog has mastered the paw trick this one should be really easy to learn and with just a few sessions he will be doing it from your hand signal rather than voice control.
Teach your St. John’s Water Dog to leap through a hoop
Before you begin this one I would just like to ask you to be a little practical and not suspend the hoop too high up as you do not want your St. John’s Water Dog to injure himself while practicing the trick. Place your St. John’s Water Dog on one side of a hula hoop, get him to focus on your hand on the opposite side of the hoop. Place a treat in your hand and offer the St. John’s Water Dog the command to stop sitting. At first he might try to go around or underneath the hula hoop. In the event that this occurs start once again. Your St. John’s Water Dog desires the snack and will soon find out that walking around or below does not work so he will soon begin going through it. As soon as he does, say “hoop” and give him the treat. He will soon be leaping through the hoop upon the command of “hoop”. When I initially started doing this trick I owned a medium sized dog, so I started with the hoop six inches from the floor and gradually lifted it to waist height. If you own a smaller sized dog you may wish to begin with the hoop on the ground so he just goes through the hoop and after that slowly raise it more as he gets used to the trick.
I really hope you have enjoyed learning these 3 tricks you can teach your St. John’s Water Dog. Have patience with your St. John’s Water Dog and most of all, have a good time!
Don’t forget to check out these other articles about St. John’s Water Dogs
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