Who doesn’t like a cool party trick? Teaching your dog fun tricks is a great way to bond. It keeps dogs mentally and physically agile, helps them channel their natural energy into trained activities, and gives them the opportunity to enjoy lots of praise and affection!
Here are 7 less-common party tricks many dogs can learn with practice. Ultimately, your dog should be trained only to do these when invited by a cue word.
1. Open and close the door. If you have a proven door-dasher, this is not a trick you want your pup to learn! Otherwise, you can teach your dog to open the door for your dog-loving party guests on cue, then wait quietly for praise.
2. Karaoke, anyone? Find some songs that you and your dog both enjoy and take your human-dog duo to the stage. Teaching your dog to “sing” on cue is fun. Grab a glass of water, because you could get hoarse from howling by example.
3. Nothing says hello like an invited kiss on the cheek. Slobbering and licking is almost second nature to some dogs. But teaching a dog to restrain themselves to a gentle, saliva-free kiss on the cheek – when invited – will take a little extra effort.
4. Look pretty for the selfie session. Dogs need to learn to Sit and Stay. You can take it one step further with Sit Still and increase the time your dog keeps that wiggly butt planted. This is the perfect way to sneak in those cute party photos for social media.
5. Fetch a specific object. Help Fido learn to fetch individual items for you by name. Think of training your dog to bring you common stuff you often set aside at a party, like your sneakers or jacket.
6. Give a present to a guest. Teaching your dog how to open their own wrapped presents is pretty cool. You can also teach your dog to carry other presents (or any item you indicate) to your guests. What fun for both of them!
7. Bust a move. Here are a handful of dance moves you can teach your dog! Reverse, roll over, weave, spin and stand tall – any of these will have your pup moving and grooving on the dance floor. I’ve actually taught my dogs “dance” I give them my hands and they stand up on they hind legs and put their paws in my hands. (its my favorite trick)
