Expert Dog Behaviourist Shares 4 Crufts-worthy Tricks You Can Easily Teach Your Pet at Home

In anticipation of the Crufts’ event scheduled March 7th to 10th, Dr Emma Scales-Theobald, PhD (dog behaviourist) at Pooch & Mutt shares her top tips for training your pooch with some Crufts-worthy agility tricks – from the comfort of your own garden!

While your pooch might not quite be Crufts ready, agility tricks are still great for their health, as well as being a mood-boosting mental stimulant to keep them happy and healthy.

Things to know before your training

Dr Emma says “Before jumping straight into training, there are a few things you (as the owner) need to check and make sure you have, in order for your training to run smoothly and for both you and your dog to get the most out of it.”

1. Patience

2. Tasty treats

3. A safe space

4. Consistent commands

Now let’s dig into the tricks…

1. Jumping over a hurdle

• Start with a hurdle low enough for your dog to step over, keeping them on a lead.

• Walk your dog over the bar, encouraging it with a “yes” and rewarding them with a treat every time they step over it.

• Gradually raise the bar. Have your dog sit on one side while you’re on the other. Call them over with a treat that they can visually see, guiding them with the lead if needed.

• Once over, praise and reward.

• Once they’re confident with this, start introducing the name of the command such as “jump” or “over”. Call your dog over the hurdle, and once their feet are off the ground say the command, then praise and reward again once they get to you.

2. Weaving through obstacles

• Place cones or upside-down plastic cups in a straight line, spaced evenly apart. At first, these gaps should be quite spacious.

• Before encouraging your dog to weave through the cones, you want to get them familiar with following a treat. Make it known to your pooch that you have a treat in your hand and get them to follow your hand. Mark with a “yes” and treat.

• Once they have the hang of this, move to guide them through the cones, again with a treat in hand (close to your dog’s snout). Praise and reward at the end.

• Repeat until your dog’s confident. Then introduce the command “weave” as they make their way through the cones. Praise and reward at the end.

• Once confident and familiar with the command you’ll no longer need to guide your dog through the cones, just use the command, then praise and reward.

• If they struggle, that’s fine. Jump back a step and guide them through again.

3. Running through a tunnel 

• Get a play tunnel or open the bottoms of large cardboard boxes, and place them together. Get your dog familiar with the tunnel. Let them sniff it, get close to it and reward their positive behaviour towards it with a “yes” and treat.

• Once you’re happy that your dog doesn’t fear the tunnel, lay out a trail of treats through it. At one end, have one person hold your dog, and at the other end, one person calling and encouraging them.

• Praise and treat once they’ve reached the end of the tunnel.

• Now repeat without treats in the tunnel and save for the end reward. Call and encourage your dog through, marking with a “yes” and reward.

• Now introduce a command such as “through” once your dog steps into the tunnel to mark the action. Again, encourage with a “yes” and reward. Repeat until your dog no longer needs a treat on the other side.

4. Spin on the spot

• Teaching your dog to spin is a little trickier. Start with a treat held closely to their snout and lure them around to one side, as they start to turn, praise and reward.

• Repeat, ensuring you always lure them the same way until they get used to the motion of turning.

• Lure them into a full circle with the treat close to their snout. Be patient. Just go back to your starting point and try again if your pooch doesn’t always get it.

• When your dog’s confidently following your hand in a full circle motion, move to incorporate the command “spin”. Say the command as they start the movement. Praise and reward once finished.

• Having repeated this many times, try getting them to spin without luring them with a treat until you can simply say”‘spin” and your dog knows exactly what to do!

Additional things to note

Spending quality time training with your dog can be really rewarding.

It both mentally and physically stimulates them, and can often strengthen the bond between you both.

It’s worth noting; only practice these in short bursts, as your pooch will become tired very quickly! 5 to 10 minutes on each exercise is enough per session, and will help to keep it fun without your dog losing interest!