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Basic Training. Why should you teach your dogs how to take treats? Have you ever given a treat to a dog which bites your fingers and pushes until he gets it? Should he do this to a young child it could result in injury. As a responsible pet owner teaching your dog to "Be Gentle" is a good thing.
Step One .
You put a treat in the middle of your hand.

Step Two .
You close your hand.

Step Three .
Bring your hand near your dog's nose so he can sniff it.

Step Four.
Click your clicker or say "ok" then open your hand and let him take the treat from your hand saying give the "Gentle" command

End Result .
Do this until the dog learns to accept your control over the food. After you can start giving him with two fingers if he snatches at the treat or nips your fingers just take the treat away and try again after five minutes. He must learn to be nice or he doesn't get ANY treats.

Temptation . This is one of the most important training techniques that I use. I use tempting on most of my tricks training, and the dogs love it. You are simply tempting the dog into a position using the food as bait. In this session all you are doing is getting the dog to follow your hand.
Step One .
You put a treat in the middle of your hand.

Step Two .
Bring your hand near your dog's nose so he can sniff it.

Step Three .
Move your hand left and right, down and up. You want the dog to focus on your hand at all times.

Step Four.
Click your clicker or say "ok" then open your hand and let him take the treat from your hand.

End result .
Do this until your dog can follow your hand no matter where it goes. You know you got it when you can make the dog turn around.

If your dog is having difficulties with this, just reward more often. As soon as he starts to follow your hand (even if it's 1 second) click and reward.

Name. Teaching your dog his name is the most important thing to do. It can be life saving, and it really helps when you want your dog to focus on you. You want your dogs name to be a positive thing for him, so every time you say his name he should be rewarded by either praise, a toy, some treats or my favorite; play. Never say your dogs name when he is doing something bad.

Step One .
You put a treat in the middle of your hand.

Step Two .
You call your dog's name.

Step Three .
Then entice him to come towards you with your voice or a toy or running away.

Step Four.
When he gets to you, Click your clicker or say "ok" then give him the treat or if you have a toy let him play with it.

End Result
Do this until your dog runs towards you the first time you call his name. You want the dog to understand that good things happen when he gets to you. So you must be extremely happy and play with him.

Do not do this exercise in a distracting environment or your dog will just ignore you.

SIT Your dog must have learned temptation to do this command. The sit is very useful and it is the command you will most likely use the most. This exercise will take a week or two.

There are basically three steps within this exercise.

(1) Tempt him into a sit.

(2) You say "sit" before the temptation.

(3) You say "sit" without any temptation.

Do step 1 for a few days. Then do step 2 for another few days. If your dog is doing well you can start to "test" him by mixing Step 2 & 3 together.

Step One .
You put a treat in the middle of your hand.

Step Two .
You say the word "sit".

Step Three .
Then tempt him into a sit by putting the treat just above his nose and going towards him.

Step Four.
When he sits, immediately click your clicker and reward him.

End Result
It is very important that you mix step 2 and step 3 together so that you increase the difficulty level on a gradient. Your dog must sit on the first time that you say it without any tempting.

THE DOWN . Your dog must know temptation to do this command. The down is a really good command; once your dog knows it you can start using it to get other tricks out of it. This exercise will take a week or two.

There are basically three steps within this exercise.

(1) Lure him into a down.

(2) You say "down" before the temptation.

(3) You say "down" without any temptation.

Do step 1 for a few days. Then do step 2 for another few days. If your dog is doing well you can start to "test" him by mixing Step 2 & 3 together.

Step One .
You put a treat in the middle of your hand.

Step Two .
You say the word "down".

Step Three .
Then tempt him into a down by putting the treat just in front of his nose and moving your hand towards the floor.

Step Four.
When he is completely down, immediately click your clicker or say "ok" and reward him.

End Result
It is very important that you mix step 2 and step 3 together so that you increase the difficulty level on a gradient. Your dog must lie down on the first time you say it, without any tempting.

THE STAND . Your dog must know temptation to do this command. The stand is a little harder then the others simply because you must reward at exactly the right time. This exercise will take a week or two.

There are basically three steps within this exercise.

(1) Tempt him into a stand. (Make sure that he only takes one step otherwise you are rewarding him for walking and not standing.)

(2) You say "stand" before the temptation.

(3) You say "stand" without any temptation.

Do step 1 for a few days. Then do step 2 for another few days. If your dog is doing well you can start to "test" him by mixing Step 2 & 3 together.

Step One .
You put a treat in the middle of your hand.

Step Two .
You say the word "stand".

Step Three .
Then tempt him into a stand by putting your hand in front of his nose and bringing him towards you or to your side.

Step Four.
As soon as his butt gets up and he takes a step, immediately click your clicker or say "ok" and reward.

End Result
It is very important that you mix step 2 and step 3 together so that you increase the difficulty level on a gradient. Your dog must stand up on the first time you say it, without any tempting.