Month: December 2025

Top 5 Dog Training Tips for 2025

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What’s your mental picture of a well-trained dog? If it’s one of those impressively heel-hugging automatons garnering views on social media, this isn’t the training site for you. 

If, on the other hand, you want an awesome companion who knows how to make good decisions, this is the place. The goal here is to teach you and your dog to be a team, whether competing in dog sports or just hanging out watching screens. It may not be an equal partnership. You’re always going to be the one making important life decisions and keeping food on the table (or in the bowl). But you will have an awesome junior partner.

Whatever training games you play, how often you play them, and what behaviors are most important to you, you decide. Keeping these five top dog training tips in mind will keep you on track, whatever your dog goals may be.

Pay your dog

You wouldn’t take a job that doesn’t pay. Don’t expect your dog to “work” for free. When they do something right, a reward lets them know. 

The reward doesn’t always have to be food. But you don’t get to decide what’s rewarding to your dog. If you love chocolate, someone giving you a banana isn’t going to cut it. If your dog loves Chicken Heart Treats, a piece of kibble isn’t going to be highly rewarding. Tailor the treat to the dog’s taste. 

Shut up  

Almost everybody does it and it never works. Saying “Sit!” 12 times instead of once isn’t helpful. By all means encourage your dog and talk to them. But give them time to think and process what you say. 

Dogs naturally love patterns. If you always say “Sit!” three times, your dog will think that’s the command. If you say it once and wait for your dog to do it (look at their butt, not their face), they’ll figure it out. 

Be consistent

Each word and each hand signal can have only one meaning for your dog. It doesn’t matter what word or motion you use, as long as it’s the same every time you use it. 

If you’re teaching your dog “Place!” you can call the “Place!” whatever you want. Our students have used “Mat!” and “Bed!” and assorted other words. Whatever word works for you is fine. But remember what it is and keep it the same.

Be clear

Decide what you want and stick to it. If you say “Sit!” and your dog lies down, don’t accept it. That’s not a “Sit!” 

This is more than just being picky. Even if you don’t care whether your dog sits or downs, you’ll confuse your dog if you accept one for the other. They won’t know what either one means. 

Half measures aren’t acceptable either. In competitive Obedience and Rally, “Down!” means that the dog’s elbows are on the ground. Setting specific criteria for behaviors actually helps your dog understand. 

Have fun

Training is all about having fun with your dog. Play as many training games as you like, but keep each one short and fast. Your dog will look forward to playing with you. If you’re in a lousy mood, playing with your dog will improve your outlook and your day. 

You’ll find your dog anticipating training games as the best part of your day. If you play at a specific time every day, your dog will come and find you when it’s time. Those few minutes of focused interaction will be their favorite time, every time. And keeping these 5 dog training tips in mind will help you make the most of every session.

Just for the fun of it – Leg Weaving Game

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There are lots of useful things to teach your dog. The Leg Weaving Game isn’t one of them. It’s just pure, unadulterated fun!

All you need for this game is yourself, your dog, and some treats. That’s it! 

What’s Leg Weaving anyway?

There are two ways of playing Leg Weaving. 

The simpler version, where the dog does all the work, is stationary. You stand still, legs apart, and your dog walks, trots, or runs in a figure-eight pattern around and between your legs. 

The more complex version puts you in motion and your dog going between your legs as you walk. This one takes time to get up to speed. Leg weaving builds on the body awareness exercises we talked about in the Doggy Dressage 2-Minute Tip. There’s potential for a lot of tripping, falling, and kicking your dog if you aren’t careful.

Note: if you play Agility with your dog, you may want to name this game something other than “weaving.” The weave poles are a required obstacle in Agility and once your dog has mastered it, you don’t want to mess it up. Because we train for Agility with our dogs, we call the stationary version “Legs,” and the moving version “Twine.”

Simple Leg Weaving

Have treats in both hands. Stand in front of your dog with your legs apart. The object of the game is for your dog to go between your legs, circle one leg, then the other. It creates a “figure 8” pattern, or an infinity symbol.

Reach behind your leg and show your dog the treat between your legs. Dogs can be reluctant to go under their people, so be sure it’s a really tasty treat and your dog knows you have it. As your dog moves to get the treat, bring your hand around your leg to the front. Don’t go too fast! Move at the pace your dog is going, keeping that tempting morsel right in front of their nose.

When you reach the front, give the dog the treat in that hand, while reach behind and between to show them the treat in the other hand. Do the same thing with the other leg. Draw the dog around your leg and reward in front. 

Most dogs catch on to this double-treat behavior really quickly. Some glitches can occur if you move the treat too quickly, switch hands too fast, or pull your hand back before the dog has completed the circle around your leg. Your dog will follow your hand, so be sure your motion reflects where you want your dog to go.

As your dog learns “Legs!” you can increase the speed and reward less frequently. Be sure you say the word for the game as you’re playing. In time, your dog will perform the behavior when you use the cue word. 

Get Moving

Leg Weaving in motion, or “Twine” is more complicated. Have treats in both hands. With your dog sitting at your side, step forward with the leg opposite to the dog. If your dog is on the right, step out with your left leg. Show the dog the treat with your left hand between your legs. Draw the dog forward and between your legs. Again, don’t move your hand faster than your dog is moving. Make sure they’ve reached your other side before you reward.

When the dog is on the other side (left, in this scenario), step out with your right leg and, with your right hand, show the dog a treat between your legs. Get them to move between your legs and reward when they’re completely on your right side. Rinse and repeat – as many times as you like.

Here’s Simon and Fran.

Stutter step

Don’t go too fast too soon. You may lose your balance, kick your dog, or get completely tangled up. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with sticking to the simpler version – especially if you have a tall dog. This is one of the few games where smaller dogs have a distinct advantage, although all of our students have been able to do it. Even the ones with Great Danes. 

Have more fun with your dog! 

Your Face Is A Stop Sign

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Seeing your face signals your dog to stop. Don’t believe it? It’s easy to test. Invite your dog to run with you. You’re both going along together, facing the same way. If you suddenly stop and look at your dog, they’ll stop, too. And stare you in the face.

When you have a conversation with another person, it’s considered polite to look at them. Dogs are the same. Your dog always wants to see your face. 

In some ways, that’s a wonderful thing. Doesn’t everyone make funny sounds to get dogs to look? And if we get the adorable head tilt, we keep doing it.

Not always what we want

There are times, however, that you don’t want your dog to stop and look at you. You’d think that calling your dog to “Come!” is easy and natural. 

It’s not. If you’re standing still, facing your dog, and call them, they may not move an inch. They can see you, but your face is a stop sign. 

Motion triggers motion

When this happens, most people will sweep an arm back, encouraging the dog to move. It usually works. It also means that your dog doesn’t have a reliable recall. 

In Obedience competition, the rules require you to stand absolutely still when you call your dog. You can’t do any of the things that come naturally. You can’t back up a step, pat your leg, move your head. Any handler motion when a verbal command is used is considered a “double command” and not allowed.

This exercise, done correctly, demonstrates that your dog knows the word and what to do when they hear it. 

Good to know

Most people aren’t competing in Obedience. They just want their dogs to come when called. The easiest and fastest way to teach that is the Chase Recall. Your motion spurs your dog to move.

It’s true with all dog behaviors. One of the most difficult parts of “Stay!” for dogs is sitting still while you walk around. Most dogs will either swivel on their hindquarters to keep watching you, or get up entirely.

Take advantage

Knowing that your dog always wants to zero in on where you’re facing, you can use that to direct your dog’s learning. When teaching “Place!” you stare at the dog bed. Your interest in an object will make it intriguing for your dog.

That’s the principle that lots of our games are based on. The ones that involve manipulating objects start with you staring at the object. The ones that require the dog to move somewhere start with you looking there.

We tried it today. One of the behaviors we teach our dogs is to walk sideways. When facing each other, the dog’s natural tendency is to move their front legs in line with us, but their back end tends to go crooked. Today we tried the behavior looking at where we’re going (to the side) rather than at our dog. It works. 

Watch where you’re going

When we were learning agility handling, one of the first things we were taught was that dogs will follow your shoulder. They go where your shoulder indicates. If you’re running or walking straight ahead, keep your shoulders square. If you’re moving to your right, that’s where you orient your upper body. 

Your dog is attuned to every move you make and is keenly aware of your body language. If you can’t figure out why your dog is moving a certain way, check yourself. You may be giving them a signal you don’t intend. Like looking straight at them when you want them to keep moving.

Dog Training Game: Which Bucket

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When we were kids, our mom worked in Downtown Chicago, in the Loop. During the summer, we would take the “El” into the city to meet her for lunch at the Veranda Room in Marshall Field’s department store. No, there were no dogs there. What was at Field’s, above the first floor cosmetics department, was a magnificent mosaic ceiling, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. 

Why this trip down memory lane? Because it gave us great joy to stand in the cosmetics department and stare up at the ceiling made of more than a million pieces of iridescent glass. When our necks got tired, we’d look back to ground level and realize that everybody around us was staring up at the ceiling, too. People do that. If you really look at something, everyone around you will stop and look.

So will dogs. And that’s how you start playing the “Which Bucket?” game with your dog.

Variation on a theme

Quite a few of the games we play with our dogs involve them retrieving something and putting it someplace else – the Ring Stacking Game, for one. It’s also the nuts-and-bolts of “Put Your Toys Away.”

The dog only has one place to put whatever it is.

But what if there were two? Or more? And what will the dog do if both containers are identical? or different? All of these options are ways to refresh any “put it away” game. If you just want to add a fun challenge to your game, use any variation and let your dog have fun.

Directed aim

If you want to use the game to strengthen your training connection with your dog, try directing your dog to a specific container. There are a couple ways of doing this. The first is to just look at the container you want your dog to use. Just like staring at the mosaic ceiling, pretend that it’s the most fascinating thing you’ve ever seen in your life. Bend over, get as close as you can. 

Keep up a dialogue with your dog. Encourage them, talk to them. Invite them over to check out the neato-keeno container. Remind them to bring the toy/ring/block with them. Talk to your dog and project some enthusiasm and energy. Dogs respond to the atmosphere in the room, so make it fun.

Point it out

The other way to direct your dog to the bin you want them to drop the object in is to point at it. We’ve talked about how some dogs naturally follow a point. For others, it’s a learned skill. But all dogs are capable of it – it’s been part of Obedience competition for years. 

Put the two containers out and sit on the floor about equal distance from each one. Bring a bunch of objects you want your dog to put away. We used the dive rings from our ring-stacking game. Hand one of the objects to your dog and point, with one hand or both, to the container you want the dog to put it in. Be sure you also look where you want your dog to go, not at your dog. Facing your dog always stops them. Looking where you want them to go gives them direction. 

When the dog moves away from you, toward the container you indicated, celebrate! You’ve just opened another line of communication with your best friend.