One Of The Best Tricks To Teach Your Dog: The Reading Dog Trick

Cool dog tricks are a lot of fun. Here's one that you'll love. I think it's one of the best tricks to teach your dog. It's the "Reading Dog Trick." Here's how you do it.
The Reading Dog Trick is just what it sounds like. You teach your dog to read.
Say what?
Yep. You can teach your pup to read.
Why would you want to?
Well, for one thing it's one of those fun dog tricks. For another, it's a way to prepare for the unexpected.
Life has a tendency to throw curve balls. There may come a day when you have difficulty speaking. Maybe you just have laryngitis, and you can't call your pet. Or maybe you have a more serious condition.
More likely, your pup may lose his or her hearing someday. My Springer spaniel, Muggins, passed away last year at 17 years old. For the last couple years of her life, she had trouble hearing. I used flash cards and hand signals to communicate with her
Teaching a canine to read instructions isn't as complicated as you might imagine. The step-by-step process is pretty straightforward.

1. First, make some flash cards. For best results, use an 8 ½ X 11" sheet of white paper. Write the word you want your pup to understand in large letters. For example, DOWN.

2. Now get your canine's attention. Hold the flash card in one hand behind your back, and hold a treat or ball or whatever your dog loves best in the other hand. Have your dog stand in front of you.

3. Show your dog the paper with the word on it.

4. A split second after the dog sees the flash card, say the word on the card. Your pet should see the paper before you say the word, but don't wait too long. Don't look at your dog. The eye contact can be a distraction. Look down at the flash card.

5. Be sure you hold the flash card paper still. Keep your fingers away from the letters of the word. Stay very still. Wait.

6. When your pup does what you want the dog to do (in this example, lie down), immediately say, "Yes!" in a very high-pitched, excited voice. Hide the card behind your back and reward with a treat or toy in combination with effusive praise.

7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 three more times.
On the fourth repeat, if your dog has been responding well to your verbal command, just hold the card but don't say the word. If your dog seems confused, say the command. After you get compliance, start again and repeat until your dog does what you want without your saying the command.

8. Work these steps for a few minutes a day until your dog responds to the card alone. When this happens, go over the top with your praise. Dogs love praise and will work hard to get it.
Once your dog knows one word, you can move on to another.

Don't you agree that this is one of the best tricks to teach your dog? It's fun to do, and when people see it, they think it's one impressive dog trick.