How to Train Your Small Dog to Laugh

Your dog may be small in stature, but she has a huge personality. She's itching to greet everyone that comes through the door. She's also desperate to be the center of attention at every family gathering. She purposefully makes her way through the crowd-attracting ‘awws’, cuddles, and food as she goes. You know Poppy likes to please a crowd and that's why you want to start teaching her some funny tricks. You’ve mastered the basics such as roll over and wave. So now you’d like to up the stakes and teach her to laugh!

If you can train your small dog to laugh, then you’ve got the best party trick around. Just seeing your dog laugh will be enough to get even the quietest of guests to come out of their shell. It’s also a great building block to move onto teaching her even more advanced commands later on. While laughing on command may not be what most people expect when they see your pint-sized pooch, the silly sound will definitely grab some attention. 

Training your small dog to laugh is actually surprisingly straightforward. Training will consist of a number of stages. You’ll firstly need to watch her closely and look for situations that naturally trigger a laugh or a laughing sound. Once you have this, you can use positive reinforcements to encourage Poppy to repeat the behavior. You can then think about introducing a verbal cue to increase your control over the trick.

If your small dog is a puppy and full of energy, you could see results in just a few days. This is because dogs are at their most receptive when they’re in their puppy stages. But if Poppy is older and her training days are mostly in the past, then you may need a couple of weeks of consistent practice before you see results. Get training right and you’ll have a fantastic way to bond with your little canine pal. You’ll also have the perfect Snapchat story!

Before you start work, you need to make sure you have a few things. The most important component will be the incentives, so stock up on mouth-watering treats. Alternatively, break her favorite food into small chunks. A toy and a clicker will also be needed for one of the methods below.

Try and find around ten minutes each day to train and opt for a time where neither of you will be distracted. Remember if your dog is a puppy, then keep training sessions short or she may quickly lose interest.

Once you’re confident you have all that, just bring patience and enthusiasm, then the work can begin!