How to Train Your Dog to Play Tag

Playing games is one of the best ways to interact with your dog. Games like fetch, tug-of-war, jumping rope, and tag are a great way for your dog to get the exercise he needs, which in turn helps keep his heart healthy and keep him calm the rest of the day. Like most tricks, this one will take a little while for your pup to get the hang of it. You can teach this trick to any dog who has learned the basic commands such as sit, stay, come, and so forth. However, with pups under one year of age, you should not involve jumping in any training as this can damage developing bones.

Once you have taught your dog to play tag, you can get the entire family involved. The more people your pup has to play with, the happier he is likely to be. What a great way to tire out an overactive pup so you can enjoy a relaxing evening without him going nuts around the house. 

This game is a little different from the one you used to play when you were kids. In this game one kid is "it" and has to tag one of the other kids playing, it didn't matter who. In this version of tag, you will be training your pup to find the person whose name is called out. Not only is this a great game for your pup to play, it will also help to reinforce the recall on command training.

While this game is generally intended to be one for outside time, you can play a similar game inside with everyone hanging out in different parts of the house. In some ways, this is similar to playing hide and seek in the house but without anyone needing to hide. Just remember, the more time you spend playing energetic games, the calmer and relaxed he will become. 

This game is an extension of basic 'sit', 'come', and 'stay' training, so in reality, the only things you might need are an assistant, a bunch of your dog's favorite treats, and a quiet, spacious place to work on the training. The one thing you will need to come up with is a command to use, you might consider "tag" or "find", adding the other person's name after the command word. For example,  "Tag Johnny" or "Find Susie", be sure to address your pup by name first so he knows you are talking to him.  The rest of the training involves patience and time, be patient while your pup is learning and set aside time for training as often as possible. The rest of it is simply to get out there and have fun together.