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Sure, your dog can do the boring tricks like ‘roll over' and ‘fetch'. But can your pooch pick up after you? A great trick to teach your dog is to pick items up off the floor. All you need to do is follow these instructions and you'll have your pooch tidying up your floor in no time.
Step 1:

Be prepared to reward your dog. Dogs love treats. It's just a fact of life. So if you want to teach your dog to pick up items off the floor, you're going to need to be prepared to reward your dog for his good work. Have a handful of his favorite treats with you as you attempt to teach him this new trick.

Step 2:

Use something invaluable as a training tool. You can't use your dog's toys as training tools when teaching him to pick up random items off of the floor because the dog already knows how to pick up his toys. Instead, use something invaluable to you and unknown to the dog, such as a plastic cup. Keep a few on hand in case your puppy chews through one.

Step 3:

Knock something onto the floor. To start to teach your dog to pick things up, first knock something onto the floor. Don't throw it - knock it over. You don't want your dog to perceive this as a game of fetch as he would with his other dog toys. You want him to see that something if on the ground, he must pick it up not as a toy, but as something valuable to you that he shouldn't play with. So don't throw the training tool.

Step 4:

Call to the dog. With the plastic cup lying on the ground, call to your dog. Stand in front of the plastic cup and your dog, and kneel down. Then pick up the cup and put it to your dog's mouth. Say your dog's name, followed by ‘pick it up'. Repeat ‘[Rover] pick it up' several times as you pick up the cup and place it to your dog's mouth. Eventually, your dog should realize that you want him to put the cup in his mouth.

Step 5:

Praise the dog. When your dog first picks up the item off the floor, give him a lot of praise. Cheer him and pet him and act excited so that he realizes that you're happy with what he's done. Then give him lots of treats! Once he realizes that he's done something right, he'll continue to do it over and over again in order to make you happy and get a few treats in return. You must always praise and reward your dog in order to teach any trick and make it a permanent one.

As your dog becomes more competent with this trick, practice standing further and further away from your dog while asking him to pick it up. This will teach him that it is okay to pick up items off the floor even if you're not standing directly beside him.  

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