What is the first 'trick' or 'command' you taught your dog?

And how did you teach it?

Touch - it was by accident, whenever we shouted him by his name (which is everyone's first trick to train Azz ) we'd give him a treat for coming and it was by accident that everytime we had a treat in our hands, we'd wait for him to stop trying to get it then gave it him...sort of like a leave without the command...but then he started coming and touching our hands once with his nose and then he sat/stood back and waited for the treat - so I stuck a word to it.

Depends what you mean by a) a trick and b) whether it was taught or put on cue.

For example, you do not have to teach a dog to stand, sit, lie down or bark, they do this naturally. The trick is to train the dog to do it on command.

Yep - teaching them a trick or getting them to do (or not do something - when you want them to)

obviously I always start with the basics, sit, wait, lie down.. I suppose the first 'trick' would be 'paw'. All my dogs know paw and other paw...

I taught it to selkie by touching her paw and giving her a treat while saying 'paw' then i would touch her paw and wait for her to move it then treat... finally i would touch her paw then say paw and wait for her to touch my hand with her paw.. then repeat moving ever further away until I had captured both paw, other paw and jump up for high five ... for Pharaoh and kismet I just had to let them watch Selkie do the trick and they soon copied to get their own treat adorably Kismet also plays footsy where she carefully and deliberately stands on your feet

When Merlin was a little pup he was a total sponge.... and so gorgeous too (lost all the photos when computer died).

I think the first thing I did with him on day 2 was introduce the clicker paired with treats, he picked it up so fast. It meant that whenever he went into the garden and did a wee or poo, I could click him and he happily ran to me to get his reward. A week later and after 10 mins of training he would give me a paw - next day after 5 mins he would give the other paw.... the clicker was magical and it still is!

Down with Siren, then she started to get her name...and a play word then sit (I think)

Zeff....touch, then sit, then down.

It is just beautiful to see them blossom, isn't it! I knew OF clicker training many years ago.... but had never tried it, so I bought the clicker before my pup arrived, read up on it, knew how to use it, did so, and the rest is history.

I guess I see "tricks" as different from necessary commands, though they're all tricks to dogs!

The first thing I taught my dog to do on command was sit. It seemed like a good place to start for simple politeness. I taught that one by luring her into a sit with a treat and then quickly getting rid of the treat.

The first real "trick" I taught her was to give me her paw. That was pretty easy as Dahlia is REALLY paw oriented so I just said give me your paw and held out my hand. And then I just kept it there until she gave me her paw. When she did, she got a reward. It didn't take her long to catch on.

Unless you have a dog who already knew their name! The foster home was calling our dog Dahlia and when she got to us, she already responded to it.