How to Teach Your Dog to “Back Up”
There are plenty of benefits to teaching your dog this cute trick.

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If your dog has already mastered a slew of basic tricks like crawl, spin, and rollover, and you’re looking for something new to teach your pup, look no further. Teaching your dog to back up — to move away from you by taking steps backward — is a great choice. But it’s more than just a cute party trick; teaching your pup to back away from you is actually a pretty useful trick.
Even if your dog has a solid stay and wait, teaching your dog to back up will come in handy in many situations. Dogs can sometimes get in the way or literally underfoot, and asking them to “back up” solves the problem. You might be opening the front door, the pantry, or the fridge, and your dog is crowding the space. Or asking your dog to back away from a trash can, the dishwasher, another dog’s food bowl, or a toy.
The “back up” command also works while on walks to deter them from anything found on a street that looks gross or dangerous. While it’s true that the cue “leave it” will also work in those contexts — having a dog create physical distance between themselves and the forbidden object sometimes helps them resist temptation. “Leave it