Start out with the toys. Grab a few toys; a squeaky toy maybe, a stuffed animal, and a tennis ball. Point to the tennis ball and have him touch it. Click, treat. Have him do it again. Click, treat. Again. Click, treat. By then, he’ll be touching it without you telling him to. By this time, you can start saying, “ball!” whenever he touches the tennis ball. Repeat this until he can get his tennis ball when you say “Ball!” The reason why the other toys are there is because those are things that he can touch if he wanted to, but you’re just telling him to touch that one thing. After he can do the command “Ball” a few times, end the session and come back later. It’s normal for a dog to not know what the command is after a little while. You just have to refresh his memory. Do another five minute session just like you did the first time and he’ll be good to go.

Do the same thing for teaching the dog a person’s name. Have him touch, nudge, or put his paw up on the person, and click, treat. Repeat until he’s doing it regularly, then start saying the person‘s name when he nudges that person. Repeat that until you can say the command and he’ll run to the person and nudge him.

Another way for you to teach him a toy is to play Frisbee or fetch. Whenever he comes back with the toy, say, “Bring me Frisbee” every time. That way he’ll remember that he needs to bring you that toy, which is named Frisbee.