I have had dogs before, but Buddy is the first dog who would require less than 5 repetitions before he would get some idea of what we want.
Buddy is a very stubborn animal, though, and needs to be coerced most of the time to do tricks. If we do not have a treat waiting for him, it takes quite awhile for him to do a desired trick.
The only trick he will do without too much pushing and without a treat on the first command is "sit." But in what we believe to be typical beagle stubbornness, he will move towards us and sit with his body and face looking away from us (as if to say "fine, I'll sit, but I won't look at you).
A lot of praise is essential because there is SOME level of "I want to please my masters" in him.
It was also key not to give into him if he disobeyed (i.e., no treat until he completes the trick).
We found that phrases were relatively easy to teach Buddy because we would simply repetitively label his natural behaviors. When we saw him getting his ball or toy, we would repeatedly say "Go get your ball" or "Go get your toy." He now understands these commands. When we would go upstairs to go to sleep, we would tell him. "Go upstairs." Now, he understands.
If he sees a treat, he has a tendency to begin doing tricks without being asked. And, when we start giving him commands, he will often anticipate other ones. "Down" will sometimes cause him to move his body down and then immediately jump into the "play dead" trick.