Or is it the Expert Underdog?
I have been an “underdog” most of my life – and an expert at it. But amazingly, I have managed to learn tricks that maybe no one EVER thought I was capable of. And now I have actually achieved the Expert Trick Dog Title! Believe it or not! Yes, moi!
Trick training began during Lockdown when Mum made it one of her goals to spend more one-on-one time with Darcy and myself. Even though there was having nothing much else to do, she wasn’t sure how to go about engaging meaningfully until Julie James introduced her Dog Trick Training guide on Facebook. And our Mum-of-little-faith thought it to be such a huge challenge until she looked at the list of tricks for each level. She realised that both Darcy and I could already qualify for Novice Tricks. And Darcy was already past Intermediate and she couldn’t believe how quickly Darcy achieved Expert Title in two months.
In the meantime, Mum was satisfied that I was at Novice level. But after Darcy got her Expert Title, she thought maybe, just maybe I could achieve Intermediate. A further lockdown meant she could focus on me. Miraculously, I achieved Intermediate and Advance relatively easily. “He had exceeded himself,” she thought.
When Darcy passed away in January 2022, we went travelling almost all the time. I think you can say she was keeping herself busy away from the familiarity of home. It wasn’t until she was re-inspired by our friend Ju-li who was teaching Mr. Darcy tricks that Mum wondered if maybe, just maybe I could achieve Expert level.
We took it slowly, very slowly. There was no time pressure. We needed to be able to do five tricks. Footsies was something we’ve done for a long time.
Now, which four others could I possibly do?
When we managed to hit three out of the five tricks – and that was when Mum started to believe in me. We mastered ‘Being Shy’
And ‘Walking the Plank’ which I had to learn quickly because Mum couldn’t stand having the obstacles laid out in the living room! 😆
Life got busy and there wasn’t much time for me to practice. The fourth trick, ‘Scent/Shell Game’ was very frustrating. I knew how to paw, I knew how to sniff but I couldn’t put the two together. I did eventually.
“One more, Georgie,” Mum said, “Let’s get to the finishing line.” Yeah, she almost gave up on me … but the achiever in her wouldn’t let it go! She decided that the last trick was ‘Cross Paws’ – a trick that Darcy learnt very quickly but it took me … well, we started this back in August … will I ever get it? The training was sporadic – whenever Mum didn’t have anything else she needed to do.
And so, on April Fool’s Day when Mum found herself with no commitments on a Saturday, she picked me up and put me on the table – because she still had difficulty kneeling on the floor. “C’mon Georgie,” she said, “let’s see what you’ve got.” It was a promising start to the session – I seem to have remembered what I was suppose to do, and after a few “No!” and exasperated, “George!!!” – voila! I finished my fifth trick!
Approved by Instructor Julie James, I am now an Expert Trick Dog!
May’s comment: So proud of George.
I admit I am guilty of underestimating George.
Maybe because of his initial start in life where he did not have the guided human interaction, he was always reactive rather than thoughtful. Darcy, on the other hand, was always thinking, she was gauging what I needed and wanted from her because we started life together. She was reading my reaction to things and made her easy to teach.
Darcy went from Novice to Expert in two months!
When George finally did his fifth and final trick, I played down his achievement, like I always did. I was telling Ju-li how dreadfully long it took him to get to Expert Level in comparison to Darcy. I was nicely reminded by her that it was not about the speed at which they learn because the end result is the same. I realised then I needed to stop comparing them.
George has come a long way and I marvel at how much he has achieved.
Many would laugh at his funny spins, his snaggle tooth and rolled their eyes at how he would go berserk barking at bikes and trucks. They just always thought of him as the wild street dog! We can’t trust him off lead because he would go feral.
He is not perfect like none of us are. But he is the best George that he can be.
