Tricky Dogs!

It is official! I am working towards the Expert Dog Trick Title. Mum finally believes I can do it!

Do you remember lockdown 2020 – when the world outside stood still and we were all busy doing things indoors? One of Mum’s Lockdown goals was to do more with us, besides our essential walks. She wanted to teach us some tricks. But with all the good intentions, nothing was happening. Not until Julie started her Trick Training challenge with ‘Do More With Your Dog’. That sounded just like one of the things on Mum’s lockdown to-do list during lockdown.

Mum had little faith in us and didn’t think we would get very far. But when she looked at the list of tricks she realised that there were a lot of things that we already knew. Woohoo! We had a leg up – and so in no time Darcy got to Expert Level. Julie urged Mum to try the Grand Champion title. She sorted out a list of things to teach Darcy but she got distracted when Lockdown eased. We’ll do it – someday, she said.

As for me, Mum thought she’d be happy if I got a Novice title. But a little push saw me getting to Intermediate and to Mum’s absolute surprise I managed to complete five tricks to get the Advanced Title. There’s no way he’ll get to Expert, she thought, and she left it at that.

And then Darcy unexpectedly got ill and she passed away.

Mum had so many things planned for us to do after Lockdown and getting to the Grand Champion Title someday was one of them. With that in mind, Mum didn’t want any more regrets. She must at least try and see if I can make Expert. She recently looked at the long list of tricks I needed to do five to achieve Expert level.

The options are many but I have my limitations.

Footsies was one of the tricks I did learn quickly and got extra points for my Advance title. This is me doing footsies.

Mum used to love us doing our sister-brother act!

But we need four more tricks to achieve Expert Level. What else can I do?

I’m not good with holding things in my mouth. And large objects, especially if they fall and make a loud noise would scare me.

Mum noted that I am very expressive with my paws and thought it would be best to play to my strengths.

She found a few tricks that I could work on. The first was “Shy” … which is touching my face as if covering my eyes.

And now we are working on two more tricks that uses paws – Cross Paws and Shell Game. These are work-in-progress.

Being bow-legged and short legs provide added challenges for crossing my paws. I will probably never cross them completely nor prettily. But that’s ok as long as I get the concept. We are working on it.

Shell Game is a scent game and I needed to tap the pot which has the treat. I am good at pawing anything that I would just paw at any of the pots thinking that would get me a treat. I am missing the connection at the moment between scent and paw. What to do?

After we get these two down, we have ONE more to do. As we are doing Agility, the BIG goal is to learn to do the weave. Watch this space – but you may be watching for awhile!!! LOL!

May’s comment: Trick training during Lockdown was one of the markers – and it gave me not only a challenge but I also learnt a lot about my dogs. I realised quickly that they were both different in their approach to learning. Darcy was quick to get what I wanted her to do that I forget that she’s a dog and did not necessarily understand language. But she understood my emotions. When I got frustrated and she wasn’t getting what I wanted her to do, she would walk away and stop. And then not only did I know it was time to stop but also felt bed for being frustrated. And as if she needed to process it, the next time we tried the same trick – she would get it! It happened again and again.

So when I am angry that Lockdown took away so many opportunities to do so many things with Darcy in particular, teaching them how to do tricks actually gave me the time to fully engage with them while teaching. And I am grateful to Julie for giving us a pathway and the encouragement to keep going.

Two years on, Julie has gained traction with her training. Besides practising on her training with Barnaby, she had taken dog training courses. And after much thought, she is now launching her London Dog Trick Training.

You can get in touch with Julie if you are interested in using trick training to engage with your dogs. It is not just about doing tricks but really about understanding your dog, engaging with them – they also love it because there are lots of treats involved.

Here, in Julie’s own words as to “Why Trick Training is so much more than just Tricks!” 

I came across trick training thanks to Instagram. A dog-trainer posted a 30 day trick challenge with their dog and I decided to have a go. I’d taught my dog Barnaby a few things like paw and rollover already, but trying new things for the challenge was fun, and I realised some things weren’t as hard to teach him as I thought they would be.  

Then I discovered the American scheme ‘Do More With Your Dog’ and we worked our way through their trick titles. Each level built on the first, so if you taught your dog to play tug for a Novice trick, you could transfer that skill to getting your dog to pull open a door for an Intermediate trick, and maybe even pulling a cart for an Expert trick.  

So roll on a few years and what I have is a great trick dog, but I also have a great relationship with my dog. He trusts me 100% and he knows we are going to have fun together. There is no pressure in our training and as a result he loves trying new things and he loves to use his brain. But I also have a dog that wants to be next to me all the time because I’m fun. His recall is great, even from a squirrel. In fact he thinks I’m ‘Sexier than a squirrel’ and that’s all down to Trick Training. 

So that brings me onto my next discovery! Last year I decided to join the Absolute Dogs Pro Trainer course. Maybe some of you have done their ‘Sexier than a Squirrel Challenge’.  It’s a different type of training that uses games to help with your dog’s struggles. So, for example, if your dog is not great at recall, you play games that help your dog to focus on you and their proximity to you.  

What I discovered is that there is actually a big overlap between tricks and games. Teaching your dog to put ‘Paws Up’ on different objects is a great trick, (particularly for photos!), but it’s also a great game to play with your dog to boost their confidence and optimism.

Teaching your dog to do ‘Middle’ and sit or stand between your legs is a cool trick to do on cue, particularly if you can get them to walk between your legs, or even walk with their paws on your feet.

But it’s also a game that helps with proximity and teaching your dog that staying near you is fun. If your dog is ever nervous in a situation, it’s also helpful to get them in a ‘Middle’ where they can feel safe. 

I also discovered that, because of all the trick-training we have done, Barnaby picks new things up really quickly. Post-lockdown he has become more excited when we have visitors at the door or in the house and the Pro Dog course has given me new ways to deal with this that seem to be really helping.  

Dogs are great learners if we are prepared to teach them, and what I’ve inadvertently learnt is that trick training translates to teaching your dog real-life skills too. 

From July I’m launching my new Instagram account @londondogtricktraining where I’ll be posting weekly trick training videos. Please feel free to join in and train your dog with me. You can also contact me for 1:1 training at julieckite@hotmail.com

GOOD LUCK! I know you will enjoy it.

Now, “Paws up!” or “Perch!”, Miss D! LOL!