I’ve trained my Australian Shepherd, Dudley, through four trick titles: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert. We are now on the border of our final title, Trick Dog Champion.
Teaching tricks to your dog, whether to achieve titles or just for fun, is an excellent way to bond and have fun together. Trick training can be done inside on a rainy day or outside on a beautiful day. Some tricks require props and some don’t. Ball rolling is a great outdoor trick, while rolling over can be done indoors. So train a variety of tricks to practice during all sorts of weather.
Here’s one of our recent trick segments. Dudley works very hard with this prop. He’s rolling that ball the hard way, but he gets an upper- and lower-body workout, along with his core. Win, win, win! Not to mention his favorite part, the cookies! Contact me if you want to train tricks with your own dog.
By Helen Verte
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed, Certified Trick Dog Instructor
Trick Dog Instructor South Florida
