I have embarked on a new class at the ZoomRoom called Tricks. I am excited to learn something new. Unfortunately the air conditioner was broken during our first class and it was very difficult to focus on new tricks let alone meet new people and their pets. It was a sauna in there. I am panting just thinking about it now. Everyone is much more advanced than myself, but I plan on practicing my sit pretty and wave this week so that I can move on to new tricks the other dogs were doing.
Just in case you might like to learn a few new tricks I will be giving you some tips on how I learn these fun tricks. All my tricks are learned under adult two legged supervision with positive training. You can read up on positive training from one of our favorite TV persona. Victoria Stilwell.
1. Sit Pretty.
This is one of my two legged people’s favorite tricks because I have to concentrate so hard that I often stick my tongue out while performing this trick. First have your two legged pal get one of your favorite treats, (I prefer ziwipeak treats). Sit in front of them. They will move their hand with the treat towards you, just above your head… but not too high. They say the magic words “sit pretty” and up I go, everyone smiles at this trick. It took a lot of patience and quite a few tries to get the trick right but it is a crowd-pleaser that I hope you try. (If you click on my photo you can see me in action)
Sadie Sitting Pretty
2. Down.
I hate to admit this, but this was a very hard trick for me to learn. I knew sit, I learned sit pretty but down was just puzzling to me. I will explain how my two legged people finally got me to learn “down”. They had to sit with me and pay a lot of attention to my body language. We would do a few tricks which I would be rewarded for with lots of praise and sometimes a treat and in-between tricks they would say “down” and bring the treat to the ground. This didn’t work too well but then I would tire and they would praise me and repeat the word “down” it only took me a few times to realize that down meant laying on the floor. Odd trick but it really makes the two-leggers happy.
3. Bang. (This is what my people call it) some people call this “play dead”
Once I mastered “down” we started giving treats for the word “bang” which, honestly, I think is all about having one’s tummy rubbed.
I will be posting more later as my teacher at the ZoomRoom is going to try to teach me how to ring a bell. I plan on spending hours with my people learning these fun tricks.
