To celebrate my 200th post on this blog I thought I would show you Barbie's new trick!
It is 'spin' - when I was first teaching her how to do this, she seemed to get half way through turning (so she was facing away from me)and then not be sure what she was supposed to do. I just called her name then and she turned back around.
She picked it up quickly but not as quickly as some of her other tricks. Bender has been spinning for a while. I taught him by stepping into him while holding the treat over his head. I had to do a more exaggerated arm movement to teach Barbie.
Barbie's trick resume (aside from normal obedience stuff) is starting to grow....
Spin
Wave
High 5
Pray
Kiss
Touch (my hand with her nose)
Roll over
Play Dead (paw)
Commando
Through (hoop, tunnel etc)
Leg weaving (still working on this one)
Next we are going to walk on 'back' and 'curtsey' (bow). I'm also going to work on getting her to pick up items (like socks) in case I decide to try tracking with her (when she has to pick up scent articles). Then perhaps I can teach her to load and unload the washing machine?
I think I might also teach her to turn lights on/off, but I'm not going to teach her to open and close doors, especially the fridge door... she could get up to all kinds of mayhem then.
Any more suggestions of cute tricks to 'wow' the crowds? Or any assistance dog type tricks which don't involve the dog getting into trouble when left inside all day? :)
We have a really big day on Saturday, taking Bender to his first proper tracking class, and taking Barbie to a Greyhounds as Pets stall in the afternoon. Barbie will wow the crowd with her tricks. High 5 and Wave seem to be crowd favorites, but since we are in a grass area I'm sure we can do roll over/play dead and commando as well. Other greyhound people are just impressed when she sits. I really hope I can inspire some of them to do more with their dogs.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
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houndstooth4 82p · 728 weeks ago
Have you taught them to spin in reverse? I wonder what it would look like if they both spun at the same time!
jetsagenda 82p · 728 weeks ago
Spin in reverse sounds hard, though that is a move on the 'to do list' :)
houndstooth4 82p · 728 weeks ago
Greyhounds CAN Sit · 728 weeks ago
I love how you have Barbie and Bender working together and she's as 'on to it' as Bender. Beryl is quite a lot slower than Frankie about picking things up which means a fair bit of him doing what I've asked while I wait for Beryl to process it or decide whether she'll do it or not, lol!
I'm sure she'll be a big hit with the crowds at the GAP stall. I can't really think of any more tricks you could teach her, although I know there are thousands. You could Google 'dog tricks'?
Good luck with Bender's first official tracking class. Frankie will be following that with great interest.
I wish I could have got intense debate working on my blog as I like how you've got it. I obviously did something very wrong when installing it! And now my blog is loading very slowly it seems, sheesh, I should have left it alone:)
jetsagenda 82p · 728 weeks ago
I love doing all the GAP displays - it's good for Barbie and fun for me. The Murdoch Vet Student one was the easiest on her though because there were so many hounds to share the petting duties. Hopefully this next one will be like that too. My folks are going to come by and say hello too so she will get to see some people she knows :)
Helen, Snoopy& Arrow · 728 weeks ago
They are such a cute pair.
Congrats on 200 posts - awesome!!
Good luck with the tracking and the GAP stand on the weekend, people are bound to be impressed with her tricks.
More trick ideas:
Limp
Carry something in her mouth and do her tricks whilst holding it in her mouth
Speak
Jump (ie jump in the air)
Have a look at our friend Pepper's blog http://pepperpoundpup.blogspot.com/ she has a lot of tricks, I'm sure her human Emily would be happy to give you more suggestions of tricks, or for you to steal some of hers :)
Helen, Snoopy& Arrow · 728 weeks ago
- Helen :)
Honey the Great Dane · 727 weeks ago
As for tricks to 'wow' the crowd - if Barbie already knows to Wave/High 5/Shake - then it's very easy to turn this into our "Marching Paws" trick - you know, where the dog raise its paws in time with your knees. You can do this with the dog facing you (in Sit or Stand - Sit is easier to start with usually but maybe not in Barbie's case) - or with the dog next to you, again in Sit or Stand, Once they're good at doing it stationary, then you can start to get them to do it while moving - it looks really good, especially on a dog with long legs - and always gets the audience applause! :-)
Hsin-Yi