Kyra Sundance - 101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond with Your Dog

Step-by-Step Activities
to Engage, Challenge, and
Bond with Your Dog

Kyra Sundance and Chalcy

Photography by Nick Saglimbeni

2007 by Quarry Books

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owner. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned and no responsibility is accepted by the producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied.

First published in the United States of America by

Quarry Books, a member of

Quayside Publishing Group

33 Commercial Street

Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930-5089

Telephone: (978) 282-9590

Fax: (978) 283-2742

www.quarrybooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

ISBN-13: 978-1-59253-325-1
ISBN-10: 1-59253-325-6

Digital edition: 978-1-61673-503-6

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

101 Dog Tricks contains a variety of training recommendations for your dog. While caution was taken to give safe recommendations, it is impossible to predict an individual dogs reaction to the recommended handling or training. Neither the author, Kyra Sundance, Sundance MediaCom, nor the Publisher, Quayside Publishing Group, accepts liability for any mental, financial, or physical harm that arises from following the advice, techniques, or procedures in this book. Readers should use personal judgment when applying the recommendations of this text.

Cover Design: Rockport Publishers

Design: Sundance MediaCom

www.sundancemediacom.com

All photography: Nick Saglimbeni/www.slickforce.com, with the exception of the following: Kyra Sundance, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 34, 50, 84, 104, 106, 142, 159, 178, and 208.

Do More With Your Dog! is a registered trademark of Kyra Sundance.

Printed in Singapore

www.101dogtricks.com

He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.

Anonymous

By Bill Langworthy

I first met Kyra and Chalcy while I was producing an animal talent show for television. One of the bookers announced she had found a dog who could read! In all my years of working with pet tricks, first as David Lettermans Stupid Pet Tricks Coordinator then as a producer on Animal Planets Pet Star, Id heard of some clever animals, but I had a feeling this one was special. Sure enough, Kyra and Chalcy promptly won the show, then came back and won in the championships!

Two things about Kyra and Chalcy stand out in my memory: first, their big smiles; and second, they did everything together. The camera can make people focus on themselves, forgetting theyre only half of a team, but from the first rehearsal to the final championship round, Kyra and Chalcy did everything together. When Kyra phoned me and said, Chalcy and I are writing a book, I wasnt surprisedmy only question was, Who typed?

101 Dog Tricks is all about doing things as a team. Kyra and Chalcy use only positive training and motivational techniques to reinforce trick training as a fun way to play rather than a chore. The tricks are all designed to develop a particular aspect of your dogs abilities, from the mental to the physical, while also developing trust and friendship between you and your companion.

Kyra and Chalcy know every trick in the book; that is, they have practiced and performed all 101 routines, so 101 Dog Tricks is filled with firsthand advice. Kyra and Chalcy are equally adept in both mental and physical tricks, so youll find instruction on everything from teaching your dog to count to teaching your dog to play basketball. The instructions are clearly illustrated and easy to follow, but no detail has been spared. This is the one and only book every trick trainer needs, whether you plan to entertain yourself, your friends, or huge crowds and national television audiences like Kyra and Chalcy.

Kyra Sundance and Chalcy are uniquely qualified to write the definitive trick training book. Its every trick trainers privilege that Kyra and Chalcy took time from their performing schedule to share their secrets. So enjoy this book, then get outside and play. As Kyra and Chalcy always say: Do More With Your Dog!

Bill Langworthy spent many years as a pet trick coordinator for Late Show with David Letterman and a writer and coproducer of Animal Planets Pet Star talent competition. Hes auditioned thousands of animal acts across the country.

See? I said, Chalcy keeps missing the weave pole entrance.

You should have taught her initially using the two-pole method advised the nationally ranked agility coach. Dogs who start with the two-pole method never miss an entrance.

Well, we didnt. I admitted, We trained a different method. So this is where were at now. How do we fix it? I asked. She shook her head.

Oh, its too late now, said the coach as she walked off.

This coach was of the opinion that since Id screwed up my dog by using the wrong training method, I should cut my losses and make a fresh start with a new agility dog. In other words, dont waste your time fixing something when you can buy a newer, shinier one for cheaper!

Needless to say, I didnt give up on Chalcy. I cant begin to list all the training mistakes Ive made with her over the years. Ive taught her wrong things, using wrong methods, while giving wrong feedback. Sure, Id messed up in our training, but we fixed it! We went back and retaught skills and relearned rules. Its a little harder this way, granted, but certainly possible. I dont expect my dog to be a machine, and Im not one either. We try, we learn, we fail, we succeed. We work together and afford each other endless second chances. We still miss the occasional weave pole entrance, but we never miss the opportunity to give it one more go!

Whether your dog is young or old, athletic or lazy, quick-witted or dumb as a rock, hes your dog and his success need only be measured in your eyes.

I hope this book inspires you to not only teach tricks, but to Do More With Your Dog!

Kyra Sundance and Chalcy