Adams Beth - Dog Tricks

Dog Tricks

by Deb M. Eldredge, DVM, and Kate Eldredge

Photography by Beth Adams

A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Publisher Mike Sanders

Executive Managing Editor Billy Fields

Executive Acquisitions Editor Lori Hand

Development Editor Kayla Dugger

Designer Laura Merriman

Production Editor Jana M. Stefanciosa

Indexer Mary Harper

Layout Technician Brian Massey

Proofreader Margaret Mincks

PRODUCTION, LONDON

Digital Producer Alex Valizadeh

Senior Digital Producer Miguel Cunha

DIGITAL OPERATIONS, DELHI

Head of Digital Operations Manjari Hooda

Producer Rahul Kumar

Assistant Editor Etika Kapil

DTP Designer Manish Bhatt

Operations Assistant Tauhid Nasir

Introduction

Looking for a fun way to bond and interact with your dog? Welcome to Idiots Guides: Dog Tricks! Training tricks gives your dog special skills for play and everyday life, as well as strengthens your bond with your dog.

We start out in , Training Basics, by going through the basics of dog training and the foundation skills you and your dog will need to know as you go on to learn tricks. We use two positive training techniques throughout the book: shaping and luring. Both of these methods are described in detail here, and you and your dog can try each of them out. We generally explain how to teach each trick using one method or the other, but you can easily modify the training process to use the method that works best for you and your dog. As long as you are both having fun, there is no wrong way to train tricks.

We then get into the tricks themselves. The tricks are divided into three parts: , Advanced Tricks. Easy tricks are simple to teach and can be done by just about any dog. Tricks categorized as intermediate level are either more intricate, somewhat physically challenging for either the dog or the handler, or require some extra effort to train. Advanced tricks are the most challenging and often include multiple parts and/or props. Depending on your dogs personal talents and preferences, these categorizations may not always hold true. Each dog is an individual, and some find learning tricks like Soccer to be much easier than learning Shake! Feel free to jump around the book and try the tricks that most appeal to you and your dog.

Within the parts, the tricks are mostly arranged to put similar tricks together. For example, paw tricks are grouped together, scenting tricks are together, and sports are together.

Each trick has step-by-step instructions along with photos to illustrate each step. We hope the photos help you to understand what we describe in the text and enable you and your dog to progress quickly and easily.

You also get various sidebars throughout the book. Dog Treat gives extra hints and tips for how to train a trick, while Pet Pause provides warnings for safety concerns or other things to think about before diving into a trick. There are even assorted sidebars that give info on alternative training methods, more advanced versions of the trick, and some ways to get creative and make a trick yours.

We hope you and your dog enjoy your trick-training journey!

But Wait! Theres More!

Have you logged on to idiotsguides.com lately? If you havent, go there now! As a bonus to the book, weve included additional information about dog tricks youll want to check out, all online. Point your browser to idiotsguides.com/dogtricks, and enjoy!

Acknowledgments

We offer a huge thank you to all of the people and dogs that made this book unique: our intrepid and talented photographer, Beth Adams of Candid Canine Photography; Jamie Baker with Risa; Sue DeRienzo with Benny and Taxi; Meg Donley with Hobbes; Tom Eldredge with Baloo; Odette Fetzner with Cruise; Cindy Foley with Aries; Nancy Frakes with Josh and Merit; Ellen Griffin with Rosie and Saki; Robyn Haskin with Cooper; Christopher Kip Wilson with Zoey; Debs dogs Babe and Doc (and Dani helping at home); and Kates dogs Lynah and Queezle. Thanks also to Mike Basedow, the creator of the Nose trick.

And, of course, thank you to our production team: Kayla Dugger, Lori Hand, Laura Merriman, and everyone behind the scenes at Alpha Books.

We would like to dedicate this book to the great trick dogs of our pastGus, Flash, Tia, and Hokeywho taught us so much.

Dog Profiles

We would like to introduce the 17 trick dogs who modeled tricks for this book. Any dog is capable of learning tricks, regardless of what breed or mix of breeds it is, so dont be discouraged if you dont see your dogs breed pictured. These are just a handful of the talented dogs in the world.

Merit

2-year-old Border Collie

Merit thinks the best thing to do is to cuddle on the couch with her human mother. Why work?

Hobbes

4-year-old Parson Jack Russell

Hobbess favorite sports are running, agility, hiking, doing tricks, and swimming. He prefers to work for high-quality treats. Steak, anyone?

Baloo

12-year-old Australian Shepherd

Baloo likes to chase other dogs with the hose and play in the wading pool. He can even blow bubbles!

Queezle

9-year-old Belgian Tervuren

Queezle is a diva who loves to be groomed. She loves to compete in a wide variety of dog sports with owner Kate, and in her spare time steals food off the counter and barks out the window.

Cooper

6-year-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

Cooper is a multiple Best of Breed winner at the Westminster Dog Show and one of the top conformation Tollers for the past five years. He also has titles in obedience, rally, and hunting.

Babe

3-year-old Belgian Tervuren

Babe is as cute as a button and known as Debs personal pocket Terv. She loves herding both sheep and ducks and smacking her Easy button. Playing fetch and foot games are two of her favorite pastimes.