183 New tricks

New tricks for Tootsie

I have a dog that loves to do tricks but hates to learn new ones. Well, Tootsie is 8 but I don't think that is the issue.

Tootsie can do many of the normal tricks--sit, stay, leave it. But she has never learned to shake or sit up. She barks enough so Speak is not a trick for her!

She also will roll over, high five, and circle around or through my legs. She can balance a treat on her nose but rarely can catch it. I think that trick might be easier for a dog with a bigger nose such as a labrador.

One of her favorites is to dance. It was her first trick because whenever she is excited, she makes lots of tight little circles. So she gets rewarded for being excited. Little kids love to see her dance!

Two of the hardest tricks to teach her were the ones in which she has to stay still. When I say Bang!, she is supposed to play dead until I say She's Alive! Sometimes I have to shoot twice saying, Did I miss? with a second bang, to get her to go down and stay completely down. She is so excited that she is shaking which only adds to the realism. I have to be really fast with her release because she doesn't stay down for long.

I also require her to stay in the down position and NOT eat the treat that is on the floor directly in front of her. She has to retain eye contact with me until I say Okay.

Tricks Tootsie has not been able to learn are Say your prayers and walking on her hind legs. The problem with learning new tricks is stopping her from going through every trick in rapid succession so she can concentrate on learning the new one. She loves her treats and becomes frantic to get them.

The book I own on dog tricks states that you can add another trick by building on one she knows but Tootsie gets stuck on the original one! I do better by starting a new trick that is different from others she knows. I did try to get her to use a skateboard, but that was too scary. Probably a dog has to grow up around kids using them to get started.

So what should we try next? Crawl, limp, jump through a hoop, or walk the teeter-totter? I'll let you know what works!

Savvy tricksters Tootsie and Trish

A good height to start!

Ha Ha!