Dog Tricks For Dummies (For Dummies

by Sarah Hodgson

One of the reasons we share our lives with dogs is to enjoy their company – while they help us loosen our grip on this no-nonsense, career-driven world. Once you and your canine pal have serious training (for obedience, basic good behavior, and so on) under the belt, you can take the edge off by injecting the whole training process with some fun tricks and games. Tricks and games are open to dogs of all sizes, shapes, and ages. Every dog can learn to do something they’ll enjoy. A Poodle, for example, can learn to dance. A retriever needs to fetch. Bichon Frises love their parlor tricks. Huskies want to pull a sled, herders love to herd, and so on. As for you, the dog owner, you  need to be sure your pooch knows who’s in charge. You need to be the trainer, not the trained, before you and your dog can move on to tricks and games. Dog Tricks For Dummies makes trick training fun for you and your dog. You can teach simple tricks, like wagging the tail on command, and more complex ones, like fetching a soda from the refrigerator. This handy guide also shows you how to

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Dogs, Animals

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2000

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The set up of this book was a little all over the place. Some simple tricks, then some harder ones, back to simple. It also assumes that your puppy has most of the basics down. Many tricks are roughly the same with simple changes, like teaching them to jump over and through things. Though may I just say that I would NEVER teach my dog to jump out a car window, no matter how well trained he is. It's hard on their joints and god forbid he ever gets it into his silly little head to try and give it a go when the car is moving. I'll save that one for the professionals.

I also don't see the point of teaching my dog to open and close the fridge to get me a water or whatever. Sure it might be cute, but why? Maybe if you are aiming to informally teach your dog to be a service animal.

That said, the instructions on how to treat your dog certain treats seems clear enough. But all in all I didn't come away with anything new to teach.

[Stina Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great tricks for dogs, as well as tips for dealing with problem behaviors via trick training. I also learned quite a few ideas for how to teach my SDiT some tasks that will be quite helpful!