Tricks and Games to Teach Your Dog

Book excerpt: Who doesn't want to spend more time playing?! Tricks and Games to Teach Your Dog is the how-to book for dog owners looking to improve their "fun factor" in their dogs' eyes. Author Sophie Collins, assisted by Suellen Dainty, promise that any owner of a dog;no matter what age, breed, activity level, size or personality;can transform his pooch into an accomplished performer in brief daily five-minute training sessions. In all, the book offers 80 tricks and games, from the tried-and-true rainy-day tricks like "roll over" and "play dead" to out-of-the-box surprises like "lion tamer" and the "commando crawl." Fully illustrated with color photographs and drawings, Tricks and Games to Teach Your Dog serves as a game plan for busy owners who wish to spend more quality time with their dogs, engaging them in educational games to improve their obedience skills while deepening the dogs' bonds with their owners. Readers can teach their dogs helpful household tasks, such as the "laundry service," "fetch my keys" and "answer the door," as well as games that expand their repertory of manners, such as "say please," "learning a ‘stop' signal," and "dinner time." The authors emphasize the importance of safety in teaching tricks and games and caution owners to only work with safe objects when teaching fetching or finding games. The book is filled with practical training tips that owners can use throughout their dogs' lives. Once an owner is confident and aware of his own technique, he will be better prepared to give the dog specific direction and not confuse the dog by giving false cues or misusing body language, tone of voice or hand signals. The level of difficulty in the lessons range from the simplest ("high five" and "stand ten") to more challenging tricks like "shut the door," "push the ball" and "freeze." The unmistakable focus of the book is fun and activity, and no dog (or owner) ever wants to lead a dull, boring existence. To that end, the authors discuss some great fun outings to bring an owner's play sessions with his dog to an all-time high: camping, volleyball, biking and hiking for starters. And for really adventurous overachievers, the authors provide a brief introduction to the ever-popular obstacle-course sport known as dog agility.