At Paradise Pet Resorts we love teaching new tricks to the dogs and puppies in our care.
And then, of course, there’s the joy we feel watching their joy when we give them a treat for their hard work!
Our clients often ask us how we have been able to teach their dog the tricks they’ve learned at Paradise Pets, when they have been unable to learn them at home. No trade secrets revealed here – it’s a simple mantra that dogs — and kids at Halloween — learn very early: tricks and treats. To get to the tricks and treats, however, you must also apply equal measures of praise and patience. Really that’s all there is to it. For dogs, that is. Kids quickly learn that while they may get praise for their costume on Halloween, getting candy doesn’t require a lot of patience!
Kids, Dogs, and You
The kids and dogs idea got us thinking about a new angle to take for this blog on teaching dogs cool new tricks. Adults often decide to add a new puppy or dog to the family as the children come along. The tangible and intangible rewards of growing up with a dog in the home are hard to measure, but dogs remind us all of the importance of play. So in the spirit of play, we wanted to find some tricks that you, and your children can learn to teach your dog as you all grow up together.
While the interwebs offer hundreds of great articles that walk you through how to teach your dog new tricks, we think we’ve found a unique one to point you to that details just what you need to do to teach certain tricks to your dog. We’ve plucked ones that more or less follow the various age-specific milestones for kids as they grow. So, with a big thank you to Dog Notebook for doing the legwork on the article we’ve linked to below, here are six dog tricks to grow on. Whether you have a newborn and a new puppy at home, or a high school senior and a senior dog, we hope you and your family will enjoy the play that comes with learning and teaching these dog tricks!
- Babies & Puppies: Peek-a-Boo
- Toddlers & Adolescent Dogs: Pick Up Their Toys
- Children & Dogs: Handstand
- Tweens & Dogs: Playing Soccer
- Teens & Dogs: Skateboarding
- Prodigies: Play Piano
For parents with young children and a new puppy, a great trick to teach is peek-a-boo, which is just adorable whether you’re playing it with puppies or babies! And now they can play it with each other (when you let the baby have a turn)! Trick: Peek-a-Boo
Toy accumulation in America is not just a childhood phenomenon. Dogs may not have quite as many, but the Pet Product Industry is working on that and we spend billions per year on stuff for our dogs and pets. Why not teach your dog to pick up his or her toys when you’re beginning to teach your child to do the same. Trick: Pick Up Toys
Kids gravitate to tumbling activities by about 3 or 4 years old, so while you’re showing your child how to do a handstand, you can teach it to your dog, too. Of course, we think it is misnamed here, so we’ll call this Trick: Paw-stand
Photo courtesy of DogNotebook.com
You’ve taught your dog to catch and fetch. Take it to the next level and get your tweens out in the yard running around playing with the dog in the process. Your tween may not want to play with you as much anymore, but you can get them moving when they play soccer with the dog. Trick: Play Soccer
Youtube is awash with videos of dogs doing extraordinary things. After all, the web is not just for cat videos! And if you’re reading this from somewhere in Northern California, chances are good that next to watching Youtube vids, your teen likes riding a skateboard. Combine two teen loves to get your teenager to teach your dog this cool Trick: Skateboarding
OK, learning to play the piano does not make your child a prodigy, but teaching your dog to play the piano may convince your friends that she is one. Prodigy or not, “neuroscience research has shown that children involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people not in music training” so if that can happen for your kid, think what it might do to your dog’s brain when she learns this Trick: Play Piano
Bonus Dog Trick for Any Age: High Five
Well, we humans likely learned the High Five by the time we learned to pick up our toys, but let’s face it, the High Five is cool at any age, and no age matters when it comes to teaching your dog to give you a High Five!
Want to learn about a whole slew of other fun pet tricks you and your kids can teach your dog? Check out the full article with all 20 Unusual Tricks You Should Start Teaching Your Dog Today.