Dog Tricks

Guide Note

Dog tricks are taught to a dogs for training and entertainment purposes. Dog tricks can be as simple as "shaking hands", or involve complicated sequences of moves. They can also be performed competitively as in canine freestyle dancing or canine agility. Basic training should begin before teaching tricks.

Fast Facts

1. Different breeds learn at different rates
2. "Shake" or "Paw" is the most common trick
3. Dogs of all ages can learn tricks

• Rollover, sit, beg, fetch, dance, shake hands and play dead.

Pet tricks have become so popular and amusing that David Letterman has a segment on his show called "Stupid Pet Tricks", which debuted in 1982 featuring pets doing amazing tricks to silly tricks.

The show placed an ad in The New York Times classifieds that read:

"Have you taught your pet to do something odd?" "Late Night with David Letterman on NBC will feature pets who have been trained to do unusual things. Pets must be amateur and owners must be willing to appear with them at auditions and on the show."