Animal Karma

[twizzle]

Hello. I just signed up because I have a dog walking company and specialize in off-leash play groups of up tp 6 dogs. I'd like to learn how to teach dogs tricks so my clients know their dogs are not only being very well cared for, but that one of the benefits of my service is that the dogs have fun learning new tricks, and the guardians (owners ) may sometimes be surprised and hopefully delighted with what their dogs have learned to do. I hope this can be away to help strenghten the bond between the dogs and their guardians. Any feedback?
I look froward to hearing from you.

 

[CollieMan]

I suppose the only thing you would need to be careful of is duplicating command words. For example, I might teach my dog that "down" means get down from the furniture. You might then teach my dog that "down" means lie down. A dog owner might be a little miffed at having his or her work undermined.

So I guess you'd need to make it clear what words you intended to use, so that the client could advise of any clashes.

Though I do think it's a generally good idea. Too many people physically exercise their dog but then forget the mental exercise. Personally, I think, from a behavioural standpoint, if you're going to forget either, then forget the physical but make sure the dog is mentally challenged. A dog can usually move about, even if it's just running up and down the stairs or around the garden, but it can't make you give it mental challenges. And when a dog is bored, that's when the behavioural issues really kick in!

You go for it! I suspect that you'd be giving a lot of people some real benefits, whether they know it or not.

 

[Jean Cote]

Hi Twizzle!!

:welcome: to the website!

Your dog socializing/exercising business sounds exciting! The dogs must really love it! And teaching them dog tricks is a very good and generous idea of you.

There are a few issues I can think of that might be problematic. I don’t know if you are alone supervising the dogs when they are exercising, but to train tricks you basically need to be isolated or be one on one with the dog, which would leave you unable to attend the others if a problem occurs.

Another issue could be that the dog might like playing with the dogs better than working to do tricks. If that is the case, then you will have a hard time training him, unless of course you only want to train the ones that want to.

Other than that … It’s a pretty good idea, and I think the owners would appreciate it, especially cute tricks like shake a paw or high five.

Let us know what you decide to do, and update us on your progress! :great: