Millie's First Trick

You know that expression, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes?” It applies to dog trainers as well. Sure, my little Millie can reliably sit, down, stay, come and walk politely on the leash, but those are just foundation behaviors. The girl doesn’t know any cute tricks! That is, until today.

It’s a rainy outside, which means little, if any, canine traffic here at Life on the Leash, and that means one very bored little black dog. Even though I’ve got stacks of boxes to unpack (there’s no such thing as “free time” in retail), I decided to dust off my clicker and teach Millie the most basic of tricks: roll over.

I wanted to kick myself after a few minutes of practicing … why hadn’t I done this sooner? Millie was so happy to be “working,” and so enthusiastic about our new game that I actually felt guilty for denying her! And the girl was a mega-star. She forgave my many missteps (I’ll be the first to admit that I can be a sloppy trainer), and gave me a near-perfect roll over in minutes. It’ll take another session or two to polish it up enough so that when people walk in expecting a show, Millie will be able to perform.

Now that we’ve got our first trick in the bag, what should we do next? I’m thinking “play dead," but I’m open to suggestions!

To teach your dog "roll over" watch Victoria's roll over video!