Does your show dog know a fun trick? When filming for our recent “Don’t Follow Your Dog, Handle Your Dog” webinar, ‘Divot’ the Beagle was the perfect example of why it’s important to teach your dog a trick for the show ring. While a fun trick isn’t part of conformation handling, it is a great way to get your dog to reset, refocus, and take their mind off being bored or distracted in the ring. “Teach your dog a trick!” is a common piece of advice Allison shares to our students for dogs who are bored, distracted, need more animation, or dislike the show ring.

Some ideas for teaching your dog a trick are “spin” (in both directions!), “catch”, “back up”, “twirl”, “bow”... let us know what trick you’ve taught your show dog!