Yes you can!
– July 4, 2017 Toby –
Teach an old dog new tricks. In fact, us poodle mixes are excellent learners and if we have the poodle balance, or poodle butt as Johnnie calls it, then we can and want to learn new tricks. I love dancing for a snack, but will do whatever I’m taught to do. No matter what size your companion, always have a bag of small kibbles at hand and use them to teach us things. Believe me. When you pull out snacks, you have our full attention. Let us know what you want and we will do it.
Now, if we are talking about training puppies, it is still important to have snacks around, but humans will spend more time getting the puppy to focus and to understand what is wanted of them. Be patient, it will be worth it. Lifelong learning makes me happy. There are so many new smells, wow. I love new smells.
One of the things though is that not all new lessons result in treats. Sometimes when I haven’t seen Johnnie in a while, I get excited and begin pulling while on leash. Well, let me tell you, Johnnie doesn’t appreciate getting his arm yanked so he reminds me with a quick snap of the leash on the harness (don’t do this to a dog whose collar is connected directly to the leash as this can hurt your friend, even the big ones). I immediately stop pulling as I know the end of the retractable leash and I know that we get to go off leash when I listen. Then when we get home, I get to perform a few tricks for some peperoni. A perfect time for learning.
