Dog Tricks: Shake Hands

by:Anne Haynes


I'm going to start documenting the dog tricks I want to teach my dog when I buy one. The first dog trick is the "How to Shake Hands"

1. Make your dog sit down in front of you and hide a treat in one of your hands. Make sure your hand is low to the ground. Encourage your dog to get the treat and say the words "get it" and "shake". When the dogs paw comes up for the first time give him/her the treat.

2. Now slowly raise the height of your hand and add two treats this time.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you are fulling standing and your dogs paw is high in the air. Practices this trick a couple of times per day and before you know it, your dog will be ready for prime-time.

Following is an illustration:

Therapy Dogs in Kansas City

By: Anne Haynes

I never knew about therapy dogs until I met Karen. I met Karen when working for a client and she was able to bring her dog to work. Geo is a black lab and her name originates from a hunting game commonly used with GPS units. The game is called Geo Caching and it's a cool hobby and a great name for a dog.

A therapy dog is a dog that's trained to help the elderly. They are disciplined to refrain from licking, jumping, begging and a bunch of other things, so they can bring "safe" happiness to the elderly. And I love this!

This is Geo when she received her therapy vest:

My Dream Puppie

By: Anne Haynes

For the last two months I've been thinking of adopting my very first dog. I have those impulsive moments when I feel like getting in my car and taking off to buy my dog, but then I remember the importance of my decision. I remember that I'm the one needing puppy training more than the dog. This is why I've started this blog. Not only do I want to share my experiences, but honestly, I'm going to need help. So, please if you have any insight, leave comments!

The chocolate labrador in this picture is the kind of dog I think I want....For the last 10 years, the dog I've wanted is the weimaraner. The more I learn about the labrador the less I want a weimaraner. Who knows what dog I will end up with at the end of this journey, but we will see....