Wild Dingo » Tricks for Treats

Crate-o-Phobia Bygones

Wild Dingo — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 04:44:44 +0000

One fear down, 87,000 more fears to go. Looks like Loki’s 12 step program got him over his crate fear.

“This is a nice pad, but it’s a little cramped for my style. Where will I fit the baby grand piano and the water bed?”

See what I mean about his ears not fitting? Seriously though, airline regulations require a 4″ clearance from the top of the head (not the ears) if the dog is standing normally (not hunched like he his here). This crate wouldn’t pass airline regulations. Still, we use it to train him and will get him a crate for his size, whether we buy, build or rent one! At school, Loki stays in a canvas crate while I train Juno so he gets used to being in a closed environment in a public location. He totally digs that crate.

Here is Loki’s 12 Step Program for overcoming crate fear:

Admit that the crate is powerless over me.
Believe in a Higher Power, also known as The Salmon Cookie, to get me into the crate.
Decide to turn my will over to the Salmon Cookie as I understand it’s deliciousness.
Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself. (Surprise! I’m perfect!)
Admit to myself and the Salmon Cookie that I am not worthy of the Salmon Cookie when I wrongly don’t get into the crate when Mom says “Crate!”
Be ready to have the Salmon cookie remove all defects of the crate.
Humbly ask the Salmon Cookie to be delicious.
Make a list of all the times I did not get in the crate and be willing to be sorry for those wrongs.
Make amends to get into the crate whenever possible, even when not asked, to make up for all the times I did not get into the crate.
Continue to take inventory of when I didn’t get into the crate and admit it.
Pray to the higher Power–the Salmon Cookie–to improve my focus, and for knowledge of its deliciousness.
Having been awakened, carry out the message to all crate-o-phobics and continue to practice these principles in my life.

Enjoy the crate-o-phobia bygones video. At the end, there are a few tricks for added entertainment.

Trix are for Dogs

Wild Dingo — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:16:41 +0000

So far, Loki’s best trick is his “bow.” It was a little serendipitous how I taught it to him in the first place. Teaching that trick is actually not that easy. Dogs sometimes will go straight into a down rather than a bow. I won’t divulge my super secret methods in training the bow, but suffice it to say, it isn’t actually perfect yet. Loki sometimes does these “cheater” bows where he’ll just stamp his front paws and lightly lower his chest like an inch thinking that’s good enough. What I want him to do is hold the bow, low, without putting his butt down. And depending upon his drive and his anxiety level, his bows become shorter and shorter. Which means I need to work on his duration in the position in order to drive the point home.

Here is at a beach class performing his bow in front of an audience. In this environment, on a scale of 1-10 (10 being high, 1 being none),Loki’s drive is 15 and his anxiety is 47. See what that does to his trick performance.

“Loki, Booooowwww”
Loki bows in 0.000006 seconds.
“Bow, Ok, bam, I’m down.”

Me still cuing the bow, the trick’s not over. Elapsed time: 0.75 seconds.
“Hey I bowed, I’m ready for the goods.”

“Dude, you’re so not done yet, I said, ‘boooooowwww.’”
“Lady, if you don’t pay me my just reward, I’ll be forced to whip out my kung fu on you.”

“O.K. lets start over. Calm down you little crack pot. You’re making me look bad.”
“Lady, YOU’RE the one giving ME a bad rap. But whatever. I’m juiced and ready to roll.”

“Loki Booooowwwww.”
“Ok, we did this already, I didn’t get paid for it so maybe I’ll just stick my but up…then…”

“Then I’ll walk over to this side here and…

“Ok, the bi-ped is still doing that bow thing, so maybe she wants me to do it from this side…”

“Pay attention bi-ped, here’s your damn bow, .”

“I believe this is just like they bow in my home country and all of Asia.”

“Are you satisfied bi-ped?
Give me the treat or this time I will really will pull out my kung fu!”

Meanwhile, Juno is very lady like in performing her best trick, the Juno Mind Trick.

“Juno ‘sit pretty’.”
“Dude, I am already pretty. That trick name is about as creative as paint by numbers. But here you go.”

Juno: “That is not your hot dog. This is not the sibe you’re looking for.”

“Hotdog, come to momma!”

“Ah yes, sweet reward for such a silly game.”

Juno-Mind Trick

Wild Dingo — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:38:01 +0000

“That is not your tri-tip. This isn’t the sibe you’re looking for.”

Trickster Coming Soon!

Wild Dingo — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:38:58 +0000

Coming soon! A video of a Sibe doing the unthinkable: Tricks! Here’s a teaser:

Do you know how hard it is to get a wiggly sibe to stay seated but lift her front paws? Several weeks hard! She usually jumps up into a stand instead of staying seated. Promise to share video soon.

Why am I doing this? Because I’m evil. And I am Wild Dingo. I learned everything I know about being evil from Wild Dingo’s founder, Maggie. How sad for Juno to end up with an dingo-influenced owner.

Seriously though? The more tricks she knows the more hearts she’ll win and more smiles she’ll make for her audience in her Therapy Dog service.