Today I was watching a video from another professional dog trainer, talking about what he does, and recommend others do when bringing a new puppy home. "The last thing you ever want to do is teach your puppy a trick." he said with disdain. "You should be teaching your puppy behaviors, like how to sit, how to come, how to..." and he continued with the things he considered important for all dogs to know. He's not alone in his view, a lot of professionals and pet owners alike look down on trick training, as useless, a waste of time, or even exploitive. To me though, training of all kinds of behaviors and skills have value, and trick training is no different. Making a blanket statement that trick training has no value is problematic for several reasons.
What is considered a "trick" and what is considered a "behavior"?
My first issue with people deciding that trick training is not useful is that there is no specific definition of a trick versus a behavior, typically beyond what a particular person considered valuable and what they don't. But that definition is arbitrary and would be different for just about everyone. For me, there truly is no distinction between training and trick training for the average pet dog. For the few dogs who actively work, or perform in sports (and whose owners and handlers seem to be some of the worst perpetuators of the idea that tricks are not useful), a trick would be anything not related to their sport or work, and desired behaviors are anything that is. But truly, that is splitting hairs. A dog trained for obedience who will retrieve a dropped glove or dumbbell in the ring has been trained for a behavior, but a pet dog who has learned to fetch a beer from the fridge, or bring their person the remote has been taught a trick? These four examples are all essentially the same thing, and trying to say that some are useful behaviors and some are silly tricks is not only a bit ridiculous, it only serves to create an inconsistent and confusing label that does nothing but divide the dog community.
No Time Spent With Your Dog is a Waste
One of the big arguments that people who are against make is that tricks are a waste of time, and I could not disagree with that more. There is no time spent working with your dog that is wasted. Working with your dog toward a goal (even if that goal is a simple trick) is one of the best ways to grow your relationship and build a better understanding between you. No trick is too small, or too big. It is not a waste to spend time teaching your dog something new. It does not matter if others find value in it, or if there is any other use to it besides the two of you having fun and enjoying each other's company, because you and your dog having fun together is all any dog activity should be about. Relationship is one of the most important aspect of dog training, and a few minutes spent actively engaging with your dog to teach them to bow, spin in a circle, sit up, or roll going to do far more to improve your relationship than passive engagement, like snuggling on the couch or just existing in the same room.
Tricks Have Value
Tricks are often called useless or even exploitive, just something we do so the dog can preform for our own entertainment. This is a really damaging way to frame any sort of training, especially since there is really no distinct difference between trick training and any other type of training. Also it perpetuates the idea that training is all about control, and forcing the dog to obey our every wish, which is not what we believe her at Magic Paws. Training is a means of bonding, and of communicating with our dogs. Intentionally spending time together, and having fun together is the cornerstone of a solid relationship, and training anything is a great way to do that.
In addition, many of the behaviors people consider to be simple tricks can be incredibly useful. Teaching a dog who's not a fan of nail trims to shake hands can help them overcome their reluctance to having their feet handled. Simple tricks like going around a cone, or over small jumps, or touching a platform can be strung together to create fun indoor exercise when a walk or outdoor playtime is out of the question. Circles and leg weaves can be excellent stretches before more vigorous activity. You can also aim higher and teach your dog to find and bring you specific items, like the remote, socks, car keys, wallets or purses. Some tricks are just fun, and there is nothing wrong with that, nor does that mean these tricks have less value. There is in an unbelievable variety of things that your dog can learn, and resources to help you teach them whatever you want.
Does this mean you're a lazy or bad dog owner if you have no interest in teaching your dog tricks? Of course not! Each individual dog and human partnership is unique and there are nearly unlimited ways to spend your time together, whether tricks are your cup of tea or not. The issue is when people look down on, dismiss or degrade others for how they choose to spend time with their dogs, or the things they teach them. Remember, just because something doesn't have value to you does not mean it has no value at all. For many people and their dogs, tricks are fun and easy ways to burn some mental and physical energy and to improve their relationship in the process.
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