Amazon.com: Customer reviews: 101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond with Your Dog (Volume 1) (Dog Tricks and Training, 1)

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2010

I bought this book along with the AKC junior tire jump (strongly recommend against the tire jump), and I am so glad I did. My boyfriend and I love training my 1 year old terrier mix new tricks! Before getting this book he already knew sit, stay, come, roll over, down, crawl, paw with both hands, sit pretty (we use "pose" as the command), walk on his hind legs, spin around and jump over our extended legs.

The pictures in this book that go along with the instructions are very helpful and completely relevant to the steps. Each page has a different trick, all with a name, step by step instructions, the command word you should use, step by step pictures and the part that I was most excited to see was the troubleshooting section! Clearly you are going to run into some problems when teaching some tricks and this book covers the main issues. EX: tidy up the toys: what to do if your dog plays with them instead and what to do if your dog gets confused and starts taking them out of the box. Each trick also has prerequisites listed, which help makes training much easier! At the end of the book all the tricks are labeled by skill level.

I got this book about a week ago and my dog is already almost a master at play dead!
I originally bought this book in the hopes of getting the rest of my family to train our dog. Now I'd rather just do it all myself. The book is so easy to follow and even the most difficult tricks don't seem like they'll be too much trouble with this very helpful guide!

I would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to build a good bond with their dog and teach them a lot of amazing and interesting tricks! It really is the perfect dog training book! Any one can train their dog with this book! As long as you practice each trick over and over again, your dog can learn anything with the right attitude! My goal is to some day train my dog to do all the tricks in this book!

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TedB

Great trick book

Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2023

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Clear pictures and instructions. My dog is learning tricks because it is fun and we have done a lot of obedience and he is great with that. Now, tricks. He is learning g from all these fun ideas. Some of the tricks are for larger dogs and my cairn terrier is too short to do them. Wish there were short dog tricks. All in all, a very good book.

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Alison

A great reference for beginners-intermediate

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2021

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I don’t recommend buying this book as an intro to trick training or reading it cover to cover - as many have pointed out, the trainer uses some poorly outdated training techniques and philosophies. But if you are already a solid beginner (by AKC Trick Dog Title standards) it’s a really handy guide for breakdowns on teaching specific tricks, and just great to have around as a reference when teaching new tricks. Got us to solidify our Beginner AKC tricks and fill in the intermediate ones we were missing for Mila’s Trick Dog Title!

I love having it on hand as a reference because you can get lost in a million websites with different ways to teach a specific trick.

I will add that my little half poodle is super smart, super food motivated, and enthusiastic about learning tricks so that’s a help :)

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Eddie Landsberg

Buy three copies... I'll tell you why...

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2007

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I suggest buying 3 copies of this book... not 1...
First, because its a great coffee table book... hey, Chelcy (the author's dog) is a Weimeraner - - and both are very photogenic - - on top of it, the graphic design and lay-out of the book are not only sensitive and informative, but very visually appealing... You can feel the excitement and enthuisiasm

Second - - its a fantastic reference book... and the idea of thinking "tricks" instead of cut and dry obedience I think is great for both the trainer and the dog. Though most of the tricks do have elements of obedience to them, they are presented in a way that makes training your dog more fun and lightharded and you're not thinking, "good dog"/"bad dog"/"leash correction" - - In fact, I like the way the author not only has troubleshooting tips for each tricks, but will even give some ideas how difficult the trick is, what tricks need to be learned first, and how long it takes some dogs to learn. - - Also, all descriptions use simple, practical and effective language... The descriptions match up with the photos and the points are gotten across in a way that communicates the ideas to you and teaches you to teach them to your dog.

Finally... buy a third copy because... some dogs *cough* have tendencies to nibble on certain people's reading material, especially when allowed in the bed. (o.k. that's an obedience issue.)

As for the tricks, they range from basic sit/stay/rollover agility type tricks - - to classics like "bring me a beer"/"bring the newspaper" as well as a few parlor tricks/routines. The book also explains standard hand signals as well as commands.

Incidentally - - there I would like a refund for 2 of the tricks. One involves the human doing a handstand, the other a cartwheel... Trust me, if you're the "bring me my beer" trick type, you won't be doing those two...

All in all, this is one book that lives up to its own hype! Highly recommended!

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Mikara

Easy to follow!

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2023

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I got this book because my puppy loves learning tricks. I wanted to think of new ones to try and this had 101 of them! I absolutely love this book because it's idiot-proof. The author has clear pictures that show me the trick in just a few steps. The pictures also show how my dog is supposed to look as well as the accompanying hand/foot signals for the trick. More advanced tricks give suggestions of which foundational tricks to learn first. This is honestly the best human-teaching book I've found, because let's face it...I'm the one that has to learn the trick first before I can teach it to my dog!

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The Collie Mum

Good to have with other trick training books may not be ideal for a beginner

Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2021

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I bought this book when I realized my rescue dog enjoyed doing tricks as we worked on agility and obedience training.

I have a number of trick training books and this has a lot of tricks in it and some of the basics. The book covers basics tricks or obedience work through to more circus type tricks. In the hope of being helpful for other pet parents, the tricks in this book are:

1. Sit
2. Down
3. Stay
4. Come
5. Shake hands (left and right)
6. Fetch/Take it
7. Drop it/Give
8. Balance and catch (balance a cookie or a toy on the nose/head)
9. Sit pretty/Beg
10. Speak
11. Roll over
12. Play dead
13. Fetch my slippers
14. Get your leash
15. Walk the dog (walking themselves or another dog)
16. Newspaper delivery
17. Say your prayers
18. Kennel up
19. Carry my purse
20. Tidy up your toys
21. Roll yourself in a blanket
22. Honk a bike horn
23. Peekaboo
24. Doggy push ups
25. Act ashamed
26. Limp
27. Pickpocket pooch
28. Play the piano
29. World's dumbest dog
30. Get the phone when it rings
31. Turn off the light
32. Open/close a door
33. Ring a bell to come inside
34. Pull on a rope
35. Bring me a beer from the fridge
36. Mail carrier
37. Find the car keys/remote
38. Push a shopping cart
39. Bring me a tissue
40. Soccer
41. Football
42. Basketball
43. Hockey goalie
44. Hide and seek
45. Go hide
46. Which hand holds the treat
47. Easter egg hunt
48. Ring toss
49. Shell game
50. Dog on point
51. 3-2-1 let's go
52. Jump over a bar
53. Jump over my knee
54. Jump over my back
55. Jump into my arms
56. Summersault/handstand vault
57. Baton jumping
58. Rope jump
59. Beginning disc dog
60. Disc vault off my leg
61. Hoop jump
62. Jump through my arms
63. Couple hoop sequence
64. Hoop jump over my back
65. Disobedient dog under the hoop
66. Rolling hoop dive
67. Through a hoop lying on the ground
68. Paper covered hoop
69. Tunnel
70. Crawl
71. Touch a target
72. Under/Over
73. Teeter-totter (See-Saw)
74. Weave poles
75. Climb a ladder
76. Roll a barrel
77. Heel forward and backward
78. Back up
79. Spin circles
80. Take a bow
81. Place (circle to my left side)
82. Side (swing to my left side)
83. Leg weave
84. Figure 8s
85. Moonwalk
86. Jump for joy
87. Chorus line kicks
88. My dog can count
89. Discern objects names
90. Directed retrieve
91. Directed jumping
92. Pick a card from a deck
93. Food refusal
94. Find the object with my scent
95. Contraband search
96. Track a person's scent trail
97. Kisses
98. Paws on my arm
99. Head down
100. Cover your eyes
101. Wave goodbye

Kyra Sundance is very well known for her skill in dog training for animal actors, circus performances and more. Her Do More With Your Dog(TM) program is even recognized by the American Kennel Club for Trick Dog Titles so having some books by this trainer is very useful if you are embarking on a Trick Dog title training program with your dog.

Some reviews of this book and other similar types of book complain that the tricks need props and it's true many of the tricks in this book require props so be prepared! If this is something you are considering for your dog as part of a Trick Dog title then you will need to get used to props being necessary for your tricks.

A number of the tricks need YOU to be in good form too. There's some tricks requiring summersaults or a handstand. Which, quite frankly, are way out of my capabilities at the moment but for a fitter dog owner may be right up your street! Other tricks are needing strength on your part to support your dog like jump into my arms. That might not be a trick you do with your 150lb Great Dane but maybe one you do with your Teacup Poodle.

Know yourself and your limitations as well as understanding those of your dog. I would not be having my 17 yr old Border Collie doing ladder climbing or vaulting off my leg to catch a flying disc or ball. My elderly dog is more suited to find the object with my scent or more likely, taking a nap. But my 4 year old dog on the other hand will happily jump hurdles, vault off a stand, run through a tunnel and chase livestock until the sun comes down. Knowing your dog is really key! As is making the trick training a fun game for them and having a lot of small, tasty treats.

The pros of the book:
- Easy to read instructions with pictures.
- The book identifies foundation tricks or skills needed to accomplish the more complex tricks.
- Verbal cue and hand signal suggestions are included but not what you need to follow. Use what makes sense to you, your training technique and your dog.

Cons:
I wish the flow of the book was more based on skill building rather than by type such as Funny Dog or Love Me, Love My Dog for chapters or groups of tricks. I find that I'm flipping all over the book looking for the prerequisites for a trick because they are not in a skill building order like other trick books.

Some of the tricks feel like they are missing steps or pictures to help you out with the training. The troubleshooting boxes that go with the trick are helpful but may not have the specific issue you are dealing with. For example, on pull a rope: My dog loves to pull on a rope when I have it in my hand but will not pull a rope attached to a gate or a box or a door yet. This seems like it would be a common problem for this type of trick but it is not mentioned in the troubleshooting box although tug of war aggression is. The steps for teaching this trick are small and seem like further explanation might be needed between using a rope to play tug of war and tying it on a box. I use this as an example of course, but there are other incidences in the book for other tricks where there seems to be a gap in the steps or knowledge for the trainer.

This is where I start to look for other resources to help me as a trainer understand the steps to help my dog succeed. Perhaps it is tying the rope on the object and rewarding the dog every time they sniff the rope out or touch it with their nose and move on from there. Sometimes looking at other people teaching a similar trick can help you move forward.

Some of the circus or elaborate tricks have more pictures available and it seems that if that depth of step by step was applied to more tricks in this book, it would open up to a lot more people working with their dogs.

On the whole, this was a good book to have along with other trick training books. It sparks lots of ideas of tricks to try but I often find myself looking to other books or resources on how to train it which is ultimately why I gave it 3 stars. I'm not a novice dog owner by any means and I feel that a new owner or trainer looking to move into this type of training will benefit from a variety of books on trick dog training so they can find a training style that works for them and their dog as well as get the benefit of ideas of tricks if the decide to persue a Trick Dog title.

This is a good book to have even if you are new to dog ownership. The time you spend with your dog working on the tricks together helps to foster trust and build that relationship between you. There is definitely a wonderful feeling when your dog gets it and does the trick right!

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Only

Best Book On The Subject That I've Read Yet!

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2011

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First of all: In some cases, this book goes overboard, and things get superfluous. What Do I mean? When I got the book in the mail, I flipped to a random page and got how to train your dog to do "Chorus Line Kicks", and flipping to another random page I got how to train your dog to do a "Easter Egg Hunt".... So, basically, when you put together a book called 101 Dog Tricks, you have to go insane with it, I guess. There are tricks in here that I can't imagine wanting to train my dog to do, flatly.

However: This book rocks, as far as training your dog to do all the basics.

Pretty much everything is covered here, in decent detail and with very high quality photos to accompany each trick with walk-through and adequate descriptions/side notes.

To all the negative reviewers of the opinion that bopping a dog on the nose is horrible, and that when the book suggests doing so it should be burned or whatever, I say: OK, have it your way, but if your dog runs out in front of a car, only blame yourself. Discipline in training a dog needs to take on many forms and it needs to escalate with the frequency of infractions. If it takes bopping a dog on the nose to make sure something happens correctly, then that's what needs to happen. Some breeds are more stubborn than others; labs, aussie sheps, etc, and need more attention during the training process and may need a bop on the nose!

Keep this in mind: Ultimately, your dog's obedience and it's view of you as the 'pack leader' and ultimate authority in every situation may very well save it's life.

Beyond the scope of this book somewhat(this is not an obedience book), is the need to teach 'attention as behavior', which in a great many dogs is the hardest thing to accomplish. I am currently looking for a book on this subject, and when I find one, I will update this review with whatever book suggestion I come up with.

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K. Baylis

A lot of fun and gorgeous layout

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2011

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I just fell in love with this book the second I opened the 'Quick View' on Amazon. The colour, the layout, the text, the pictures - it was just beautiful, and the book itself is no let down. Holding a gorgeous, thick, glossy book in my hands makes it already worth paying for; the content makes it an absolute gem. I bought it with the thought of teaching my puppy some tricks (I receive my puppy in ten days time), with the intention of this helping its training for being a hunting dog. There are some really cool exercises in here you can work your dog with, and some funny ones, too. All the instructions are step by step with a picture for each one, so you can see exactly how to position your body and how to say things. The author has tried to display everything in the easiest way possible to understand.

Some tricks I found to be a little on the silly side, having absolutely no use (or no props in the case of teaching your dog to push a trolley!) but most of them are either just to keep you and your dog's minds active and mentally happy, or have practical applications. There is actually a good hunting section with a few exercises that would be useful, such as a blind fetch. I have no doubt however, that everything in this book is made for your dog's utmost happiness and satisfaction, so if you are keen, I am sure your dog will be too! A fun, gorgeous, well put together book!

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