A fun way to do more with your dogs in a semi-structured way, with some good ideas below. These increase bonding with your dog in a way that they enjoy.
For example, do you think your welshie could roll a barrel or ride a skateboard? Lisa is relatively new to training, but Chanté is definitely rolling this barrel here ….
I got introduced to the ‘Trick Dog’ sport from a couple of Darwyn Welsh Terrier owners (Lisa with Chanté, and Peggy with Rowan, more below on each of them). They have been helpful in understanding the titling process, and provided personal examples that I am sharing. During 2019, Peggy and Lisa both put the Expert Level Title on their dogs. Rowan and Chanté are 2 (out of a total of 3 Welsh Terriers) that had Expert Trick Dog titles on Welsh Terriers!
Peggy’s detailed video submission links, provided below, are really cool to watch. If there was any doubt that Terriers could not be trained, watching Rowan will immediately change your mind. I love how much enthusiasm and spirit he shows. Clearly he is having a great time ‘playing with his mom’.
Welsh Terriers are very smart, they love to learn, and the more they learn, the more connected to you they become. It also is a great way to direct some of their energy also.
The original organization that started “Trick Dog” is ‘DMWYD’. The AKC (American Kennel Club) and CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) recognize the DMWYD titles, and will provide you with an official title to go on pedigree.
DMWYD allows you to do the tricks wherever you want. You don’t need to go to a special testing facility, you can do it on your own time, which means less stress for both you and your dog. You provide them with a video of your dog doing the tricks for your submission. The submission fee is minimal. DMWYD titles can then be converted to AKC (and also CKC) titles, to be attached to your dogs AKC (or CKC) pedigree.
Making this easier encourages you to work more with your dog, making for a better dog to live with. The tricks are foundation items for different dog sports. Even if you don’t go on to other sports, dogs have a way of making the activities we share with them more fun. By giving them training, we allow them to participate in more areas of our life.
Video Submissions of Rowan by Peggy
In addition to some really interesting ideas of what is possible, there are also some funny things added into these submissions. In the advanced trick dog submission, for example, Peggy has us think that it’s all about Obedience routines – then she throws in a ‘Go to Sleep‘ trick and just wows us! I know that sounds a bit silly, but it shows that training doesn’t have to be serious, it is also FUN and silly! Why not have a bit of fun in life.
Password is ‘tricks‘ for each video below.
The above videos are by Peggy. She has been doing this a long time, but she has proven to me that anyone can teach this stuff. Peggy teaches Rally-O in Edmonton Alberta (Canada). Facebook Page called RallyO Classes with Peggy.
Peggy runs small classes and doesn’t promote her skills very widely. Believe me, she is extremely knowledgeable, patient and really understands how our breed (and terriers in general) think.Rowan (featured above) has the following titles (as at December 2019):
Darwyn Gwyddon; SE, SD-A, TEAM1 & ETD. Senior Earthdog CKC, Advanced Scent Detection from SDDA, TEAM from Fenzi Dog Sports, Expert Trick Dog (ETD)
Peggy runs small classes and doesn’t promote her skills very widely. Believe me, she is extremely knowledgeable, patient and really understands how our breed (and terriers in general) think.Rowan (featured above) has the following titles (as at December 2019):
Darwyn Gwyddon; SE, SD-A, TEAM1 & ETD. Senior Earthdog CKC, Advanced Scent Detection from SDDA, TEAM from Fenzi Dog Sports, Expert Trick Dog (ETD)
Rowan is a Mickey and Ella son (both his sire and dam are top level accomplished show dogs …. beauty and brains!)
EXPERT TRICK DOG TITLE … It’s achievable, you also can do it!
Both Rowan and Chanté (see below) have their “Expert” Trick Dog titles. In fact, there are only 3 Welsh Terriers (Dec/2019) that have attained this level, and 2 out of the 3 are bred by Darwyn. I am very proud of this, especially since I am a small hobby breeder.
Rowan had so much to choose from, but we chose to use stuff from a few different areas of our training. We used scent articles (Utility Obedience Training), double balance beam, weave poles (Agility), container search (Scent Work), pivot-backup-left turn- sidestep (Rally-O). Covered all our bases (except Earthdog!), and it let me teach a new trick. Honestly, building the balance beams took me longer than teaching the trick! Rowan immediately hopped up on them as I was finishing and walked back and forth! He has so much history of learning new stuff, and he’s so confident on equipment that he’s making up his own tricks!Peggy McCallum and WT Rowan
For the Expert title – Chanté did the Double Balance Beam, Nose Work Box Search, Roll the Barrel, Skateboard with 3-4 Paws, Shell Game (paw at correct pail). BONUS is that if you have an AKC performance title – i.e.. Nose Work, Barn Hunt, Agility, Earth Dog, Rally-O (which she does), etc. it also counts as one expert trick!Lisa Patton and WT Chanté
A bit about Lisa and Peggy with Chanté and Rowan:
The 2 Darwyn Welsh Terrier Owners who achieved the Trick Dog Expert level title, own littermates. What they have in common is that they both love to see their dogs use their brain, train through positive feedback, and learn things little by little (shaping behavior) and watch them develop.
Peggy and Rowan live in Edmonton Alberta (Canada):
Peggy also teaches, is a “subject matter expert” (both in training and in dealing with difficult dogs, including many terriers), and has a lot of patience both with people and the dogs. You can connect directly by going to her Facebook Page which is RallyO Classes with Peggy
Welsh Terrier Rowan, aka, Darwyn Gwyddon, has a bunch of titles … as of Dec 2019 include: SE, SD-A, TEAM1 & ETD. Senior Earthdog CKC, Advanced Scent Detection from SDDA, TEAM from Fenzi Dog Sports, Expert Trick Dog (ETD).
Over the years, Peggy usually lives with 2 terriers, one Welsh and one Airedale. Rowan is her 3rd Welsh and 2nd one from Darwyn. Her previous boy, Dylan, was involved in a bunch of different dog sports and ended up with over 40 official titles at the back of his name. Dylan even competed at the highest level of Obedience – called Utility – many terrier owners don’t try for this, but it can be done.
I find Peggy to be very calculated in her approach of training. She has proven to believe in ongoing simple training. She builds on what the dog knows, and what you want to teach them. Her main approach focuses on shaping behavior. I don’t know everything that Rowan has learned in his 3 years of age, but I know that it is many things, across the spectrum from basic life community skills to advanced obedience (what I think of as advanced obedience at least!). Some really amazing stuff. Peggy doesn’t like to brag, so I need to always pull this out of her. I only wish we lived closer so she could be my personal trainer!
Some of you may have seen me do the HIGH FIVE with my Champion Boy, Robbie ….. I learned how to teach that move from Peggy. I actually first taught my girl Chanté that “trick” long before she went to live with Lisa and Tom. I just wanted to do something different, so I reached out to Peggy … she made a short video, taught her boy Rowan how to do it one morning, and sent me the video with detailed steps. It worked! Chanté, and a couple of years later, Robbie, learned that move very quickly. When I ask them to do a High Five, it looks like they smile and then enthusiastically do it. We love it! Thank you Peggy for helping me see that training fun tricks is easy and fun for both the owner and their dog.
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Lisa and Chanté live in S. California.
Welsh Terrier Chanté, aka, American Champion Darwyn’s Enchanté; titles as of Dec 2019 include: CGC, Barn Hunt Novice (RATN), Expert Trick Dog (ETD, or TKP under the AKC title scheme), CHIC
Chanté is Lisa’s 3rd Welsh Terrier, but her 1st one that she has done formal training and titles with. In the two years that they have had Chanté (they got her from me when Chanté was 15 months old ) Lisa has been active in training her for regular life stuff, as well as mixing in some Trick Dog, Canine Good Citizen (CGC), Barn Hunt, Lure Coursing through FastCAT, some fun agility, and has become active in the sport of Nose Work through the NACSW. Given that Chanté is her first dog that she does competitions with, the partnership work that they have developed together is wonderful to watch. Thank you Lisa for taking the initial work that I did with Chanté and building on it with the smart dog you have today!
It’ll be fun to watch where Lisa and Chanté go in their training in the years to come.
Some ‘tricks; that you can teach your dog can be as simple as which way to ’tilt’ their head. Another Darwyn owner, Laurie, has been teaching Filly (Darwyn’s Flying Filly; CA, NS) to tilt her head either to the left or right, depending on what sound Laurie makes. It sounds a little silly, but it is getting Filly to use her brain, enabling Filly to understand different actions, and connecting Filly and Laurie in a fun way. She’s also teaching her a lot of other things too, another simple one is getting Filly to ‘wave’. Here are a couple of cute photos of her doing these things.
And, of course, the HIGH FIVE, is a favorite here at Darwyn Welsh Terriers!
Here is Chanté doing this with her new owner Lisa. Chanté was my first dog that I taught to do a High Five too.
Remember, doing more with your dog will increase their happiness, and strengthen your bond with them. These are just a few examples of the ways to do that, and demonstrations that it is possible with Welsh Terriers.