Thanks for liking us! Sadie and I really appreciate all the love!
I’m always trying to think of new tricks I can teach Sadie. When she was little I thought it would be cute if I threw something to her and she would catch it. So I researched different methods and strategies for teaching a dog to catch on command. The most common method is to hold a treat above your dog’s head and then drop it. When your dog opens his or her mouth to eat the treat, say catch so that he or she associates that action with catching. Unfortunately Sadie refused to be trained this way. No matter how I tried it, Sadie refused to open her mouth, always letting the treat hit her and then fall to the floor, where she would find it and eat it. So I gave up with food. I tried throwing various toys at her to try and get her to catch them. Again, she would just let the toys hit her in the head and give me annoyed looks. But then I bought the cupcake. It’s a small latex squeaky toy in the shape of a cupcake and Sadie absolutely loves it. I tried throwing the cupcake to her a few times, and to my surprise, on the fifth try she caught it! From then on Sadie has loved playing catch. She keeps getting better and better at it, catching all kinds of objects and even making some leaping catches. I tell her to get ready and it’s so cute to see her hunker down into pouncing position with her butt in the air, tail swishing, and a look of total concentration on her face. And when she successfully makes the catch she is so proud of herself it is a joy to witness.
This post is part of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.
Check out Slimdoggy‘s blog hop below for other great pet blogs taking the challenge with me!
This post is part of the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop brought to you by Ruckus the Eskie and Love is Being Owned by a Husky.
Thanks for liking us! Sadie and I really appreciate all the love!
Catching is definitely an acquired skill :). One of my dog’s can catch anything no matter where it is thrown, sadly the others are not so talented. Guess we need to work on that!!
Erin @ The Five Dog Blog recently posted…C is for Consistent Cues 🙂
My dog Jess loved to play catch, we would have fun with her when it snowed as she also tried to catch snowballs too.
She was really great with a ball, would play catch and fetch for hours. Miss that girl <3
Mars
Curling Stones for Lego People
Mars recently posted…C is for Collecting
Sounds like perseverance won out in the end with Sadie.
Urthwild recently posted…“C” Is For Compassion
It took me two years for Tig to catch on to this one (my other two dogs just sort of naturally did it). Tig would wince when you tossed a treat her way. Finally after two years she opened her mouth, going for the treat.
Nothing changed, I guess it just clicked. Finally. I guess the moral of the story is keep trying?! Not sure why I bothered, but hey, now she catches tossed food! 🙂
Jen | DOGthusiast | Stylish Canine recently posted…Stylish Canine’s The A to Z of Things Dogs Love: Chasing Cats! #AtoZChallenge
It’s funny (and sad at the same time) how she would just let the toys hit her in the head. Poor doggy 🙂
Look at that catch! Right in the mouth. Happy Thoughtless Thursday! Thanks for linking up
Ruckus the Eskie recently posted…Thoughtless Thursday #11: Canine Magic Tricks
Such a cute dog!
That cupcake looks like a great toy:-)
Misaki recently posted…Random Thursday
Great info and photo!!! Thanks so much for linking up with UA today for thoughtless Thursday!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Jenna,Mark “HuskyCrazed” Drady recently posted…C is for ‘Clowie’ on Thoughtless Thursday!
I’d catch a cupcake if you tossed it to me too. Great post.
Mark at DBDT recently posted…7 Questions for Erin: A dog trainer, blogger, foster home, and volunteer
So cute!! I wanna see a video of that! 🙂
Kathy recently posted…A to Z Challenge, Day 3: C is for Canine Cognitive Dysfunction #atozchallenge