# Tekno's DMWYD Novice Trick Dog video



## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

It was a joy to watch. You’ve done a great job and Tekno is so exuberant and happy to show off his tricks.


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## Phaz23 (May 31, 2020)

Skylar said:


> It was a joy to watch. You’ve done a great job and Tekno is so exuberant and happy to show off his tricks.


😄 aww thank you


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Phaz23 said:


> I've been putting off recording a trick video so last night I was like=
> 
> "You know what Tekno, I'm on day one of my vacation, let's do this! (before my procrastination kicks in [emoji16])"
> 
> Here's what we got. Please go easy on us, we both were at the end of our day (around 9pm) haha but I'm glad we got started on this [emoji23]


I love it! You're right about the knee jumping! He absolutely loves doing it! [emoji7]


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

I just love him and his joy.


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## Cindy12 (Mar 30, 2020)

Outstanding!!


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

He is so enthusiastic. It's clear you have spent a lot of hours working with him, and he is enjoying the work.


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## Johanna (Jun 21, 2017)

You two are delightful! Thank you for sharing.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

He's spring loaded!


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

What a fantastic team!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Beautiful puppy, beautifully trained.


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## Austen (Mar 10, 2020)

Had to log in to say how much I enjoyed this! Tekno is adorable and so well-trained. You've inspired me to work on more tricks with Austen.


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## Brownie_mom (Dec 1, 2020)

Your video made my day. It was so much fun to watch! How old is Tekno? It must be a lot of work to train him to do all of these tricks.
Thank you for sharing - gives me a goal to reach


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## Phaz23 (May 31, 2020)

Brownie_mom said:


> Your video made my day. It was so much fun to watch! How old is Tekno? It must be a lot of work to train him to do all of these tricks.
> Thank you for sharing - gives me a goal to reach


😊 He turned 6 months on March 2nd and has been with us since he was 4 months (he was held back as a show prospect  )


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## Brownie_mom (Dec 1, 2020)

Phaz23 said:


> 😊 He turned 6 months on March 2nd and has been with us since he was 4 months (he was held back as a show prospect  )


He is a very nice looking puppy. Really impressive how well you trained him in 2 months.


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## Dogs4Life (May 27, 2018)

He's so adorable and willing to please. What an awesome pup.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Wow, I love him!!! Amazing job. Tekno is so bright and proud in his work!


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## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

Wow! He's barely six months old and has learned all that?!! 😃 Phaz, that's amazing! If you got him at 4 months and he's now six months, does that mean you've had only 8 or 9 formal lessons with him so far? And do you practice with him daily or near daily? And what treat (brand &/or flavor) do you give him? What a great dog and team the two you of you make!


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## Phaz23 (May 31, 2020)

Vita said:


> Wow! He's barely six months old and has learned all that?!! 😃 Phaz, that's amazing! If you got him at 4 months and he's now six months, does that mean you've had only 8 or 9 formal lessons with him so far? And do you practice with him daily or near daily? And what treat (brand &/or flavor) do you give him? What a great dog and team the two you of you make!


😅 Thank you! So thus far we've gone to Puppy Kindergarten which is a 5 weeks intro to obedience and socializing for puppies, and at home, we worked through the Fenzi Baby Geniuses course (which we loved) Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE115: Baby Genius. I usually do training a couple of times a day and during our walks. I'm fully WFH but have a super busy schedule as a game developer (our working hours are legendarily long lol) so I'm able to work training in by feeding him most of his meals by hand while practicing, training basic commands like; heel, sit, stand, down, and quiet, during walks, and using one day a week (usually Saturday) as a super training day where he has a class or puppy playschool in the a.m. a long break, and then distraction training near a busy area like at a park or near a restaurant or something similar where I can maintain distance from people but also be close enough for it to be a distraction for him. It sounds like a lot but I feel like before I would just be looking at my phone or something during that downtime that I use now, and Saturdays during Covid were just spent indoors so this is quite the improvement.

For the treats, I use a few because this boy is piiiicky. I've been working on expanding his palette though before all he wanted was cheese and chicken-like any other toddler would want lol. I use low value and high value treats depending on the distraction level and the difficulty of the trick. For example, "sit" in the house with no distractions, get kibble, but "sit" on a crosswalk as cars speed by gets carnitas or roasted chicken  Same for seeing something really exciting like a dog running by on a lead, definitely needs cheese or fresh meat shoved straight to the mouth to encourage him to focus on me. 

So my line up now is: 

Nature's Logic Rabbit kibble (his regular food)
Kiwi Kitchens Lamb Dinner
Kiwi Kitchen Fish Skin Treats
Kong Sweet Potato Paste (I use this on a spoon or target stick for heels and stacking)
Greenies Salmon Cat treats (he loves fish, so sometimes I have to get him cat treats that don't contain added Taurine)

High value (fed more rarely)
Tillamook Cheddar Cheese Snack Portions (I looove these, they come individually wrapped so I can grab a pack out of the fridge, throw it in my treat sack and run out the door. I just break off a little bit as I feed him)
Fresh, cooked meat like roasted chicken, liver, pork
Primal Rabbit Nuggets 

OH and he is very toy-driven so when it's too late at night to feed him or I just want to keep the momentum up, I also reward him with a game of tug, fetch, or flirt pole.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

I got Baby Genius a couple of years ago, just to have it in my library for whenever I finally got a puppy.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Phaz23 said:


> It sounds like a lot but I feel like before I would just be looking at my phone or something during that downtime that I use now, and Saturdays during Covid were just spent indoors so this is quite the improvement.


This x infinity. Love your perspective and also your approach to training.


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## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

Phaz, that's really impressive and thank you for being so specific. 

This impressed me too:



Phaz23 said:


> It sounds like a lot but I feel like before I would just be looking at my phone or something during that downtime that I use now...


Nearly ten years ago my family watched _The Red Violin_ (see trailer here). It's an excellent movie about how a masterpiece of a violin changed hands through many owners thru history and their stories. 

It was *this scene* when my then-teenage daughter asked me how did people learn to play so well back then? I thought about it and offered that they didn't have the distractions of TV shows, video games, Internet, social media and cell phones. So much potential is never realized. 

Anyway thank you for sharing.


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