Master New Dog Tricks & Win Amazing Pet Prizes – 2018 Trick or Treat Giveaway

Welcome to the 2018 Trick or Treat Giveaway Hop!

What’s that? you might be wondering.

Well, a whole bunch of pet bloggers got together to teach their dogs tricks AND give away a ton of awesome pet prizes to YOU! All this, btw, is thanks to the pet-blogger-herding efforts of Jodi from Kol’s Notes and Jessica from Beagles and Bargains. Without them, there’s no way I’d have this all together for you today! So, read on to learn about our trick, to see the results, and to enter to win some seriously amazing prizes! (No joke, you guys. They’re SERIOUSLY amazing!)

This post is sponsored by the brands listed in the prizes below!

So, here we are! Learning tricks and having fun!

The trick we picked?

Say your prayers!

This turned out to be super fun because John and I worked together on it, something we hadn’t done in a long time. And, it was a good reminder to us about the point of trick training: FUN! More on that in a minute…

A couple weeks ago, I shared an Instagram Story when I found myself with a few minutes of free time, a clicker, and some treats. I figured: Why not? Let’s see if I can get Coop to reliably put his paws up on the couch.

He got it right away, but then I realized that I needed to back up a step. Instead of him walking over and jumping his front legs up to the couch, I needed him to sit first so that he looked, you know, prayerful.

How to teach your dog to say your prayers:

1. Pick a spot to start. The side of a bed would be cute. Our bed is too high to be comfortable for him, so I went with the couch. Bonus: My couch has a little ottoman that served as a block for him as we progressed. This wasn’t planned, but it worked. More on that in a sec.
   
2. Lure your dog to the couch (or bed) so that he’s facing it but right up close against it. When your dog sits (the next step), he automatically shifts back a smidge, so you need him to be super close.
3. Ask for a sit. You ultimately need your pupper to be sitting super close and facing the couch or bed. He might feel awkward sitting in that spot (Coop definitely did), so it might take a few tries beyond a simple “sit” cue to keep him from backing up away from the couch.
4. Paws up. Thankfully, Cooper already has a solid “paw” cue, so it took a couple reps of me having my hand on the couch before he got it.
   
5. HERE WE PAUSE FOR AN ASIDE: We worked on the sit + paws up for WAY longer than the initial paws up (from a stand). We did get him to do it and sustain it, but… it dawned on me and John that he was uncomfortable in that position. I’ve written about his oddly-splayed back hips before, and this was a time they came into play. He didn’t feel comfy sitting and putting his paws up. And that’s OK! No, his final trick isn’t a “by the books” say your prayers, but circling back to the main point: Trick training is for fun! That’s it! Just fun! And if your dog’s not having fun? You make a change. So, at this point, we swapped from sit + paws up to stand + paws up. You figure out what’s best for you and your dog at this point because, again. FUN.
   
6. Chin down. Here’s where things get cute. Your dog carefully places his chin between his paws to look prayerful. This took longer than 1-5 altogether. Why? We have worked for years and years and years and YEARS to get Cooper to look into our eyes. It’s standard reactive-dog training. But, when you hit on something where you need him to actively look away? It flies in the face of what he knows. That’s where the ottoman came in handy. He wanted to physically turn his body toward us, to see us, but he was restricted by that block. Ultimately, we used our well-conditioned touch stick to lure his chin down. If you don’t already have a touch stick that your dog is conditioned to, if he knows how to target anything (your hand, a sticky note) do that. Otherwise, you’ll probably have to lure with a treat in hand. Enclose the treat in your fist. Hold it to your dog’s nose, then slowwwwwwly move it back until his chin hits the couch, then click + treat.

No joke: Steps 1-5 took us about 7 minutes. Step 6? Two 10-minute sessions.

This isn’t a hard trick, but it is super cute.

That said, so many people asked us if we could please teach Violet to say her prayers alongside Cooper. Wouldn’t it be so cute?

Sure would!

She was a hard no.

Training a dog? Super fun and rewarding! Not hard but oftentimes challenging!

Training a toddler? Um. Yeah.

What tricks are you working on with your dogs these days? Any fun challenges or lessons learned? Any good tips up your sleeve to go with those tricks? We’d love to hear them in the comments!

Now for the big giveaway!! You guys. Seriously. Check out these AWESOME prizes and scroll allllllll the way to the bottom to enter to win! Then, visit the other blogs to

GRAND PRIZE:

$350 Gift Card to Petco

**PAID FOR BY ALL PARTICIPATING BLOGGERS**
This giveaway is NOT affiliated with Petco.

SECOND PRIZE:

Assorted KONG Dog Toys
$150 VALUE – SPONSORED BY KONG

THIRD PRIZE:

$100 in Wellness Pet Food Dog Treats
$100 VALUE – SPONSORED BY WELLNESS PET FOOD

FOURTH PRIZE:

2 Bags of Each Spike Dog Treat Recipe
(8 Bags Total)
$98 VALUE – SPONSORED BY PETCUREAN

FIFTH PRIZE:

All Meat Bites, Jerky Bites, Chicken Chips,
Jerky Strips, All Meat Crispies, and Jerky Wraps
(1 Bag Each)
$78 VALUE – SPONSORED BY ONLY NATURAL PET

SIXTH PRIZE:

6 Month Subscription to DOGTV Online
I and Love and You Fresh All Rover Dental Chews
$66 VALUE – SPONSORED BY DOGTV

SEVENTH PRIZE:

Four Flavors of Soft n’ Tasty Baked Bites,
One Grass Fed Beef Bone Broth,
and One Free Range Chicken Bone Broth
$60 VALUE – SPONSORED BY CARU PET FOOD

EIGHTH PRIZE:

1 Small Bag of 1mg Pumpkin Chews
and 1 Large Bag of 4mg Pumpkin Chews
$56 VALUE – SPONSORED BY TREATIBLES

NINTH PRIZE:

Cha Cha Chicken, Bodacious Beef, and Peanutty Perfection
(24 oz Bags – 3 Total)
$56 VALUE – SPONSORED BY NOAH’S BARK DOG TREATS

TENTH PRIZE:

Qwizl Treat Toy and Rowdies Toy
$56 VALUE – SPONSORED BY WEST PAW

ELEVENTH PRIZE:

Mutt Hatter Plush Toy Collection
$48 VALUE – SPONSORED BY P.L.A.Y.

PLUS follow ALL bloggers on
Facebook & Instagram for a chance to win
one of 13 SPECIAL SOCIAL MEDIA PRIZES!

A new giveaway will be posted each day on either
Facebook or Instagram and will run for 24 hours.
Each giveaway will be posted on the co-hosts’
social media pages along with a select group of bloggers.
You can enter on each participating blog’s account for MORE entries!
You have to enter each day for a chance to win that day’s prize.

Co-Hosts:
Beagles & Bargains – Facebook | Instagram
Kol’s Notes – Facebook | Instagram

Plus follow us too!
OhMyDogBlog.com – Facebook | Instagram

WHERE TO ENTER:

Kol’s NotesFidose of RealityOh My Dog BlogBeagles & BargainsIt’s Dog or NothingTenacious Little TerrierA Dog Walks into a BarMaggie Loves OrbitThe Broke DogBoogie the PugMcSquare DoodlesThe Chesnut MuttsChiPetsMy GBGV LifeWag ‘n Woof PetsDog Mom DaysMy Rescued LifeWear Wag Repeat

Visit each blog for more chances to win!

Follow #TrickorTreatDogs!

This is a Rafflecopter giveaway. Sometimes it takes a minute to load. Or, if you’re reading this via email or in a feed reader, you might have to click the link below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so, so much to Jodi and Jessica for organizing this entire thing! We are so grateful to you both!!!