Staycation with Your Pets

It’s March 2020 and California’s shelter-in-place order meant to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus means that many of you are at home going stir-crazy. Your pets also may be getting bored. It’s the worst staycation ever. I recommend a fun activity that you can do with your pets: training them to do tricks!

Those of you who have met my cats know that I have trained them to do fist bumps and high fives. This is my cat Zulu doing his fist bump. Full disclosure: this trick took many weeks to perfect and I did it after I taught easier tricks like Sit and Jump from the Couch to the Ottoman.

There are so many good reasons to train your pets: it provides mental stimulation, it increases your bond with them, it can give a shy pet new confidence, it will impress your friends and it’s just plain fun.

I learned how to train my cats by going through Karen Pryor’s online cat course which you can find HERE. You can try part of it out for free, but it does involve getting a clicker which I realize you might not have on hand.

For more instant gratification, below is a video that shows some basic cat training where you just need some treats and your finger:

My Tips for Cat Training:

·        Short Sessions: Five to ten minutes max with no more than a handful of treats

·        Every Day: Do a training session every day at about the same time so your cat starts to expect it

·        Be Patient: It may take your cat a week or two of sessions to learn a single trick.

·        Pick A Good Reward: If your cat isn’t food motivated try affection or playing with a toy.

·        One At A Time: If you have more than one cat, isolate the one you are working with.

When I learned that this dog Bijou knows how to jump through a hoop I was excited to see if we could get a good photo of the trick during our portrait session.

Think jumping through a hoop is super advanced? Below is a video that makes it look doable. I love how they break it down into baby steps.

If you’d like in-person help with dog training with an emphasis towards prepping your dog for a future career in the film industry I recommend Canine Circus School in North Oakland. Their amazingly effective treats are just chopped up hot dog!

I hope I’ve inspired you to search on YouTube for whatever trick you are interested in training your pet for and going for it! Just to give you some more trick ideas there is the Sit Pretty, Spin, Roll Over, Chase A Ball, Fetch a Ball, Balance a Treat on Your Nose, Come When Called, Go to Your Carrier, Weave Between Your Legs, Jump Over Your Leg, Catch a Frisbee, and Take a Bow.

Obviously I am available once your pet has mastered a trick or two to beautifully photograph the results, like Maurice here doing a high five with his favorite person.

Or Zoe here doing a Leg Weave.

Don’t want to be in the picture? I can take you out like I did for this image of Zoe dancing for a treat.

Email me at PipiDiamond@gmail.com to start the process for planning your pet’s photo session and have fun practicing their tricks.