Kilo the Pug Finally Learns the Trick to “Sit Pretty”
Today’s inspiration comes from Kilo the Pug. I really like seeing dogs posing in the “sit pretty” or “say please” position. We have been working hard to master the “sit pretty” trick and he’s made such a huge improvement.
Last week we featured tips teaching a dog to sit pretty and the video of trainer Taylor and her two dogs, Lottie the Border Collie and rescue dog Grizzly.
Taylor explained that many dogs have to work really hard to learn this trick and showed a few ways to teach it. It takes a lot of core strength for a dog to hold themselves upright in a seated position. For dogs like Kilo and Grizzly who are top heavy and have narrow hips and long backs, this is way more difficult than for Lottie.
The post on How to Train Your Dog To Sit Pretty also featured benefits of and tips for a strong core.
Kilo loves to please me and gets really restless if he doesn’t have some mental and physical challenges during the day. He is food obsessed so learning tricks is really fun for him. We do 5 minutes training using positive reinforcement and 5 minutes play time every 2 hours on average. We have been incorporating core building into play and training for quite a while.
Kilo so far has only been able to perform the “sit pretty” trick leaning against the back of the couch and holding on to my hand. For any dog learning a new trick that may be difficult having a safe spot so they can’t fall and injure themselves is key. Today we worked on comfy carpet to stop his legs splaying out with a couch behind just in case.
After lots of practice and many treats later, Kilo can almost sit pretty. He only needs one paw on my hand for balance and can even hold himself for 2 or 3 seconds occasionally. I’m so proud of him and all his “hard” work. It’s a very inspiring start to the week!
We call this “Be a meercat” and my dogs love to do it.
Sit, pretty while leaning against the couch looks hilarious in images – what a great trick to t[each! I’ll try with our doxies and report back!
Love the baby step of having Kilo hold onto you!
Good job, Kilo! I feel like we’re always working on a half dozen things at once. I should be more organized. We’re working on crawl and a handstand and weaving at the moment.
I love that photo of Kilo and his paws holding onto you for balance 🙂
Great job, Kilo, and great job by Mom taking it slowly! That’s a fun trick! We’ve kind of taken a break from Luke’s tricks lately to work on some other stuff, but he ended up making up his own game with his crate and toys. I guess he didn’t want a break from tricks! I’m not sure what we’ll try next – I like this trick but Luke has bad knees so I’m not sure it would be good for him.