Trick Titles & Treat Dust
Learning, Failing, and Earning Titles with T’Challa & Vibes
Vibes at Washington Square Park
It’s no surprise how much I love and enjoy all the familiar parts of life with dogs: long walks, quiet evenings, playing, and taking a million pictures along the way. My training sessions don’t replace those moments—they complement them. It’s one of the ways I actively engage with my Dobies, and it’s been far more rewarding than I ever expected.
I’m hardly a “dog trainer”, but I am a dog mom that has trained her dogs to do some things, and I’m really proud of each accomplishment. Trick training is one way I try to show up for my pups. It’s how I stay present. And in this season of my life, that presence is what my dog mom era is really about.
What I lack in natural dog trainer instincts, I make up for in sheer determination and power of will. What I do have is curiosity, an enthusiasm for learning paired with the ability to grasp concepts quickly, and a perfectionist streak that means I’ll fail a million times just to get it right once. I love working toward goals and who doesn’t love to brag about their dogs?
Training as Engagement, Not Expertise
For me, training isn’t about being impressive. It’s not about control or titles or checking boxes. It’s simply about creating that bond with T & Vibes. They know when it’s training time and I love watching them figure things out.
It’s the shared focus when my dogs are watching my hands instead of the world around them. It’s the quiet communication that builds when we’re working through something new together. It’s the way repetition turns into understanding — for all of us.
I managed to teach T’Challa a handful of random things: sit, down, nose, touch, paw, selfie - but we were missing obedience. T’Challa is a sweet boy, but when he was a puppy he was a never ending ball of energy. By complete chance, we met to women in Madison Square Park, one woman had a dobie so naturally she flocked straight to us and the other woman had a husky mix. The husky mix was the best trained dog I’d ever seen - in ALL of Manhattan and Brooklyn and maybe even of my life. I was praising her for how attentive her dog was to her and that’s when she told me that she actually did a board and train with 203K9 in Connecticut. This story warrants it’s own post because I can’t express enough how valuable it was for us as dog owners to take T’Challa there. In doing so, we met our Senior Trainer, Jose Velasquez and I have to credit him with so much. Stay tuned for that post because it will send you running for a private lesson for your dog, trust me.
From Obedience to Party Tricks
Professionals locked in our obedience which opened my world up to teaching tricks.
In a million years, I would never have thought I’d be able to teach anything to my dogs, but after learning how to build up to a task, tricks gave us creativity and a chance to play. Trick training gave me a way to meet T & Vibes where they are instead of expecting them to fit into one version of “good training.” It’s easy to get deterred when you see a video of a some shepherd dog dancing through life with their owner.
T’Challa approaches learning with intention and focus. Vibes brings enthusiasm, chaos, and joy. Watching them work through the same skill in completely different ways has been a real lesson for me in how I need to handle them beyond training as well. They are very different dogs and it’s important for me to know the difference in what works and what doesn’t.
T & Vibes in Washington Square Park - it was sooo hot this day! I had Farm to Pet beef chips in my hand so they were obviously very happy!
Just Borrowing it for a Minute
Like many things in my dog mom era, I didn’t start with a perfect plan. I just wanted structure — and I didn’t need to reinvent the wheel. I knew AKC had a Trick Dog Program, and figured they would have a check list similar to the checklist utilized for the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) titles.
The American Kennel Club offers a series of Trick Dog titles that progress from beginner to advanced, using clear checklists of skills. Dogs can earn the following titles:
Each level builds on the last, encouraging creativity, teamwork, and consistency. My goal is to get T to advanced, but lets just see how it goes! I feel like I could get Vibes to Performer.
I’ll be honest: it took me forever to actually find the checklists on the AKC website. If you’re new to AKC programs, you know the struggle. I’ve linked them in the list of titles above so you don’t have to dig like I did. Each check list explains what is required to earn the title. When you’re ready to earn your title, submit everything through the AKC Title Application Portal linked here.
If only I could get T to do this on command
Our Trick Title Journey So Far
So far, we’ve earned our AKC Novice Trick Dog title, and we’re very close to submitting our Intermediate (TKI) application.
What surprised me most about this whole journey wasn’t how quickly the T or Vibes learned something — it was how much I learned.
You build up to tricks brick by brick with careful consideration of the action you need to get from point A to point B. I learned how to pick up on frustration before it turns into shutdown or when they started to lose interest. Learning how to let go of perfect reps and celebrate effort instead felt impossible sometimes, but failing isn’t wasted time when you’re learning together. Teaching tricks just takes time, treats and tons of patience!
Why This Belongs in My Dog Mom Era
So why does ANY of this matter? It may not matter to most, but it is important to me. I didn’t take the time to properly train my first dobie, Vance, and we let our toy poodle, Beau, getaway with murder because he was little. I’ve since learned that little dogs need training too, and dobies don’t just figure things out. Seems obvious, but the average pet owner really doesn’t know as much as you might expect. We got lucky with the handful of tricks we taught Vance, but I frequently (still) regret that I didn’t do more for him while he was in my life. I knew when we got T that I wouldn’t be making that mistake again. This chapter of my life isn’t about doing everything right, but it is about choosing engagement over nothing, patience over rushing, curiosity over comparison, and presence over performance. I do not want a day to go by where I feel like I didn’t do everything I could with my boys and Shu.
Training fits here because it forces me to slow down. To pay attention. To meet my dogs where they are that day — not where I think they should be. Most importantly it addresses the one emotion that hangs over me after the loss of Vance and Beau. It’s a gift to spend this time with my dogs training and bonding.
There’s treat dust on the floor and in my pockets, half-finished skills on the list, and videos of the same trick filmed over and over again. And honestly? I love it here.
Vance & Beau at our old old apt in Brooklyn | This is the last place we lived with Vance
