Way back when, Choppy went to puppy training. She loved it, partly because she got to go in the car, but mostly because it was an hour where she could get dozens of treats, just for doing things like sitting and lying down.

The puppy training class teacher, as well as Choppy’s later teacher for her next set of training, noted that Choppy was very food-oriented. Nothing I have seen since contradicts this; Choppy is quite possibly the most easily bribed/distracted dog ever when it comes to her treats.

You would think I would have used this to teach her more tricks, but nope. She has a basic repertoire of the necessary commands (sit, stay, etc.) and a few tricks (shake, play dead, high five, etc.) but nothing that exciting.

[Note: perhaps I shouldn’t say she knows how to play dead. She is the liveliest dead dog ever, as this Vine video sort of demonstrates – usually, it’s even livelier. Of course, when I attempted to get that video, Choppy initially performed the trick spectacularly, for the first time in recent memory]

This is not Choppy playing dead. This is just Choppy being lazy.
This is not Choppy playing dead. This is just Choppy being lazy.

The one trick that is both great and horrible, though, is her hugging trick. Choppy was (and still is) a dog who likes to jump on people who come to our house. In an attempt to curb this behavior, I decided to make it a trick. And thus, her hugging trick was born. Here is a link to the video of her doing it (and giving me a kiss to boot).

She loves giving hugs, and it is one of the few tricks she does without any expectation of a treat afterwards. Unfortunately, she does it to people when they don’t expect it. Usually, these “people” are me. In heels. It isn’t always pretty.

And when we get a video of that, it will definitely be amusing. Though probably not for me.

Keep up with Travels with Choppy on Facebook and Twitter!

Choppy also has her own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

You can also follow our blog by clicking the “Follow” link at the top of this page or at Bloglovin’!