Sports Dog New Tricks

Trick training is a fun activity for both you, and your dog, but do you have time for it when there is so much to teach in your chosen discipline? The answer should be an emphatic yes! Trick training can play a key role in enhancing performance in your chosen sport.

Top international canine freestyle handler, Richard Curtis, has devised a series of tricks especially for competition dogs, which are designed to fine-tune both mental and motor skills. His step-by-step advice is backed by a wealth of illustrations to show you exactly what to do.

There are tricks to develop:
• Motivation
• Body awareness
• Core strength, stretching and flexibility
• Focus and thinking

There is also a series of low impacts tricks for older dogs and for dogs that require rehabilitation. Richard’s instructions are easy to follow, and with his expert guidance, you can enjoy fun training sessions while building your dog’s mental strength, his confidence and his fitness.

The book is superbly illustrated with more than 300 colour photos.

Richard Curtis is one of the UK’s leading handlers in heelwork to music/canine freestyle/dog dancing, as well as being a top level competitor in both sheepdog trials and obedience. He has won the Crufts freestyle final a record four times with Disco 2006, Pogo 2010, 2011, and Whizzy in 2014. In addition he won the international freestyle competition at Crufts in 2011 and 2014.

His interest in training started when he was nine years old, when he finally persuaded his parents to let him have a dog. This started him on the road to competing in obedience, and in teaching. But it was his Border Collie, Sybil, who first got him interested in trick training. Like a true Border Collie, Sybil had a great thirst for work and the obedience exercises proved too easy for her. Richard discovered that teaching tricks was the perfect challenge – they were fun to do and they engaged her considerable brain. Richard has gone on to train a variety of breeds, both large and small. He has refined his methods over the years, and now works worldwide as an instructor. His workshops are in huge demand, and thousands of handlers have benefitted from his teaching. Richard is also a highly respected judge of heelwork to music/canine freestyle and officiated at Crufts finals in 2007, 2012 and 2019.