With the help of instructor Carly Davis and a lot of string cheese and patience, Tegan now has the American Kennel Club title of novice trick dog.

AKC trick dog titles have four levels, novice, intermediate, advanced, performer, and elite performer, and purebreds and mixed breeds are eligible to earn these titles.

At the novice level, the dog must perform ten tricks from a list of 23, or, the handler may add two tricks not on the list.

Some of the tricks involved some kind of prop, and Tegan let me know early on that he wasn’t interested in props.

One of the trick options is for the dog to hold something in his mouth for three seconds. Carly thought holding a small bouquet of artificial flowers would be cute, so I bought a stalk of plastic flowers. I rubbed cheese on the stem. Tegan sniffed, but wouldn’t put the stem in his mouth.

I upgraded to a stem coated in peanut butter. Tegan licked the peanut butter off but would never grasp the flowers.

Going through a tunnel was out of the question. The children’s tunnel I bought was too unstable and Tegan wasn’t about to enter anything that wiggled no matter how much string cheese was thrown in ahead of him. Tegan didn’t approve of walking on a raised board, either.

String cheese was not enough temptation.

One trick involved jumping into a box or other container on cue. Sitting in the box was a separate trick.

Since Tegan is short but long, I couldn’t find large enough box.

Carly agreed that a kiddy wading pool could be substituted but Tegan thought it was a bit scary, so I dragged it into the living room, and filled it with towels and blankets until they almost reached the rim. Tegan got used to it being in the living room, but wouldn’t put his feet in it.

He would reach in to grab treats or toys, but would never lift a foot.

Tegan would bark on cue, lie down at a hand signal, jump through a hoop, find a treat hidden under a cup, touch my hand, spin in a circle, weave between my legs, and do a stationary figure 8 through my legs.

(These last two were handler’s choice).

I still needed two tricks and time was running out. I had one week.

I kept working with the wading pool and I added getting him to give me a kiss. For the title, a dog may kiss either your cheek or the back of your hand. I decided, given Tegan’s height, or rather his lack of height, that I’d have him kiss the back of my hand.

More peanut butter came into play, as well as the string cheese.

We got the kiss down, but there was still no progress with the pool. I realized that I should have been working on something else. What I had been doing for quite a while was holding Tegan’s paw and saying “good paw.”

I wasn’t doing this while he was seated, but rather whenever he had rolled over on his back. I’d rub his tummy, then hold a paw and tell him he was good.

I never considered that this was actually teaching him anything other than that it was okay for someone to hold his foot. There wasn’t even any cheese involved.

On the morning of the test, I was a bit disappointed.

Tegan knew nine tricks. I asked him to kiss my hand, which he did. Then he lifted his paw. I quickly took it, praised him, then ran to get a handful of tiny treats. “Paw,” I said, and Tegan obliged. Quick treat and a “good dog!”

Another request for a paw, and another paw presented. We did this about 10 times in a row. I was ecstatic…Tegan would shake hands. We had our 10th trick.

CHQ Dogs, which is the name of Carly’s business, has a lovely new location but it was Tegan’s first time there, so I was a little worried that in a strange place, there might be something he wouldn’t do. I didn’t need to worry. Tegan aced his exam with ten perfect tricks, to earn his first AKC title.

The wading pool aside, teaching Tegan tricks was fun and since the teaching involved treats, he seemed to enjoy it, too.

Even if you never achieve a title, a trick class is a great way to have some fun with your dog. Just add patience, and string cheese.