Amazing Community Event For Trick Dogs And Dog Lovers

Talent Hounds member Marcy Wright is a positive reinforcement dog trainer from Toronto. She works with her three talented Jack Russell Terriers: Shivers, Sweetie and Lulu who have an impressive roster of tricks.

We first met Marcy four years ago at the Talent Hounds auditions and have featured her dogs in our TV shows and our live events. It’s remarkable how far Shivers has come in her trick training since starting at 8 weeks old.

Marcy is a wonderful trainer and her dedication to her dogs is obvious in their strong bond together. Jack Russells can be a challenging breed, as they tend to be very active and intelligent. Marcy, who has always loved the breed,  has been able to harness that energy and turn it into show-stopping fun. Sweetie, the eldest Jack can solve math problems, Lulu rides skateboards and plays piano and Shivers can jump rope.

Read: Is A Jack Russell Terrier The Right Breed For You

The youngest, Shivers also appeared in our short teaser for our film entitled, “Pippy Love”. Shivers stars as Pippy, the naughty terrier which is far from reality.

Shivers knows over 100 tricks, has appeared in magazines, on the news, and live, performing with her sister Sweetie at Canadian Pet Expo, Woofstock, All About Pets and Slobberfest (winning).

Marcy’s Community Event

We were so happy to attend Marcy’s community building initiative, Trick Your Mutt Into Doing Tricks,  for local aspiring dog lovers and residents in her area. It was inspiring to see people coming together to show off their tricks, make friends and have fun with their dogs. Dogs and good people really can make a difference.

The event was so much fun. The sun was shining (but we had shade and water). There was a great DJ pumping up the crowd and three local judges on hand to help select best tricks.

Marcy took the mic and rocked the stage with an impressive demo of some of the 100+ tricks her dogs currently know including the Paw Stand below.

The audience included seniors, dog owners and kids. 3 or 4 other dogs got on stage and showed their talents and the grand prize winner was this little dancing cutie:

Marcy then showed the audience how she teaches her dogs behaviours and tricks using rewards.  She got this little pup excited to perform.

She uses luring as you see in the Paw Stand and above- she has a treat in her hand and leads the dog into the trick. This works very well with Kilo the Pug as he is so food motivated. She also uses shaping where she rewards the behaviours she wants and not the ones she does not want and gives the behaviours she wants a verbal marker “Yes” (some people use clickers very effectively to signal to the dog that that was what was wanted but I use the verbal marker “Yes” too).

Dogs can be such wonderful companions, especially for seniors and kids, and there is potential to do more with our dogs.  I thought it was such a great initiative for Marcy to work with her community and organise a fun, family-friendly, educational and entertaining activity for everyone to participate in for free.

What sort of events do you organize or attend? Keep an eye out for other events in our listings and monthly posts and newsletters.