Celebrity Dog Trainer Says Any Dog Can Learn New Tricks

Whoever said an old dog can’t learn new tricks would be in strong disagreement with celebrity trainer Babette Haggerty. The dog trainer to Hollywood’s elite recently wrote a new book called ‘‘The Best Dog Tricks on the Planet,” and she maintains that even if your dog knows every trick in the book, there’s still more for them to learn.

And these tricks are far more complicated than the requisite sit and shake that most dogs master easily. Haggerty says that you can teach your dog to do a pirouette or even appear to read a book. Haggerty, who has trained many dogs for TV shows and movies, says that all it takes is a little patience and repetition to help your dog learn something new.

At her school called Babette Haggerty’s School for Dogs, she estimates she has trained more than 1,000 dogs to-date. And everything she learned, she picked up from her dad, the late celebrity dog trainer Arthur ‘‘Captain’’ Haggerty, who is credited with starting ‘‘Stupid Pet Tricks’’ on David Letterman’s late-night show.

Her new book is a dedication to her late father, who once gave her the advice: ‘‘The dogs come first. Do whatever is best for the dogs.” Together, they worked on TV shows like ‘‘Guiding Light’’ and ‘‘All My Children” before his passing. Haggerty has taught celebrity pups like Jimmy Buffett’s Maltese to dance, and Jack Nicklaus’ Golden Retriever to bark six times when asked how many times her daddy won the masters.

Tricks include teaching your dog to retrieve your car keys, the newspaper and mail, provide you with a wakeup call, or to ride a skateboard. The book details each trick thoroughly and includes photos, the hand signal, tools required and the average timeframe you can expect your pet to learn it in.

For assistance with your elite dog training needs in St. Louis and St. Charles, please contact us. We provide a variety of classes that are tailored to different skill levels, and we would love to assist you in teaching your dog some new tricks!