I have trained animals of all sorts since I was a little kid, it has been over 50 years now since I first enjoyed my Aunt Violet's little dogs that did a few tricks and went home to train my own dog and a pet chicken. I have trained everything from mice and fish to donkeys, ponies and horses, and so many other animals, so very many dogs, in between.

Deron has been training dogs since 1993. We met in a Sled Dog Club. We both Raced, Trained, Bred and Won a few races before we ever hooked up with one another. Animals are our life. Animals are the reason we live waaaaaay out on the Prairie.

Here are a few of the videos we have made of a few <very few> of the animals we have trained. For many of the animals, like our German Shepherd Dogs, training them is a Joint Effort.

Yes. These are honestly our own animals that we have trained.

We hope you enjoy our videos and click the "like" button on each one you watch. Please Check Back, we plan to be adding Videos.

These are our own dogs we are very proud of. In this video they were not yet 13 weeks old. We had had a Blizzard here the week before followed by rain, rain and more rain, so I had not worked them outdoors or with the Hoop, Tunnel or Tires for over a week. They knew more tricks at this stage, but were a bit too distracted to show them off. We hope you will <click> "like" our video.

Guinea Pigs can learn much more then the average person gives them credit for. This is a short video of one of our Guinea Pigs, Matey, running an Agility Course of Jumps, Teeter Totter, Open Tunnel, and Weave Polls (Easter Eggs). Matey is preforming simple tricks and working on complicated Tricks as well as Coming When Called. I had only been working with him for less then 3 weeks when this was filmed. No. No one had worked with him before I started.

Here is another fun video of Matey. He has learned a little more and doing well. He learned the Dominoes trick in three short lessons.

Captain is just learning to play Basket Ball and to knock down dominoes. We think he is very cleaver and cute!

This is Captain playing Tic Tac Toe with me. How did I teach him? Please visit our Trick Training page for the answer.

See all three of our American Guinea Pigs doing many different tricks. See them rasing the USA Flag, spin pin wheels, dominoes, dice game, basket ball, bowling, and at the end, see Damsel put her doll to bed.

This is a short video you might get a giggle out of. Captain, Matey and Damsel have learned a few new tricks. Captain and Damsel play Pin The Tail On The Donkey and Matey Jumps Through A Couple of Covered Hoop. We hope you will enjoy this video and "like" it on YouTube.

THIS IS A FUN LITTLE VALENTINE'S DAY 2011 VIDEO. IT FEATURES LITTLE MAC PLAYING PIANO AND BOWING AFTER. IT ALSO FEATURES OUR NEW BABIES. TWO RATTIE DOES, PINY SUE AND KATY AS WELL AS COAL, OUR LITTLE BLACK HAMSTER. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A HAMSTER IN A HAT? WE HOPE YOU WILL ENJOY THIS VIDEO AND SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE ACCOUNT.

The links below will take you to see Pet Fancy Rats and other small animals on agility courses and equipment at YouTube. You will get ideas on training, equipment, see the ratties in action... and be revved up to grab your rattie and get started with this fun sport.

We have our own small animal YouTube videos listed first (imagine that), some agility, some other tricks. I think you will get a kick out of how my husband put them together. Our videos do not end at the "credits".

Ratties love the agility courses and for a treat will run just where you want them to go. Ratties are easy to train once you get the hang of training them. To get started see our Rats Learning Tricks page here at The Agile Rat.

This is Nineveh. Nineveh was one of my sweetest pets that was with me most of my waking hours. This video was just a day I was training, early in her Agility Career, when I brought out and set up a lot of equipment she had not seen or been on before. I was just having a little fun with her. This rattie went on to be one of my best and fastest Agility Ratties. At the time, we did not own a video camera. Oh for a nickle for each of the photo and video shots I have missed.

Nineveh again. I just had bought this Bowling Set, you can see the packaging in the background. It was her very first training on using a ball. Nineveh learned so many tricks and could run a large agility course. Unfortunately we did not own a video camera at the time.

Regina. This rat was soooo funny and fun and so full of mischief! This, again, was an early training video. Regina did go on to learn Agility, but never cared for longer courses. She was really good at and enjoyed six or seven pieces of equipment, but more then that, she had other ideas on what to do.

Little Mac. Oh Little Mac. This was his first video. Please watch his Halloween, Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day videos. Little Mac learned to do many pieces of Agility Equipment, he did many tricks including "playing piano", "barrel racing" - running cans as a horse would run barrels, and so much more. However, when he hit puberty, he decided he just wanted to sit by us, live on our desks and eat our crackers each morning for breakfast. I always said about him "He's a people."

Here is Little Mac's Halloween Video. I get a kick out of it every time I watch it. OK, so he is my little sweetheart and that might have something to do with it, but take a look, I bet you too get a smile as you watch.

Yetta Nada. She is mostly a "shoulder rat" but also enjoys playing around and all the attention she gets, the fuss made over her, when she learns something new.

Be sure to take photos and videos of your fish. Not only will people not believe you when you tell them that your fish does Tricks and or Agility, you will want those photos and videos in the future to smile back at.

-- The Working German Shepherd Dogs Team
Sat, 12 Oct 2013 11:09:46 -0400