If you have a Scottish Deerhound as a pet, then one of the most important things that you should know is the dog's independent nature. This trait translates to its innate sense of pleasing only itself almost all the time and not its owner. A Scottish Deerhound is also basically stubborn in nature, making it one of the hardest dog breeds to train or housebreak.
Because of this, it is no mean feat to try to teach your Scottish Deerhound some parlor tricks. If you want to attempt this near impossible feat to impress someone or to prove something to yourself, then you should be ready to take a long and challenging journey.
First of all, you need to have great patience to be able to train your Scottish Deerhound to do some parlor tricks. You also have to exercise firmness and consistency always. Never hesitate to show it who's the boss by commandeering its favorite spot on the couch or by eating before feeding it. Never stop to prod it until it obeys your wishes, even if you would only want it to play catch. For a Scottish Deerhound puppy, start training it at an age when it still has the tendency to depend on others. If you have an older dog, always make the training worthwhile, so that it will see that it will get rewards if it obeys you.
One of the most important things to remember in training your Scottish Deerhound is never to take on an abusive tone or action. This will make the dog fear you instead of following your commands. A Scottish Deerhound, in particular, will respond more to a pleasant tone than a harsh one. This dog breed will learn to respond to a slow and casual training that is done in good cheerfulness, with consistent guidance, lavish spoken praise and dog treats as well.
Although a Scottish Deerhound has the innate tendency to chase any running object, it does not do "catch" that naturally. This makes catching one of the most notable parlor tricks that you can teach it. The most appropriate time to train your Scottish Deerhound with this trick is when it is most hungry. Stand near it and toss out some small bits of food, saying "catch" each time. The food that it manages to catch, you let it eat. Make sure though that you are fast enough to get the food that it is unable to catch. In time, your dog will learn that the more food it catches, the more it gets to eat. It is better if you make it very easy for your dog to catch the food you throw at first. You can make it harder as time passes.
There are other parlor tricks that you can teach your Scottish Deerhound. You just have to follow the reminders noted here to be successful in your endeavor. As with all kinds of training, remember that patience is the only way to get things done. If you have a great amount of this virtue, you will get the just rewards when your dog finally succeeds doing the trick in front of your friends.
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