Training Tricks with Your Dog (and Cat)Teaching tricks to your dog is fun and cute, and a great way to improve the human-animal bond. Plus, you get to show off how adorable your pet is.Erica Beckwith is the talented tricks trainer behind A Matter of Manners Dog Training, where she does behaviour consults for dogs and cats and runs online classes to teach a variety of tricks including peekaboo, sit pretty, chorus line kicks, and how to take a selfie with your dog. Kristi Benson and I spoke to Erica about why she loves teaching tricks, where she finds the motivation to spend time working on tricks with her dogs, and what her favourite tricks are. As well, we get some tips on how to train your dog so that you can get a better selfie with them, and the things to consider when teaching tricks to your cat.In news, Kristi’s courses now have CEUs available and there are some new courses coming soon. And Zazie will be teaching Making Pets Happy: The Role of Positive Experiences in Good Animal Welfare for the IAABC Foundation.Plus, of course, in the final section we share the books we are reading right now.About Erica Beckwith: Erica Beckwith of A Matter of Manners Dog Training in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Erica is an amazing positive reinforcement trainer who first got into dogs as a volunteer at Busan Abandoned Pet Sanctuary in South Korea. After moving back to America, Erica studied at the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers where she got her CTC. Erica is also a CBCC-KA and a Fear Free certified professional. Erica loves cats too, and earlier this year she graduated with a certificate in Advanced Feline behaviour for Cat Professionals with Distinction from International Cat Care.Website: A Matter of Manners Facebook Instagram   The schedule of Erica’s online tricks classes is here .  See Erica’s dogs (including Ruckus and the trumpet) in the video Yes Sir, That’s My Baby from The Academy for Dog Trainers.  Kristi Benson’s website and courses .Making pets happy: The role of positive experiences in good animal welfare. IAABC Foundation, 24 September 2022, 1:00-4:10pm PDT.  The free Companion Animal Psychology newsletter.The books we chat about:Bitch: On The Female of the Species by Lucy Cooke is the Animal Book Club choice. Learn more about the Animal Book Club .  I’ve Got You Under My Skin by Mary Higgins Clark.Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter (Author), Dave Stevenson (Illustrator)The Cat Who Saved Books: A Novel by Sosuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai. The books are available from all good bookstores and Companion Animal Psychology’s Amazon store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/animalbookclub