Meet Murphy, the Dublin dog who prefers skateboarding to strolling.
Murphy’s skills come through lots of hard work with trainer Sinead Hughes. Sinead has been a full-time dog trainer for over four years now, but her interest in clever canines dates back much further.
“I have had a lifelong interest in training dogs and have been doing so as a hobby since I was 9 years old. I used to train my dogs for obedience and agility competitions. I just had a way with dogs, and training them was a skill that came naturally to me. I had good timing and lots of patience. As a child it was my dream to train dogs for movies or as guide dogs for the blind.”
When she finished school, Sinead did some travelling and then studied for a BA and MSc. She was working towards her second Masters in 2009 when she says a phone call from her brother changed everything.
“I spoke about not being happy on a second Masters programme which I had embarked on. He said ‘Why don’t you become a dog trainer full time! You are great at it’. From that moment on I have been living my childhood and lifelong dream.”
The encouragement from her sibling inspired Sinead to give it a go. She began by walking dogs and training simple tricks. Now Sinead train dogs by going to the dog owner’s home and doing private one-to-one training sessions, all done with the animal’s well-being in mind at all times. Says Sinead: “Positive reinforcement, reward based training is the only method I use. No need for chock chains or punishment. Training should be fun for the dog. The results of this type of training are outstanding.”
In 2010 Sinead decided to do a dog-training exam, but she needed a dog to do it and didn’t have her own. She explains: “After a long search one day I walked into MuttUgly Dog grooming shop and met the owner, Sinead Deegan. She was happy to let me train her dog Murphy, a 7-year-old rescue Beagle.
“Over a two year period I began to train Murphy tricks, for my own entertainment really, and I made short videos. I posted these videos on Facebook and YouTube and people loved them. Among Murphy’s repertoire of tricks are emptying the washing machine, tiding up the room, bringing me the phone when it rings, opening and closing the door, pretending to be shot, waving at the camera, taking off my socks, turning the light on and off. Basically anything an Assistant dog can do.
Skating isn’t the only trick Murphy has up her sleeve…
“Last summer I trained her to ride the skateboard. This took three months or so. I began indoors by rewarding Murphy for putting one paw on the skateboard, then two paws and so on. Then outside I rewarded her for pushing the skateboard. At first it scared her, then she got used to it and began putting two paws on it and pushing it. Sometimes we seemed to be going nowhere, and then suddenly we would make a breakthrough, like a light bulb moment. Finally after a lot of time, patience, and hard work she got up on the skateboard and pushed it with one leg. Eureka! That was a wonderful feeling, so rewarding for me.”
If you want to train your dog Sinead says you need to motivate them. Murphy is motivated by sausages, and according to his trainer Murphy loves being trained. “Some nights when I am just relaxing on the couch she will get up and bring the telephone over to me, tail wagging frantically, as though to say, common’ let’s have some fun!”
You can see more videos from Sinead on her Facebook page here.
