“On Trust and Paid For”

How many of you have an idea as to what that means in relation to your fur baby? If you do, you might be an old-timer like me!!

Have you ever seen the old dog trick “On Trust & Paid For” performed by a well-trained dog? I am not certain how often this very disciplined trick is performed nowadays, but it was a tried and proven people-pleaser during the heyday of the traveling big tent circus. There are several variations of the dog trick “On Trust & Paid For” so why don’t we take look at what this trick is and a few of the versions.

First off this is an advanced level dog trick best taught by an experienced dog trainer. Everyone can get their pooch to sit, roll over, shake, and perform other simple actions, but if you want to teach your best friend the dog trick “On Trust & Paid For” be ready for some very intense training sessions. I owned an American Staffordshire Terrier I taught a simple version of this trick, and she and I worked on it for months before we had it down.

The basics of this dog trick are commanding your dog to sit, placing a favorite tasty treat on the dogs nose while giving the command “on trust” to the dog. The length of time the trainer expects the dog to balance the treat on his nose is going to be determined by how well trained the dog is. This might be a few seconds to well over a minute. The best dogs will not need you to hold their head still as the trainer will do during the initial phases of this training. The well trained dog will hold this position and balance the treat without any head restraint by the dog trainer. By head restraint I mean the trainer is simply cupping the dog’s underside of the muzzle as a mild form of helping the dog remain still so the treat does not fall off the nose.

The next part of the trick is when the trainer gives the “paid for” command. At this point the dog snaps his or her head up tossing the treat in the air. As the treat comes back down the dog catches it before it can hit the ground. The pooch then eats the treat as their reward for a trick well performed.

As I mentioned above this is very advanced dog trick training so if you feel you are up to the challenge of the dog trick “On Trust & Paid For” give it a try. Once you and your dog have this down pat it will be time to impress all your friends!

Does your dog perform complicated tricks? Please tell our readers about them.