Best in show: how to teach your old dog new tricks with TikTok

It’s bang on noon when my co-worker, Luna, reminds me that it’s time to take a break. Chatting over Slack is not Luna’s thing, but she does tap my ankle before gently dropping a toy sheep at my feet. This is my five-year-old shih tzu’s way of reminding me that working from home can be pretty sweet.

And it is. But as more of us spend every minute with our pets, we can find ourselves turning into creatures of habit. Even Luna – a dog who reminds me whenever I’ve stayed up past “my” bedtime – is getting a little tired of the same old trot around the park every day.

“Luna,” I say as I pick up the toy sheep that is much soggier than it looked, “it’s time to teach an old dog new tricks.”

As a puppy, Luna mastered some basic commands that keep her safe and happy, such as how to wait at a crossing. But there’s still room in her repertoire for some showboating skills.

In the past, I’ve looked for inspiration on other online video platforms where creators tend to pad out their content with a lot of preamble. You know the kind: “How we taught our rescue pup to do the crossword plus an update on my divorce from Mark.” And that can be charming, but it can feel like scrolling through a recipe blog just to get to the instructions. Brevity is key when an excitable shih tzu can smell chicken treats in your pocket.

Opening up TikTok made much more sense. With most videos running under 60 seconds, it’s much easier to take in bite-size lessons and leapfrog to the next video at the swipe of a thumb. Better still, looking through the “#dogtricks” hashtag brings up ideas I’d never think to search for elsewhere. How to get your dog to wipe its own muddy feet or close a door? Genius. Teach your dog to draw? Tell me more!

So I downloaded a few TikTok videos and Luna and I hit the park. “Look, Luna,” I say as I watch a looping video of a skateboarding mini American shepherd called Jasper, “this could be you.” Luna looks up at me with leaves in her mouth and I decide that it’s best to start with something more her speed.

Turns out that Jasper’s got more than just skateboarding covered, too. He stars in tutorials that have earned more than 300,000 subscribers to his @jasperthemas TikTok account, run by his owner, Alison.

Like everyone I follow on TikTok, Alison has that little spark that gives me such a soft spot for the app’s educational side. So many of my recent hobbies, from rollerskating to Tunisian crochet, came from watching TikTok users who are happiest when they’re sharing what they’ve learned with the world.

With that in mind, our day begins with one of Alison and Jasper’s simpler tricks: getting your dog to jump through your arms like a little circus hoop. To start things slowly I hold my arms in a circle against the ground so that Luna can bunny hop to her chicken-flavoured treat on the other side. Or that’s the idea, at least. Because instead, Luna looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind and simply walks around my back to gobble up the treat.

After a few more tries it’s on to a leg-weaving tutorial from Eric Ita, who posts videos under the handle @ericandcaprithepup. The Las Vegas-based photographer and dog trainer has great tips for rewarding good behaviour without relying on treats. It’s a good reminder that I could all too easily become just a walking, talking vending machine in Luna’s eyes, so after she completes three successful leg weaves I shower her with cuddles and high fives instead. The same goes for learning “selfie”: a command that gets Luna to perch against my shoulder when we pose for a photo.

By lunchtime, it’s clear that we’re not destined for Crufts, but Luna has spent every hour with the broadest doggy grin on her fluffy face and that means so much more.

Related: Jumping for joy: why skipping is the exercise I can finally stick to

That said, if you want to see a real genius pooch, check out @whataboutbunny – 6.3 million TikTok users follow the long-legged sheepadoodle’s progress in a research project investigating Bunny’s ability to “communicate” via a floor filled with talking buttons. “I love you,” she tells her owner Alexis Devine. Also: “Dad went poop?”

Deep down, I think we all wish that we could talk to our favourite animals and tell them we love them. But finding new ways to make them feel safe and happy as we play together speaks just as loud. And there is something really wholesome about online content that cheers us on to do just that.

Now if someone could please teach Luna that I’m allowed to stay up past midnight.

Why not try something new? Discover the benefits of just having a go #LearnOnTikTok