Once your Massachusetts Mixed Breed puppy has mastered some training, you can start to teach your pup some basic puppy tricks. The most common trick is the catching trick. This involves you teaching your Designer Breed puppy to follow simple commands from you. You will want to keep the puppy in a sit-stay position and then toss a plush toy in your Mixed Breed puppy's direction. You do not want to throw the toy upwards into the air just in his general direction. Your Designer Breed puppy should aim to catch the toy in his mouth. Once this trick has been established, you can move on to a more difficult trick.

The more advanced trick is the finding trick. For this one you will want to keep your Mixed Breed puppy in the sit-stay position again and show him the plush toy. You will want to then show him that you are hiding the toy under a chair or pillow and then say to your Massachusetts Designer Breed puppy "Where is the toy??" "Go find it!" Your puppy should start to become attentive and then search for the toy in the spot that you hid the toy. If he does not search for it, you should help him by pointing and moving things away to get to the hidden toy. After a few tries your Mixed Breed puppy should catch on.

This next trick is one that everyone in Massachusetts will notice but will be fairly easy for your Mixed Breed puppy to perform. This is the rolling over trick. Designer Breed breeders can attest that Mixed Breed puppies love to roll around and wiggle by nature, so by giving one simple command like "roll over" and then moving your Designer Breed puppy to that position, your puppy will begin to understand that "roll over" means that he should get into the position you have desired for him. You always want to give great praise when your Mixed Breed performs the trick correctly. This will insure that you will get the correct response in the future.

Once these fun tricks have been mastered you can teach your Mixed Breed puppy a more challenging trick. This trick is the trust trick. It involves you placing a biscuit on your Designer Breed puppy's nose and balancing it there. This may take a few tries until you can get it just right without your Mixed Breed puppy moving about. Once the biscuit is balanced you will want to then put your hand out in a stay position so that your dog will not move about. You will then want to give the release signal (tapping the chin upward slightly) and then say "take it!" this should bounce the biscuit up and your MA Designer Breed puppy will catch it in his mouth.

These puppy tips come from Mixed Breed breeders for you!