A New Pet Trick to Ease Holiday Stress During this busy holiday season, perhaps the last thing on your "to do" list is to train your dog or cat. But teaching your pet this one simple behavior has many benefits. First, it gives you a technique to help manage your dog more effectively when greeting holiday visitors and can help your cat (and dog too!) be a bit friendlier rather than avoiding people. Learning this behavior also makes your pet think, which is mentally stimulating and contributes to your pet’s mental health. Third, your pet will have a fun trick to show off to family and friends. You can fit the short practice sessions into your pet's regular feeding schedule and also whenever you offer treats so the training time doesn't add to your already busy schedule. Finally, you reap the benefits of taking a few minutes several times during the day to relax, clear your mind of holiday stressors and just allow yourself to have fun communicating with your pet. The behavior you'll be teaching your pet is to "touch" the side of your closed fist or open palm with either the nose or a paw. Once your pet has learned the "touch" behavior, you will help her generalize the response to other people's hands. You can then use the behavior so that instead of jumping on people, you can tell your dog to "touch" visitors' hands. Use it to encourage a shy pet to approach people. It also may help prevent people, including children, from reaching for your pets, which can often frighten ...