Marriage proposal idea
The Old Trick
Secretly teach the dog the trick they gave up on, then run it in front of them.
- Cost
- $20-50
- Effort
- big
- Best for
- the partner who talks to the dog more than to most people
The idea
Pick the trick your partner spent a year trying to teach the dog and finally quit on. Shake with the left paw, ring the bell by the door, roll all the way over, whatever they still bring up as a joke. Teach it in secret over three weeks while they are at work. Then on an ordinary night you say the cue in front of them and the dog just does it.
Your partner already knows the dog cannot keep a secret, so nothing about this reads as staged until it is happening. They will laugh, then they will look at you, because they know better than anyone how many hours that trick takes. You ask in the ten seconds after the laugh, while they are already turned toward you.
Dogs get unreliable in front of an audience, so run it ten times in that exact room at that exact hour before the night you mean it. Keep whatever you are giving them in your pocket the whole time and nothing on the dog. If the dog blanks, laugh, tell them what you have been doing every lunch break for three weeks, and ask anyway.
What to say
“That's the one you gave up on back in March. I've been out in the yard with them every lunch break for three weeks and I didn't tell you because I wanted to watch your face do that. Okay, I'm shaking, hold on. Will you marry me?”
Say it slower than feels natural. The pause after it is the whole moment, so let it sit there.
What you'll need
- 🎉high value training treatsFind it
- 🎉a clickerFind it
- 🎉a treat pouchFind it
- 🎉the prop the trick needs, like a door bellFind it
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Step by step
- 1Weeks earlier, ask them casually which trick they never got the dog to do, then let it drop.
- 2Start three weeks out and train in ten minute sessions while they are out of the house.
- 3Hide the clicker and the treat pouch somewhere they never look.
- 4Run it ten times in the actual room, at the actual hour, with the TV on.
- 5On the night, get them sitting on the couch with the dog loose and their hands free.
- 6Say the cue once and let them watch the whole thing.
- 7Keep whatever you are giving them in your pocket, and ask while they are still laughing.
Plan the rest of it
Full Blueprint
Want the whole thing planned down to the minute?
The idea above is the shape of the day. The Blueprint is the rest of it, built around your person and the place you picked.
- A run of show with real times, from the morning until the toast
- The speech, written in your words, with the part to memorize marked
- A shot list for whoever is filming, so they know where to stand
- A supplies checklist with what to buy and when to buy it
- A rain plan, because outdoor asks lose to weather more than anything else
Building the plan is free. The Blueprint is $14.99, added to the plan once you have one you like.
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