Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Paw-casso: Aberdeen dog with talent for painting auctions canvas for charity

An Aberdeen cocker spaniel who loves to paint is auctioning a canvas for charity.

Leo will be taking part in an auction by the Tripawds Foundation, which raises money to help support amputee pets and their owners.

Alongside his painting, there will be 19 others that will be up for sale.

The auction is set to start on Friday, May 27.

Emily Anderson, 31, who owns and trains Leo says: “He learned to paint about April last year.

Leo standing with his painting ‘Pawsitivity’ which is up for auction. Picture by Paul Glendell 

“He invented his own painting trick. Other dogs just poke the brush, whereas Leo does his own version of painting.

“I taught him in separate parts. First, we worked on picking up the brush in his mouth. Then we worked on putting paint on the canvas. Finally we worked on putting the brush back which is quite hard as he has to turn the brush in his mouth.

‘As soon as I go to the paint drawer the drooling starts’

“We normally train three times a day for 10 to 15 minutes.

“Painting is one of his favourites. He stands in front of me asking me to paint.

“As soon as I go to the paint drawer the drooling starts, he gets so excited.

“That is the main reason we do tricks, it is really led by him.”

Leo with his owner and trainer Emily Anderson. Picture by Paul Glendell 

Leo, aged 3, has previously won UK-wide dog talent and international dog trick competitions.

But he had been very ill during the pandemic with giardia, which lead to him “losing all of his confidence”.

Miss Anderson, from Foresterhill, says “He was so sad. That is why I thought that I would try to do tricks with him.

“Training is good for anxious dogs who lack confidence.

“It creates a good bond with your dog.”

Miss Anderson and Leo have been getting increasingly popular on social media. A TikTok video of Leo painting went viral and now has over 3.4 million views.

@trickspaniel

He loves painting!! 🎨 #art #creative #mustwatch #fyp #foryou #dog #dogtricks #dogtalent #talent

♬ Unstoppable – Sia

She now works as a professional dog trainer, and teaches others how to train their dogs.

“You have to use positive reinforcement when you are training a dog.

“You can’t use negative reinforcement or shout at your dog.

“Training has to be fun for both the dog and the trainer.

Leo has been learning how to do tricks with lots of different toys. Picture by Paul Glendell

“I think when people try to do tricks, they push their dog on too far too soon and then get frustrated that they can’t do it.

“But if you break it down into small steps they could do it.

“Even dogs that are older or struggle walking, you can even teach them mouth tricks such as licking their lips or sticking their tongue out.

“The list of tricks you can teach your dog is endless.”


To have a look at Leo’s painting or bid for it at auction, click here. 

Conversation