A border collie named Wish has officially claimed a spot in the record books after performing 65 distinct tricks in a single minute at the World Canine Performance Championships in Austin, Texas. The previous record of 58 tricks, set by a Belgian Malinois in 2023, had stood for nearly two years.
Wish’s owner and trainer, 34-year-old Hannah Park from Boulder, Colorado, spent three years preparing for the attempt. The tricks ranged from basic commands like sit, shake, and roll over to complex sequences including closing a drawer with her nose, turning off a light switch, sorting colored rings onto corresponding pegs, and performing a full backward weave through Hannah’s legs.
“Every trick had to be distinct, clearly performed, and verified by three judges in real time,” Hannah explained. “There is no room for sloppy execution. Each one has to be clean.”
The one-minute clock started, and Wish moved with a precision that left the audience gasping. She transitioned between tricks with almost no pause, her eyes locked on Hannah for each cue. Some commands were verbal, others were hand signals, and a few were subtle body movements that only Wish could read after years of training together.
Border collies are widely regarded as the most intelligent dog breed, with a capacity for learning that rivals some primates. Studies at the Max Planck Institute have shown that border collies can learn and remember the names of over 200 objects, and some can infer the names of new objects through a process of elimination, a cognitive ability previously thought to be unique to humans.
“Wish does not just learn tricks,” Hannah said. “She understands patterns. If I teach her three tricks that follow a logical sequence, she will sometimes anticipate the fourth step before I even introduce it. Her brain is always working.”
The training process was built entirely on positive reinforcement. Hannah uses a combination of treats, tennis ball rewards, and enthusiastic praise. She never uses punishment or correction-based methods, a philosophy she credits with Wish’s eagerness to learn.
“A dog who is afraid of making mistakes will never take creative risks,” Hannah said. “I want Wish to try things, to experiment. Sometimes she invents her own tricks, and those are the ones I love the most.”
One of Wish’s self-taught tricks involves picking up a blanket in her mouth and draping it over herself before lying down, a behavior Hannah calls “tuck in.” Another involves Wish stacking three blocks in size order, largest to smallest, a task she figured out on her own after watching Hannah demonstrate it twice.
After the record was confirmed, Wish celebrated in her favorite way: a vigorous game of fetch in the arena parking lot. She seemed entirely unbothered by the crowd of photographers and well-wishers surrounding her.
“She does not care about records,” Hannah said, throwing the tennis ball for the hundredth time. “She just loves to work. This is her joy.”
The performance has been viewed over ten million times online, and Hannah has received hundreds of messages from dog owners inspired to start trick training with their own pets. She plans to release a free online training guide later this year.
