Smart Pet Tricks

Nellie is somewhat of a ball hog. She shoots baskets, plays soccer, throws a baseball and even bowls.

Spencer, on the other hand, merely likes to drive the lane, shoot and slam-dunk a basketball.

Neither player has what it takes for the major leagues, however. Spencer is too much of a pussycat, Nellie is a big pig.

Literally.

Nellie is a member of Valentine’s Performing Pigs; Spencer is one of four touring tabbies on the Friskies Cat Team (as seen in Friskies commercials). Both groups will be featured performers at America’s Family Pet Expo, the huge animal extravaganza taking place this weekend at the Pomona Fairplex.

Other animal acts scheduled to dazzle and delight audiences during the three-day event include the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge, the Alpo Canine Frisbee disc team and Nancy Kobert’s World of Birds. There are also cat, rat and horse shows, and about 500 exhibitors selling pet products and services.

The pet performances are among the most popular attractions, though they’re meant to be as educational as they are entertaining. While the animals demonstrate their tricks and agility, the trainers will share tips and answer questions about household pets.

“Go ahead, do try this at home,” should be the message pet owners get after just a few hours at the expo. Teaching your pets tricks is actually healthy, according to Karen Thomas of Valencia, the Friskies Cat Team trainer.

“It’s healthy for your pet to learn,” Thomas said. “Teaching them a trick for just 10 minutes a day will keep them active and generates a bond [with the pet owner].”

No matter how your household is divided--into cat, bird, dog or reptile lovers--just about every (legal) potential pet is represented at the pet expo.

A Menagerie of Events With a Common Purpose

A variety of activities should keep family members entertained, including pony and elephant rides and a petting zoo. Events include everything from K-9 dog demonstrations to snake and crab races, seminars such as “Hamming It Up With Hamsters” to draft horse and miniature horse exhibitions.

Even celebrity pets will be on hand, including Lassie (No. 9) and the Fancy Feast cat.

Among the most important goals of the expo is to help potential pet owners choose a compatible pet and to promote proper care for the animals. Pigs, for instance, are easily trained to do tricks, ranking third in intelligence, right behind apes and dolphins, said Priscilla Valentine, of Valentine’s Performing Pigs.

“They’ll do anything for food,” she said. “A pig will jump through a hoop for one kernel of popcorn.”

However, the trainer doesn’t recommend pigs as pets, unless the owner really loves them. “They can get huge, so you have to be careful how you buy them genetically, and you can’t let them eat too much,” she said. “You have to pig-proof your house because they’re so intelligent, they’re mischievous.”

When it comes to cats, many people believe the finicky felines are impossible to train, Thomas said. But a pet’s personality has a lot to do with the types of behaviors it can master. Spencer the cat, for instance, already liked to fetch. Teaching him to shoot hoops was, well, a slam dunk after that.

“People take a cat’s independence to mean they’re untrainable,” Thomas said. “You just need to have patience and use positive reinforcement. You have to persuade a cat that this is something that is fun, and [that] they’re going to get food.”

Parrots are right behind cats and dogs in popularity as household pets, said bird trainer Nancy Kobert of San Diego, whose rowdy macaw Squeak is expected, as usual, to be a crowd-pleaser this weekend. While feathered friends might demand less time and energy than a dog, they still need attention.

“If you stick a bird in a cage for 10 hours, you’ll come home and they’ll scream or pull their feathers out,” Kobert said. “A simple thing to do is to stick to a time schedule. Have a trick time . . . give them that to look forward to.”

If a cat in your lap or a dog at your heels is your idea of a family pet, learn all you need to know about caring, feeding and training your kitty or pooch at the expo. If, however, you spend 15 hours a day at the office and the kids are preoccupied with myriad extracurricular activities, you might be better off checking out the “Back to the Basics of Fishkeeping” seminars.

“If you know your child has the attention of an earthworm,” Thomas said, “get a hamster or a rat. The child can learn from it but it only has a life span of about two years. If they can’t handle a two-year responsibility, they’re not the kind to get a dog or horse or any animal that’s going to be around for 15 years.”

BE THERE

Pet Expo, Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona. Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. $7.50; seniors, $5.50; ages 6 to 12, $2.50. Information: (800) 999-7295.

Family No. 1