Adorable Maltese Dog That Likes To Pose While Standing On Her Back Feet
Coco the Maltese has turned one simple trick into her signature move, and it is hard not to see why people keep watching. Standing on her back legs with her front paws lifted, she looks like she is posing for the camera every time.
Her owners first taught her the trick, then noticed she kept doing it on her own, especially when she wanted attention or a snack. Coco now shares the spotlight with her sister, Cici, on an Instagram account that has drawn more than 231K followers and plenty of smiles along the way.
Here is how this tiny dog became an internet favorite.
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"We had a Maltese for almost 13 years before Coco, and she had passed away," Coco's owner, Katee Lauchner, says. "We were devastated and couldn't handle not having a dog in the house, so I went online in search of another female Maltese, and that's how I found Coco. She was from a local breeder in Arizona."
About seven months after they got Coco, the family decided to get one more Maltese so their dog would have a companion. They took in Cici. "Coco is actually Cici's aunt, but we call them sisters in our home."
"Coco is super sweet, kind, and gentle," Katee says. "She's almost human-like, and she doesn't care to play with her toys; she'd rather sit next to her humans getting belly rubs."
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Coco was very easy to train. "Within only a week of having her, she was already trained to sit, and then the following week she learned 'down.' Then it was roll-over and then high five!" Katee's daughter, Jessie, says. She handles Coco's social media accounts. "Our other Maltese was not this smart, so we knew Coco was super special! She then learned to 'sit pretty,' which is the pose you see in most pictures! She was trained to stay seated and then just sit up, but she gets so excited that almost every time she will stand up and put her paws in the air."
"The 'Paws Up' trick started out as a sit pretty command," Katee says. "My daughter taught her using the back of the couch for support and taking a treat above her head to get her to move upward. Over the years, Coco has turned it into her own thing by standing up and putting her paws up, and now she does it all the time even without us asking. We can't stop her from doing it, and we can't stop laughing. She knows she gets our attention by doing it. She's smart and does it always while we eat to try to get us to share with her!"
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Katee said that Coco is so food-motivated that she will learn and do anything for a tasty snack. "We swear there's a human inside her as she seems to understand us when we talk. Even when we say, 'Look into the camera,' she makes direct eye contact. It's crazy and cool at the same time."
Cici doesn't like the camera as much as Coco, so she doesn't appear on their Instagram very often. "We never force either dog to do anything they don't want to do," Katee said. However, both good girls are certified therapy dogs working at Phoenix Children's Hospital! "We love to make people smile and spread a little joy with our posts and in person when we work at the hospital."
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And if you love brave rescues, check out the Yorkie who defended her 10-year-old owner from a coyote.
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