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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sophie Norris & Nia Dalton

Clever pooch stuns dog owners with natural talent for playing tennis and ping pong

A talented cocker spaniel is giving Andy Murray a run for his money after showing off a natural flair for tennis.

Two-year-old dog Leo has incredibly learnt how to grip the racket handle between his teeth and play ball.

Dog owners are desperate to find out his training secrets - but owner Emily Anderson, 31, says Leo just knew what to do when she handed him the racket.

The impressive footage reveals the clever canine leaping to hit the ball in his garden and around the house.

It even shows off his knack for running back and forth, like a real tennis player.

Leo is a tennis star (Kennedy News/@trickspaniel)
He is one talented pup (Kennedy News/@trickspaniel)

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Emily, a dog trainer from Aberdeen, Scotland, says she bought the racket after Leo showed an interest in ping pong.

She said: "He's a natural. This [inside the house] was his first ever try.

"I ordered the tennis racket with a short handle. It arrived, I unpacked it and gave the racket to him.

"I was round at a friend's house and we were speaking about what else we can do with Leo. She said 'tennis', I didn't think he'd manage as the ball is so heavy.

"As with ping pong I asked him to back away, showed him the ball, threw it at him and he hit it for the first time.

Owner Emily couldn't believe her eyes when he knew what to do (Kennedy News/@trickspaniel)

"He just knew what he was doing, it really surprised me. I sat there for five minutes like 'what the hell just happened?'"

Emily has successfully taught Leo how to paint and even perform CPR, and hopes he will learn how to hit the ball over a tennis net.

"He learnt to play ping pong last May. It's very similar to ping pong but a totally different shaped racket to fit in his mouth," she said.

From the early days of teaching Leo tricks, he has always picked things up really quickly and amazed Emily.

Dog trainer Emily couldn't be prouder (Kennedy News/@trickspaniel)

"He might not quite give Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal a run for his money but it's fun. It makes people smile," Emily said.

Emily claims she is now receiving messages from other dog owners asking her training secrets after being inspired by Leo's skills.

She explained: "I've had quite a few messages asking how I trained it but I didn't really, I just handed him the racket.

"We normally train three times a day for roughly 10 minutes. If he's had a big walk, we do skip it, but normally it's three times a day."

Their tennis video on Instagram has now been viewed more than 19,800 times and received more than 1,300 likes.

Leo can paint and perform CPR too (Kennedy News/@trickspaniel)

Another dog sharing his surprising talent online is five-year-old dachshund Bosco, who can carry large sticks up to ten times the size of him.

The mischievous little pup is obsessed with seeking out the biggest stick in the park and will often obstruct walkways, but nobody ever gets annoyed with him - he's far too adorable for that.

Bosco has a loyal following online with over 1.3 million fans on TikTok, and has even started his own dog stick trend.

Owner Luccia Rodriguez, 24, based in London, told The Mirror : "Carrying big sticks is Bosco's favourite thing to do. He loves making people happy and thrives off the attention."

Do you have a dog story to tell? Contact nia.dalton@reachplc.com.

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