Expecto Adorablum! A dog has been trained to do tricks using an unconventional method: Harry Potter spells. And we recently spoke with the owner who decided to use the wonderfully nerdy wizard training.
Actress and YouTuber Anna Brisbin recently shared a video showing how she’s trained her dog, Remus (named after Remus Lupin, naturally), to follow voice commands using different spells from the Harry Potter series. “Wingardium Leviosa” asks him to stand on his hind legs. “Ascendio” instructs him to jump onto the bed. And “Avada Kedavra”? Well, you can probably figure that one out.
In an interview with us, Brisbin said she’s been training Remus for about eight months now, and that the method is similar to most other forms of dog training, just with different words — hence why she has no plans to release any kind of instructional videos at this time.
She decided to train Remus using Harry Potter phrases because of how important the series is to her and how it shaped her life.
“Harry Potter is my everything. It raised me and fully crafted who I am as a person today, what I do, and who my closest friends are. And I named my dog Remus, after Remus Lupin in Harry Potter, so teaching him magic only made sense,” Brisbin said.
The hardest spell he’s learned so far? Surprisingly, playing fetch. But that’s OK. Remus is still a good boy.