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What the best thing you ever taught your dog?


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Back up- if they barge forward toward a door for example I can just say "back" and they will all back up)

 

Wait- stop wherever you are and wait till I do whatever(leash them, stop and tie my shoe etc..)

 

Inside toys/outside toys- I haven't taught this to my newer guys and its kinda a pain lol. Inside toys don't leave the house, outside toys stay outside. Happy still knows it, Misty had it solid. They could be running around like wild dogs with a toy in their mouth but would drop the toy mid run inside or outside whichever direction they are/were going. It meant that stuffies did not end up outside in the snow or mud to get gross and muddy toys did not get brought into the house, it was great lol

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I guess I have to go with calling them back to me, with their name or whistle.

 

And Wait

 

But for Tickman- AKA Blood Sucking Fly Man it was this......

 

'clears throat'

 

GETOUTTATHAT!!!!!!!!!

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Cute! I love "wiggle" although we call it "fluff". It's extremely useful and oh so easy to train. Every time the dog shakes off just say "Good fluff!" (or whatever cue you want to put on it). Mine figured it out really quickly and it is, as Erin said, extremely useful for coming in from the rain or after a good romp with the water hose. :)

Ha-we call it "shake it baby"! Along with hand signal. Great for wet dogs just out of the pool and one's who have just been brushed outside.

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Best trick learned ever was by my 1st resident dog I selected on my own when I was grown and had my 1st house. She was a black lab/golden retriever mix, looked like a flat coat retriever though. I'd ask her questions, she turned her head away from me if the answer was "no", gave a single kiss on my cheek if they answer was "yes". She was 100% accurate. I'd ask her things that I knew the answer to and she was always right. Come in, go by the answering machine, see it lit up, page down the ID, see it was Dad. Ask her, did someone call while I was gone? Yes. Was it, ...Grandma? No. Was it Aunt Lori? No. Was it Dad? Yes. Really interesting, she invented that "game" on her own when I jokingly asked her stuff, ...so I ran with it. Worked out really nice when trying to find out what foster dog did what, ...she could even tell me what was inside my Christmas present if DH made the mistake of wrapping it in front of her and it was a word she knew. :-) Pretty neat. Other than that, "close it", lower cabinet doors or the fridge, my 2 labs do that currently. Works out great when hands are full getting big things out of fridge, and they LOVE doing it.

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Best trick learned ever was by my 1st resident dog I selected on my own when I was grown and had my 1st house. She was a black lab/golden retriever mix, looked like a flat coat retriever though. I'd ask her questions, she turned her head away from me if the answer was "no", gave a single kiss on my cheek if they answer was "yes". She was 100% accurate. I'd ask her things that I knew the answer to and she was always right. Come in, go by the answering machine, see it lit up, page down the ID, see it was Dad. Ask her, did someone call while I was gone? Yes. Was it, ...Grandma? No. Was it Aunt Lori? No. Was it Dad? Yes. Really interesting, she invented that "game" on her own when I jokingly asked her stuff, ...so I ran with it. Worked out really nice when trying to find out what foster dog did what, ...she could even tell me what was inside my Christmas present if DH made the mistake of wrapping it in front of her and it was a word she knew. :-) Pretty neat. Other than that, "close it", lower cabinet doors or the fridge, my 2 labs do that currently. Works out great when hands are full getting big things out of fridge, and they LOVE doing it.

 

 

That is absolutely fabulous!

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I don't think any of my dogs have ever been telepathic. If they were my life would involve a lot less wild gesticulation.

Just because they can hear what you're thinking, doesn't mean they put much stock in it or respond to it. I mean, how many times have you thought, "I'm gonna kill that damn dog!" And how many times have you actually done it? It's like people who natter incessantly and to no purpose at their dogs. They tune that out too. So how can you tell if they're telepathic or not?

 

Didn't you read that book, "Dogs Who Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home"? I had one of those dogs.

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Actually, they usually hide when I think that.

 

Maybe there is something to it... :P

 

My dog only gets 'I am pointing at your food bowl because there is food in it' about 30% of the time. She has also thought that a champagne bottle was a scary outside monster. I might be a confusing and stream-of-consciousness thinker, but there are limits...

 

Half the time she doesn't notice I'm home 'til I actually tap her shoulder.

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She may well know that you're home, but maybe she just doesn't care? ;)

 

Just because dogs don't react the way the ones in that book do (I read it), doesn't mean they're not just as in tune with their people's whereabouts. It just may be they don't react in the same way. Not necessarily that they don't care (I was JK with the above), but maybe they're not as insecure, or not as demonstrative, or that their people never make a big deal about comings and goings so they don't either. Not reacting doesn't prove not being aware.

 

I had a dog who I'm certain was telepathic. It would be a long story to type out, but he clearly heard me telling him I was coming to get him when he was away for training. There were other instances as well.

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She's getting deaf: she used to bounce to the door. Now she still does but only if I shout first.

 

Of course the excited demonstration has to be extra- excited to prove she totally did know I was there, like the way 'intruders' get even more ferociously barked at. Maybe in the latter case it's more "how the hell did you sneak up on me, devil-ninja!"

 

Edit: interesting links. I have to say I'm still not convinced. http://www.sheldrake.org/Articles&Papers/papers/animals/

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I always wondered about the dogs who seem to "know" when owners are heading home. Yellow Lab Madison was wanted by DH, I really didn't want a pup at the time. He had just given up his favorite foster dog of all time and wore me down about his wanting his own pup to keep. We already had one resident, Cho Lab who was a Mamma's girl. Yellow Madison seemed to figure that out, she was a Daddy's girl right off the bat. Every weekday night at 5:20 p.m. little miss time keeper Madison went and sat by a full length window and watched up the street for his car. One morning the trauma unit called me, he was in a bad wreck on the way to work. Starting with that evening, Madison never went to the window. But oddly, the day I was to go get him and bring him home, she parked herself at the window, and started watching up the street. Suppose she overheard me on the phone, or saw something I did that cued her off. Gave me goosebumps to see that none the less.

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I imagine it's the Clever Hans effect.

I wondered that too on things I knew, she must be watching my face or picking something up in my voice. But things I didn't know, she answered right as well. Ha-had 2 fosters on the ground, someone kept getting into trash second I left the room. Figured it was the foodie, less trained male, not the delicate obedient female. I asked her if he did the trash. No. Did she do the trash. Yes. Several different instances. Walked back into the kitchen one day, and there she was the innocent looking small female, just about to get it tipped over. My girl was right, even though I was thinking the other way. Many cases like that over the years. Never been around a dog that smart before or since. When I got the Cho after she passed I told the Vet she'd done something that reminded me of Mittens, my last girl. Vet was owner of a 24 hour hospital, over 30 years, so tons of dogs for patients. He defensively stated, there will NEVER be another Mittens, you don't know how rare dogs like that are.

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I think the very best thing any dog can be taught, is a good recall. However, on Sunday, Duke got sprayed by a skunk and while the whole family was gathered on the deck, watching for it to come out of the drainpipe, I decided the best thing I ever taught Duke was "down." He's always been very good at it and he maintained that position for over a half an hour, AWAY from the rest of us! LOL

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