New trick?

[primabella]

I'm not doing this for my entertainment, I want to expand my dog's knowledge. I want him to know things and we have lots of fun doing it. I think the relationship increases as you teach your dog. (you are spending time with him, aren't you?) It's not like I'm being cruel to him or anything...

By the way - I have taught Mickey how to spin. It's so cute

[GoldenRetrLuver]

Primabella, i agree!

[KYS]

Some tricks can come in quite handy etc.
Because we take our dogs camping,
I taught Sheba and Rocky to "back up".
Sheba also knows how to crawl, which has
come in very handy when she has had
to crawl under an opening.
The word "other way" which of course
comes in handy when she gets her self
tied up around a tree or if I want her to
go in a different direction.
I tried teach Rocky to crawl and "other-way" but
he isn't as bright as Sheba and I am not
as patient as I use to be.
So he has trained me to un-wind him.

[kai]

Yep I agree. I don't train Kai to be my slave or anything even like that. I did it because shelties are smart dogs...if bored they'll find something to do. Alot of dogs are like that. So instead of having Kai chew on my shoes or phone cords, he gets satisfied with the mental stuff we teach him. Plus, it might come in handy in the future. I heard about a border collie pup who only knew sit. One day, she ran out the door and the owner panicked because she was dashing to the street. She imediately screamed sit and the BC sat right in front of the street.

As for tricks to teach dear mickey. How about rollover? I just tought Kai and it's just the most adorable thing to see. He fusses about which direction to roll sometimes. He'll go halfway around then go back the other way sometimes. "Bang" is pretty cute too! I just point my finger at him in the shape of a gun and say bang..he falls on his side. I'm trying to teach him bow now..but it's hard because he hates it when I try to grab his two paws. I say it when he stretches in the morning in hopes of him picking it up..but it doesn't seem like he is. Bark is kind of a problem to teach him too...he's a constant barker once he starts. Usually he's not too yappy but once he gets started, he won't stop for a while.

[primabella]

Kai,

Thanks for the advice. I have tried to teach him how to roll ove rbut he just doesn't get it. I don't know why. Maybe it's the method I'm using..how did you do it? Thanks

I did it because shelties are smart dogs...if bored they'll find something to do. Alot of dogs are like that. So instead of having Kai chew on my shoes or phone cords, he gets satisfied with the mental stuff we teach him. Plus, it might come in handy in the future.

I totally agree with you on this one

[CamCamPup33]

I have been trying to teach cami Bow.. Its real easy to teach... Their is two ways you can do it.. Either u can take ur hand and stick it in the inside of her front paws and her head will bow... or you can just pull down the front paws so shes pratically laying.. theirs the other bow.. Its something to work on!

[primabella]

Thanks for the tip! I will try to teach him that one too

[stacwase]

A useful trick I taught Jake is "go to bed". We use it whenever he's running around with mud on his feet. Then we can get him cleaned up before he trashes the house.

[primabella]

That could be useful but we taught Mickey to stay as soon as he comes inside. And he knows "Go to Bed" and "Goodnight Mickey" mean time to sleep! Thansk anyways

[wolf_Q]

Originally posted by JGuitaristR
I say you teach it nothing. Let the dog be. He/She's not there for your entertainment, but to love and be loved.

I'm sorry, but that comment really angers me. So basically you are saying all of us who actually spend the time to train our dogs are not loving them??

A well-trained dog is a loved dog, in my opinion. You will have a stronger bond as well as be able to communicate to your dog. Not to mention the fact that a dog with basic manners from obedience training will show people how great dogs can REALLY be. Yeah, somebody with a big rottweiler running wild, attacking dogs and jumping on people....because it's never been trained...is *really* going to improve that breeds reputation.

When I teach my dog tricks it is NOT solely for "my entertainment".....he enjoys learning new tricks, and he's very willing to do them, even without treats. Personally, I think most dogs think tricks are fun!

Dogs are not wolves, dogs are a part of human society. And a downfall of being a part of human society, if the dog does not "fit" perfectly with us (from a lack of training) the dog ends up at a shelter....all we need to do is teach dogs HOW to be a part of human society, they don't know that naturally. What if somebody put you in a completely different culture and expected you to know how to commicate and live without telling you how?

[ParNone]

JGuitaristR writes:

I say you teach it nothing. Let the dog be. He/She's not there for your entertainment, but to love and be loved.

Hummmm... That might work for some dogs, but for most it
wouldn't. I have a female cairn terrier, Madison, that's a spud
dog and just kind of naturally well behaved. Her joy is
laying beside me watching TV and getting petted. But I think
she's probably a rarity. My Collie would be absolutely miserable,
if treated the same way. All you have to do is look at his tail
and his eyes, when he's catching a frisbee or spinning in a circle
or fetching a ball, to see his absolute happiness in those
moments. It's more about his joy, then my entertainment. I get
bored of throwing the ball long before he gets bored of fetching
it.

Par...

[clara4457]

Amen to that Wolf_Q and ParNone - teaching obedience and tricks is enjoyable to both human and animal companions

[kai]

Prima Bella -- I just taught Kai by pushing him LOL. I tell him down, then bang and once he's on his side it's much easier to just push him over. He picked it up quite fast but I'm sure mickey will get it soon.

[primabella]

Well said, Amy and Par.

Thanks Kai. lol, I tried that way. I've been working on it. He'll try to roll over but it's like he can't. Is that normal? He seems to want to but he can't go past his back. Maybe he's just being lazy

[kai]

LOL I hope it's normal...Kai does that too! He'll always fuss about which way to roll..and sometimes he'll just go halfway and stop.