**BREAKING NEWS**

[Anthony]

I TAUGHT MY PUPPY TO GET MY SLIPPERS!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/HellAtlantic/JackSlippers.jpg

Jack is a friggin' fast learner. so eager to please. look at him all excited running down the steps to bring me my slipper(s).

[bulletsponge]

you like walking in dog slobber?

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Cool dog!

I've given up trying to teach my dog anything... At least he's housebroken and loves to fetch! I was unable to even teach him that going on my bed is a no-no, but I moved the bed and he hasn't gone on it since (I would see the black hair on the white cotton sheets.)

My old dog used to get the mail out of the slot when the mailman would show up. The problem was that he never brought it to me... He'd take it where he felt like, so I would find bills in the basement, etc.

[Anthony]

Jack knows a ton of tricks/tasks.

1. he will get his leash on command
2. he will get the toy you request: ball, tire, rope (which i call "challenge" cuz we play tug of war with it, the first game we played together at the petstore).
3. "you want food?", and he'll run into the kitchen and sit by his bowl
4. the obvious "sit, "stay", "come", "drop it" commands
5. "i'll chase you!" where if you say that he'll start trying to run away from you till you get tired or you somehow catch him
6. "kisses", where he'll lick your hand
7. he'll give you his paw if you ask for it, and if you say "other one" he'll give you his other paw.
8. my wife is trying to teach him to sit up on his hindlegs, and he'll do it but he can't balance, he needs to hold on to you to do it. i don't think he's grasping the concept that we want him to do it on his own.
9. "go in your cage"
10. "down", where he'll lie down on his belly and put his head on the floor.

we can make him do "down" and "stay" without speaking just by using certain hand gestures.

very very smart dog. i'm very pleased with him. too much energy for his own good, but as he gets older he's shaping up to be the canine companion i've always wanted.

[RedKingGold]

What does this have to do with midgets or the ending of the Soprano's?

[Rizon]

I can still teach my dog new tricks, and she's 13. Next one I'm working on is getting her to play dead by shooting her with my hand (shaped like a gun, of course, not really shooting my poor dog).

[molson]

That's an awesome dog.

I taught my Siberian Husky a million tricks, but she won't do shit unless there's a treat it in for her. Otherwise, just a blank stare.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

I can still teach my dog new tricks, and she's 13. Next one I'm working on is getting her to play dead by shooting her with my hand (shaped like a gun, of course, not really shooting my poor dog).


At 13, don't teach her too well! ;)

[Anthony]

That's an awesome dog.

I taught my Siberian Husky a million tricks, but she won't do shit unless there's a treat it in for her. Otherwise, just a blank stare.

treat is a reward, not an enticement. you probably do it the way my wife does it - show Jack the treat, then try to get him to do a trick. the dog first has to learn what it is you're trying to do, then he gets rewarded for doing it (in baby steps).

i just taught Jack this morning. i hid the treat. if i show it to him all he wants is the treat and then it gets really difficult to get him to pay attention to me cuz then he'll just look for the treat. so i brought him to my room (which is his room too, he has a dog-bed nearby), and i keep my slippers in the same spot. i got him to sit, and since he didn't know i had a treat he was giving me 100% complete attention, i knew i had him. i pointed at my slippers and said "get my slippers" and he immediately put one in his mouth. i rewarded him and he got ridiculously happy. then using baby steps i would move further and further back and had him retrieve my slippers. then finally i made him go in his cage (which is where he would be when i get home from work), i told him to get my slippers and he ran up the steps and got them. he's only getting one right now, but i can either make him do two trips or i can try to teach him to get both at the same time.

[wade moore]

My freakin' Min Pin dug a Mole/Vole (not sure which it is) out of it's tunnel and brought it inside this morning.

Yay me!

[Senator]

Jack knows a ton of tricks/tasks.

1. he will get his leash on command
2. he will get the toy you request: ball, tire, rope (which i call "challenge" cuz we play tug of war with it, the first game we played together at the petstore).
3. "you want food?", and he'll run into the kitchen and sit by his bowl
4. the obvious "sit, "stay", "come", "drop it" commands
5. "i'll chase you!" where if you say that he'll start trying to run away from you till you get tired or you somehow catch him
6. "kisses", where he'll lick your hand
7. he'll give you his paw if you ask for it, and if you say "other one" he'll give you his other paw.
8. my wife is trying to teach him to sit up on his hindlegs, and he'll do it but he can't balance, he needs to hold on to you to do it. i don't think he's grasping the concept that we want him to do it on his own.
9. "go in your cage"
10. "down", where he'll lie down on his belly and put his head on the floor.

we can make him do "down" and "stay" without speaking just by using certain hand gestures.

very very smart dog. i'm very pleased with him. too much energy for his own good, but as he gets older he's shaping up to be the canine companion i've always wanted.

11. Hump my leg when wife is not home.

[Swaggs]

You wear slippers?

[The Afoci]

I think i should say peanut butter. Crunchy peanut butter.

I got nothing

[SackAttack]

My freakin' Min Pin dug a Mole/Vole (not sure which it is) out of it's tunnel and brought it inside this morning.

Yay me!

Man, that just makes me fear lordscarlet's cat that much more.

Also, labs of any breed are just awesome, awesome dogs. Smart as fuck, too.

[Rizon]

At 13, don't teach her too well! ;)

The "Stay Alive" trick seems to be working!

[molson]

The "Stay Alive" trick seems to be working!

The above-mentioned Husky of mine is now a ridiculous 18 years old (though she's deaf now, and thus can't do any of her old tricks). So you never know, your dog could be around another half-decade.

[Rizon]

The above-mentioned Husky of mine is now a ridiculous 18 years old (though she's deaf now, and thus can't do any of her old tricks). So you never know, your dog could be around another half-decade.

Her mother lived to be 17 1/2, and that's even with raising 10 puppies. My dog still has a ton of energy, eats well, gets alot of exercise, and has a bunch of other dogs in the neighborhood she plays with. I'm hoping she'll live as long as her mother.

[AZSpeechCoach]

Get the dog to wear a chip and dip helmet around your Super Bowl party. That would be HAWWWWWT!

[SunDevil]

This thread needs more midget.

[Anthony]

Get the dog to wear a chip and dip helmet around your Super Bowl party. That would be HAWWWWWT!

i'm considering if i want to teach him to get my remote for me. i'm weighing how practical this would be and if it's a trick i'd have him utilize often. getting my slippers when i come home from work WILL be utilized often.

didn't that big dog from that sitcom "Empty Nest" do that? his name was Dreyfus, i believe.

[Fidatelo]

HA that's awesome, I'm jealous.

My dog only does about half the things you listed above (sit, stay, come, shake a paw + other paw, and kisses). Sometimes she'll get a toy for you, but it pretty much has to be within eyesite. She'll look around for about 15 seconds and if she can't find it just comes back and looks at you as though you're hiding it from her.

The thing we've noticed about our dog is that she doesn't have that dying urge to please. I'm not sure why, but she just doesn't really care either way it seems. If she's interested and feels like it, she'll do anything we ask. Otherwise, she just ignores us, although she is getting better about obeying things she doesn't want to do (she's getting good at "off", "drop it/ leave it", and she'll mostly come when she's called now, although it takes a lot of coaxing and I'm not sure I'd trust it if there was really something intriguing going on).

Are some dogs just born with that "need to please my master" thing? Or is it a function of training?

[rkmsuf]

I'm supposed to work hard all day
and come home to feed the m-fing dog ?



Fuck no, I'm not feeding the m-fer!"



"You know Eddie, when nobody's home."



"When nobody's home you know what I do?"



"I walk to the dog and I kick the m-fer!"



"I kick the m-fer with everything I got, Eddie !
And then I giggle my m-fing ass off."



"'cos I hate the m-fer!
'cos you don't clean up behind it !



"This ain't Scooby-Doo m-fer!"

[johnnyshaka]

The above-mentioned Husky of mine is now a ridiculous 18 years old (though she's deaf now, and thus can't do any of her old tricks).

Holy crap...ours had to be put down when she was 8 years old...from what I remember...that's about the average lifespan for a husky.

[Anthony]

Are some dogs just born with that "need to please my master" thing? Or is it a function of training?

that's a breed specific thing, from what i've researched. his breed is known as a "working class breed", they like feeling they have a job to do.

i swear, it really is the cutest thing to see how excited he gets as he runs up the stairs to my room to get my slippers, and then see him run down the steps and then as i shower him with praise he wags his tail so hard.

[Fidatelo]

that's a breed specific thing, from what i've researched. his breed is known as a "working class breed", they like feeling they have a job to do.

i swear, it really is the cutest thing to see how excited he gets as he runs up the stairs to my room to get my slippers, and then see him run down the steps and then as i shower him with praise he wags his tail so hard.

Ours is 'working class' too (Old English Sheepdog). Maybe we just got a lazy one :P

[wade moore]

that's a breed specific thing, from what i've researched. his breed is known as a "working class breed", they like feeling they have a job to do.

i swear, it really is the cutest thing to see how excited he gets as he runs up the stairs to my room to get my slippers, and then see him run down the steps and then as i shower him with praise he wags his tail so hard.It can vary from dog to dog within a breed too.. some breeds are more prone to certain traits than others, but elements like this can certainly differ within each dog in a breed.

[molson]

Holy crap...ours had to be put down when she was 8 years old...from what I remember...that's about the average lifespan for a husky.

They seem to have two different ranges for lifespans, from what I've read. A lot will go at 7-10, and then if they live past that, they're typically healthy in older age, and 16 to even 18-19 isn't uncommon.

[CU Tiger]

we raised labs for 20+ years.
BRILLIANT DOGS.
Had 2 make it 18+ years.


It is fun to watch them get happy making you happy.

[Anthony]

he just won't stop - i taught him how to get my sandles (more practical for these hot summer months than my heavy slippers):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/HellAtlantic/Jacksandles.jpg

next trick - doing my taxes.

[digamma]

2. he will get the toy you request: ball, tire, rope (which i call "challenge" cuz we play tug of war with it, the first game we played together at the petstore).


Glad you're enjoying your dog.

[climbs on soap box] Next time don't buy from a retail pet store (if that's what you did here). Retail stores often buy their dogs from puppy mills, which ship out dogs in an assembly line process generally treating them pretty horribly along the way (and increasing the chance the dog you buy is of lesser stock, more susceptible to infection or disease or just unhealthy). Instead, research a reputable breeder, or better yet, adopt a homeless dog from your local humane society. [/climbs off soap box]

[SackAttack]

We adopted Max (our black lab) from the local pound.

He's a great dog, but the thing you have to keep in mind if you go that route is the dog is there for one of two reasons.

1) Abandonment/rescue/whatever.

2) Previous owner couldn't keep or couldn't handle him/her.

Nothing wrong with adopting a dog from either class...but if you get one from the latter class, you may be getting a dog set in his or her ways who isn't terribly receptive to change. That's fine if you have the patience for it, but some folks don't.

Max was one of those 'set in his ways' kind of dogs. He knows how to do a lot of things, and he'll do them if he sees an advantage to doing so (read: what's in it for me?) but he's been more resistant to "don't do this cuz I said so." Took over a year to get him to quit digging in the flowerbeds, and he was two years old when we got him.

He still barks when he feels like it, but he will usually pay lip service if we tell him to knock it off. He'll just sort of mutter under his breath, or look at you as if he's thinking to himself "how far can I push it before I get in trouble?" and give these calculated barks. Like, "woof! (okay, he's not doing anything.) woof! (still nothing.) woof! (uh oh, there's the finger and angry voice. play it cool.)"

Tell him to go lay down, he'll pick one of the two. Whichever is most beneficial to him. You've got food? He ain't goin'. He'll lay down, sure, because it suits him to do so, but...

He's a great dog. But if you don't get 'em when they're little puppies, dogs can be great, *obstinate* pets. :)

[Darth Guapo]

"What? You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate the whole wheel of cheese? How'd you do that? Heck, I'm not even mad; that's amazing."