Give your dog a Job!

[IliamnasQuest]

The paint can idea is neat! I've seen something similar using bricks, so the dog had to find where the item was hidden in the bricks.

I do a lot of little games with my girls. With Khana, who doesn't naturally retrieve or tug (typical chow) I've really worked on fun games to teach her to take things in her mouth. One of our games is "beat the puppy with the sock" .. *L* .. when I go to put my socks on, I chant "beat the puppy, beat the puppy" as I smack her with the sock. She gets all excited and tries to grab it, and once she gets it her job is to pull it out of my hands. (yes, I have a lot of socks with holes .. *L*). I encourage this by saying "pull!! pull!!". Now she'll pull on anything, including the dumbbell, if I tell her to. This has helped her develop a good grip (and all you GSD people are thinking "what? she needs to LEARN to grip?").

I also do an exercise - well, sort of an exercise - where I just ask my dogs "what can you do?". They have to offer a behavior. Any behavior. They can sit, down, spin, wave, back up, speak, bark, roll over, put a paw over their face, shake their head no, etc. Once they do a behavior, they get a treat and then I ask "what ELSE can you do?". They can't repeat the behavior they just did - they have to choose something else. At first it confused them .. they always tried to do what they'd just been rewarded for. I smile and say "nope, you already did that one! What ELSE can you do?". And when they offer something else, I immediately reward that.

Now I can say "what can you do?" and they will go through their different behaviors one at a time. You can almost see them thinking "oh man, what else do I remember??" .. *L* ... they get really excited and try very hard to offer me every behavior they can. And since I asked for it, it's allowable. Other times when I ask for a specific behavior they have to give that specific behavior. If I ask "what can you do?" then they can offer anything.

I also tend to teach a lot of nonsense behaviors, especially to Khana (my Service Dog, who NEEDS to keep especially mentally alert). She knows how to shake her head "no", she'll point her nose at the ceiling when I say "sky high", she'll lay her head on my chest when I say "toogle", etc. They're not important behaviors but they keep her thinking and responding even during times when I can't move much. My dogs are more limited by my illness than I am at times, and I try to work past that as much as I can.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

[kristaGSD]

I love this thread!

I have been blessed with living somewhere that I have access to lots of land. So I took up Biking with my dogs. Ive been saving up for a nice scooter so when that gets here we will do that but for the time being have a cheapo mountain bike that I use.

I purchased dog sled harnesses and a multi dog pull line and when the harnesses go on they know its time to pull and they love it. while out on the trails I have taught them commands like "left" "right" and "WHOA"...they are getting better at that one HAHA! though when a deer runs out in front of us all bets are off...

I love the idea of hitching them up to a wagon and having them haul stuff around, Also the find me games. That would be really useful to teach them to find the kids if they ever got lost. I will deffinitely have to try those.

Krista
----------------------------
Koda - German wirehaired pointer
Molly - GSD
Zeke - GSD - CGC
Spook - Mini Schnauzer

[arycrest]

Over the years some of the Hooligans have done various household chores, get my shoes, bring me a towel when I was ready to get out of the shower, etc - they loved it. A couple were trained to find leashes when I misplaced them.

They also learned the "find mine" game. Before bed I'd hide treats all around the bedroom, in the closets, the bathroom while they were outdoors going potty. I put some treats in easy to locate spots, others in hard to find areas - some treats would be on the floor, balanced on dresser pulls or door knobs, hidden in shoes in the closet, under a paper or book on the desk, etc. When they came in I'd say "find mine" and the game began - within minutes all the treats were located and eaten - we all had fun with this.

Two of the Hooligans (Too and Mac) have been responsible for ensuring the safety of the elderly Hooligans, bringing them in the house when it's dark, simple things like that. It's a long story, but one bitter cold night (zero degrees), Too actually saved Tex's life when I accidently left him outside when the other guys were let in.

Honey's life long project was making Kelly's life miserable - maybe not the best chore for a dog to do, but they both apparently enjoyed the challenge.

Except for Mac watching over the old guys, I've been lax about teaching the present Hooligans to have a chore. I think I'll start working on this today. Bruiser is the most food oriented, he'll do anything for a treat, I think I'll start with him.

[Amaruq]

Any more. I love hearing of all the options to keep our dogs learning and mentally stimulated!

[DianaM]

Yesterday we did a lot of mental work. We did the training challenges, bits of agility training, but what really got his brain to go nuts was teaching him to get up on the dining room table chair. He's small, so it's tougher to hop up on there and it is very slippery so he had to have excellent balance to get up there and stay there. Working to get up on there and hold his balance and also come down carefully really worked his brain because he had to overcome his fear of the chair that would wobble if he put too much force into jumping and he had to concentrate to keep his balance. Of course, I was right there spotting him but it still was a great challenge.

He learned he can conquer his fears which is a confidence boost as well, plus he strengthened his sense of balance. He slept VERY well that night and even into the next day.

[TxRider]

I've had Hope for about 6 weeks, so far her job is to monitor my whereabouts at all times, keep me from spending time on the evil computer, and taking me for two walks a day.

She looks like she would do well in tracking and herding though, so I think trying both is in her future.

[Doggydog]

Squirrel patrol. None should ever ever be in our backyard. They need to be flushed out several times a day.

[Liesje]

When my dogs are going stir crazy, instead of feeding their meal in a bowl, I combine their meals and scatter it in the yard. It takes them a while to hunt for it, gives them something to think about, and slows down their eating. Also it makes it easier for me to get chores done with them out of the way.

They also flush animals. Coke will bark at rabbits nonstop and they know he is behind a fence, so I let Kenya out the gate to get rid of them so Coke will shut up. Coke and Nikon flush out feral cats. They can't get them b/c of the fence but the cats are scared of the charging dogs and run away.

[mel hunter]

Some great ideas here! I would love to get Buddy into agility but need to see what's close to where I live. Right now his job is mostly to patrol his area. He has an acre fenced with lots of trees. He loves to patrol the perimeter of the fence. Occassionally a fox will get in (they can squeeze under at the gates where Buddy can't fit) and they can get out pretty quickly but he likes to make sure they are on the outside of his area and the squirrels are in the trees.

I try to teach him new things every week..right now we're working on "watch" and "leave it" and we play lots of games with toys that require work for him (to get out either treats or balls that squeak).
He also likes to carry my things up the stairs when I come home from work-like my gloves or hats in the winter. I think I'll teach him to help me carry up the groceries!

And of course he get LOTS of exercise...a trail run almost every day in the summer and a skate ski or snowshoe in the winter!

Melinda

[CayDawg44]

how do you teach your dog to put her toys away i tryed to show her to pick it up then put it in the container but she wouldnt do it she kept getting distracted is is still young but i still would think she would learn it