[RazinKain]

but practical/amusing tricks you guys have trained your dogs to do? For example, I am considering teaching Kain to take an empty beer can and putting it in the trash can. This would be practical to a degree but more for entertaining guests. What odd tricks have you guys taught your dogs? This should be good.

 

[Jax08]

I taught Jax to bring the food dishes out of the back of the crate. Upside - I don't have to crawl into the crate to get the dishes. Downside - She carries the dishes everywhere now. I never know where the cat dish might be and if she's hungry she will bring the dish and throw it at me.

Be VERY careful what you teach them! It could backfire.

 

[DCluver33]

i tried to teach Dodger to pick up the socks I would drop after carrying the laundry in to the house, but he'd pick one up and run with it silly silly boy he didn't get the concept of following me with the socks. Now he tries to pick up my socks and carry them around the house everywhere. lol

 

[Chicagocanine]

I taught my terrier how to paint:

(that photo was when he was learning for the first time at a demo)

I also taught him how to play a synthesizer/keyboard. It's basically the same trick (wave/paw) but with slight variations-- for the painting I had him repeatedly paw the canvas with one paw, and for the keyboard I had him switch off one paw, then the other, then the first, and so on.

 

[doggiedad]

this isn't special but i love it when my dog is sitting
in front of me and i say "heel" and walks around me
and sits on my left side. i like seeing dogs do this.

when the mail man comes we let our dog out and
he goes down the driveway and takes the mail from the
mail man and brings it me. he does this for my neighbor also.

hand signals

"family hug". when my GF an i hug one of us will say
"family hug" and our dog will walk between us.

when we're in the woods and the trail gets narrow
and someone is approaching or someone riding a horse
i can say "other side" and my dog will move to the
other side of the trail. when he's heeling i can say
"other side" and he switches sides and continues heeling.

if i drop something when i'm walking my dog will pick it up
without me saying anything.

 

[KZoppa]

i dunno if it would be considered special but people are always amazed that my dogs (Zena mostly as i'm still trying to teach it to Shasta and Shelby and Riley just doesnt get it) understand "around" if we're on a walk or they're crowding me on the wrong side (like opening a door) i'll say around and they go behind me(the way they came) to the other side. Its pretty handy when they accidently tie you up in the leash.

 

[vicky2200]

Im not sure if this qualifies as weird, but we taught Daisy to scoot over (in both directions), scoot back, and scoot forward. It was quite cute. Sadly she doesnt do it anymore. She is so stubborn. Dakota can sneeze on command, which Ive seen many dogs do, but I still think its impressive. Ditto can do a chain of commands, such as circle+sit+speak+wave. However, she has to have alot of focus which is difficult with other distractions, such as daisy or the birds.

 

[Lesley1905]

The only thing besides normal training I've taught Brody is "right and left". He knows his right and left paws

 

[zone9alady]

I originally started this to stop him from eating the leaves that fell off my indoor ficus trees. Every time he finds one on the ground now he brings it to me and spits it out for a treat. Sometimes it gets pretty funny when there are a dozen leaves on the floor.

 

[AbbyK9]

When I still had Abby, I taught her to "pick up" and "drop" items, which was useful in a variety of situations. She could follow me and pick up dropped laundry items, put things into the hamper, carry small shopping bags or other small items, and go throw her poop bags into the trash. Not only was this useful, it was also pretty cool to show off. We've won a couple of tricks contest having her pick up an empty bottle, putting it into a bag, then carry the bag to a trash can and drop it.

Ronja knows "hug". If you ask her to hug when sitting, she will come up, put her chest in your lap (paws tucked under so she won't scratch you), and put her head on your shoulder. Of course, she also solicits hugs without being asked. If you're sitting and paying attention to her, don't be surprised if she's up in your lap asking for a hug.

 

[clearcreekranch]

I taught my mixed breed dog "bang, your dead" and he rolls over on command.

 

[ken k]

Max can walk backwards, either on leash or off leash, or by himself on my command, and of course his air bark

 

[RazinKain]

These are great ideas. Amusing yet practical in certain situations. Keep'em coming guys.