Where's the ball?

[centrop67]

I've somehow accidentally trained Radar to go find things. I'll say "where's the ball?" And, he will go find the ball. I'll say "where's the sick?" And, he'll go find the stick. All of this without any deliberate training.

The best part is that this is an awesome way to get him to deflect unwanted behavior. If Leela and him are getting too wild in play, I'll say "where's the ball?" And, he'll stop and go find it. If we have company, and he starts jumping up on someone, all I have to do is say "where's the stick?" And, he'll go find it.

My old lab had the same skill - again accidentally trained. The funny thing is the 2nd dogs in my household never quite caught on. Snickers would stand there and look at me, and Leela will run around in a couple of circles and come back to me (although Leela is young and smart enough that she might get it eventually).

What kinds of "pleasant" (and not deliberately trained) behavior have you noticed in your dogs?

[Dutchringgirl]

HA. Thalie does that too, Sadie has learned that its a waste of effort to find something because thalie will

[wahinelf]

I don't know how this was taught...I guess I say it to Ellie but never expecting a response. But if I say, "Look," she starts frantically looking around. When we're inside she looks directly at the ceiling fan and when we're outside she assumes I'm pointing out a squirrel (yah, like I would ever PURPOSEFULLY point out a squirrel - ha).

[centrop67]

yah, like I would ever PURPOSEFULLY point out a squirrel - ha

I almost fell off my chair after reading that.

[HeatherH]

We have where's the "Frankie"(a plastic dog toy), where's your "rope". We name his toy so he knows what to bring. Sometimes what you teach them is annoying. I taught Dutch to stay with me where I am. This helps when we have company there's a problem with another dog specially when there are kids over. The annoying thing is when you’re in the garden and they think they need to stay with you and want to stick their heads in where the shovel needs to go.

The best thing I taught him is "here give this to Greg". So helpful if Greg's in another room.

Heather