mbc1963 Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 When I got my dog, I taught him "roll over." He seems to hate this command. He used to do it on the rug, or on a very soft lawn, but he really didn't enjoy it, and was incredibly reluctant, so I let it go. Why bother with a silly show command that he doesn't need in life? Literally, I haven't used the command or tried to get Buddy to roll over in three years. Today, we were on an incredibly lovely lawn at the park. It had just been mown, so it was covered with soft, downy clippings. Buddy seemed to want to frolic and play, so I had him lie down. Just for fun, I made the "roll over" sign with my hand. BOOM! Buddy rolled over. Three years gone by, with nary a single use of the hand signal or voice command, but he's been storing it in his brain, just in case. Amazing. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 OK, I have a slightly different example of this -- with a CAT. When I was a child, my house had a ledge running under our windows and up to our front door. I tried and tried to teach my cat to walk across the ledge and ring the doorbell, which was about 8" above the ledge. Then one day (probably weeks or months after I'd given up) the doorbell rang and there was my cat "all beat up" from a cat fight. Thereafter, he rang the doorbell whenever he wanted to come in. I think he just didn't see the purpose in ringing the doorbell up until that point . . . Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pansmom Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 That's impressive, Mary. But not surprising... And Kim... I love cats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzysdad Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 If I give Tobey a speak command, he comes up to me and puts his paws on my waist. Without fail. Everytime. I never taught him this and he came to me not even knowing how to sit. I like that your dog remembers!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Good stories! I have one I can add. Ceana's memory is amazing. While she isn't big on tricks, Ceana always knows the last place you put one of her toys. For example we went back to Colorado to vist family and to get a little R and R over Memorial Day. (Late May- Early June) As soon as we walked into my parent's house Ceana looked under the couches (1st place a ball goes missing) and pulled out a tennis ball that has not moved since December. She the hopped up on the cushions and looked up on top of the fire place mantel and did a whiney happy dance. This is the "all done," spot in my parent's house where balls go for a good time out. She does this with items we hide and forget about at home as well. If Ceana sees you place something some where she will always remember where it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC-Liz Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Hmm I have a good one, not nearly as good as the cat, but who can compete with that. I play hide and seek with my pups for some mental exercise. I tell them to down stay in the living room then I go hide somewhere in the house. There's only so many hiding spots and they've memorized them all. They go to each one almost in a routine until they find me. When I do find another one they're stumped for at least a minute or two until they remember they have noses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 I hadn't had Speedy in Agility in years and he never really had mastered the 2 on 2 off contact, even though we had started to train it (before I knew enough of what I was doing to really help him understand it). Last year, I put up a board and had him walk down it. He stopped, on his own, and offered the 2 on 2 off. I was totally surprised that he remembered, but he did. Unfortunately, he also remembers quite a lot of poisoned cues from those days. I can never say "weave" to him. All it means in his brain is "GO CRAZY!!" He can leg weave nicely, but I have to say "leg". If I need him to jump, I have to say "over" because "jump" means "GO CRAZY!!", too!! It's ironic because when Speedy and Dean were younger, I used to get kind of upset when they seemed to "forget" something that I had taught them and they had known. Now that they are older it really hits home that they were paying attention all along, they just didn't have everything sorted out yet!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat W. Posted September 15, 2009 Report Share Posted September 15, 2009 Heres one for you, Riley my aussie is completely blind due to cataracts in both eyes...damn merle/merle breeding. He loves his "ballie" a giant jolly ball. He always remembers where in the house he leaves it and can find it when I ask "Where's your ballie?", we put a squeeker in it so it squeeks when it rolls around so he can follow it. He also was my agility partner before loosing his sight and will do weave poles, teeter and tunnels as well as an 12 inch jump with enthusisam when I show him where things are and cue him correctly. He is so proud of himself too, he just barks with excitement and his wiggle goes a mile a minute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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