So now I’ve embarked on a very ambitious new trick…people are very impressed with Oscar’s tissue trick, but I decided that it was time to up the ante.  He mastered fetching the tissue with a sneeze cue really quickly, so I racked my brain to come up with a similar trick….what else could Oscar fetch based on some random external cue??  Then it hit me….what if he could fetch the phone when it rang??  That would be awesome and it’s not all that far off from the tissue trick.  If he can get SNEEZE = FETCH TISSUE, then he should be able to get RING = FETCH PHONE, right?

So, first there were a few logistical problems to deal with…our home phone is currently on top of a desk, so if I ever get this trick to work, I’ll have to relocate it to the floor or get another set of doggy steps - I’ll deal with that later, if we ever get to that point.  Next problem is that our home phone is too big for Oscar to be able to pick up in his mouth.  So, for now I’ve fashioned this ghetto-fabulous duct tape handle so that Oscar can easily fetch the phone…

Of course, my wonderful handle covers up both the ear-piece and the mouth-piece, so if Oscar actually did manage to bring the phone to me when it rang, I wouldn’t actually be able to answer it….details, details….

Anyway, I’m happy to report that after only two phone-fetching training sessions, Oscar is already very comfortable with fetching the jerry-rigged phone and bringing it to me.  I started to add the ring cue, but if I let it keep ringing while he’s carrying it he gets freaked out and drops it.  So, here’s my game plan for finishing the trick…

Step 1 – Master the phone retrieval with the cue of a single ring.

Step 2 – Get him comfortable with carrying a continuously ringing phone (I think I’m going to have to disable the answering machine for this part).

Step 3 – Put steps 1 & 2 together.

Step 4 – Figure out a permanent Oscar phone handle and phone location.

Wish us luck!  I found a video of a Chihuahua fetching a cell phone, so there’s hope for Oscar!!

Anyways, we’re having lots of fun with our new trick training.  I’m no kind of training expert and according to breed intelligence rankings, Oscar’s not super bright…so if we can do it, anyone can!!

I’m happy to report that Oscar has finally learned to speak on command! 

Even better news is that he’s not barking at the door anymore!  (I have two squirts from a water bottle to thank for that – you would think I was squirting him with acid based on his reaction…)

Of course, we can’t use the command “Speak”, because it’s too close to another one of his tricks…”Sneak”.  Oscar does a mean army crawl for the “Sneak” command, so right now his speak command is “Who is it??”…once he gets a little more comfortable with it, I’m going to try to switch to something that makes more sense.  Any suggestions for a cute/clever speak command?  All I can come up with is “Talk”, which will work, but it’s kind of boring.

We’ve also been working on a doggie version of the shell game…we had a REALLY hard time with this one at first, but Oscar is definitely getting better at it.  For a while, I couldn’t get him to stop knocking over each cup looking for it!  I think I need to use a more fragrant treat.

We did a ton of training with Oscar during his first two years.  Before he was a year old, he had mastered all the basics (Sit, Stay, Lie Down, Come, Rollover, etc.) and a bunch of special tricks…Kiss, High-5, Sneak (crawl), Bang (play dead), Jump, Spin and of course, the tissue trick.

After his first birthday, we did a lot of training to prepare him to be a Therapy Dog and he also learned to put away his toys, walk on his hind legs, and help with the laundry (he carries all the socks from the dryer to the bedroom).

But then we just kind of got complacent and I realized that it had been a while since we learned anything new, which made me sad because I think that training is one of the most fun and rewarding things you can do with your dog.   You’re both completely focused on each other and working together to accomplish a goal.  It’s also my personal “special time” with Oscar, since Josh doesn’t really have the patience to practice a trick over and over again.  So, a few weeks ago I decided to put a renewed effort into learning some new tricks.

Now don’t get me wrong…there are still some pretty basics tricks/commands that Oscar hasn’t mastered yet.  He’s pretty bad at heeling, for example.  His ‘Come’ and ’Leave It’ could use some refreshing, but those are kind of boring…maybe we’ll come back to them later.

After browsing my plethora of tricks books and poking around on the Internet, I decided that the next essential trick to learn is “Weave”.  Here is a video of what it’s supposed to look like…

You can imagine Oscar’s version by picturing the one in the above video in slow motion with stops between each weave for a treat!!   So, we still have some work to do on the basic walking weave, but even if we master that there are a ton of variations…I found this fun training video:

And there’s even a training video for a backwards weave!!  Very impressive.

So anyways, I figured I’d focus a few posts on our trick training renewal.  If you’ve taught your dog a fun or cool trick, please share!

Okay, so I am desperate to get Oscar to learn the trick “Speak”.  Despite his impressive repertoire of tricks (which include sitting, crawling, rolling over, putting away his toys and FETCHING A TISSUE WHEN SOMONE SNEEZES!!), I have not been able to get him to bark on command.

I am insanely jealous that a certain 6 month old Pug puppy (who shall remain NAMELESS) already knows speak!!  I’ve tried to teach Oscar this trick before, but this new development with the Pug puppy and my competitive nature has led me to attempt this endeavor once more. 

Most training instruction I found on teaching your dog to speak is pretty straight forward – do something that elicits a bark, reward and add a verbal command (which eventually replaces the initial stimulus).  My problem is that the only time Oscar barks is when he hears someone come in our apartment building – that watchdog tendency kicked in about a year ago out of nowhere. 

I actually want to get him to STOP barking when people come in the building and I heard that one of the best ways to train a dog to stop doing something is to train him to do it on command – then once he knows what it is, you’ll be much more successful in breaking him of the undesired behavior by adding a “No” to the command.

So far, all I’ve managed to do is exacerbate the door barking problem! 

Then I got some interesting advice from someone we visited on one of our Therapy Dog visits.  He said that you should make a barking noise at your dog and then the dog will imitate it…so, of course I’ve barked at Oscar until I’m blue in the face and he just looks at me like I’m crazy.  Who the hell knows what I’m saying in dog-speak!  I’m sure it’s incredibly rude…

Anyway…does anyone have any other advice on how to train your dog to speak??  I’d love to hear it…

If you haven’t seen these talking dogs, you have to check it out…

Oscar and I watched it together – he was totally engrossed…I can’t even get Oscar to bark on command! 

Does anyone have any advice on how to train your dog to speak?  We’ve been working on it, but all I’ve managed to do is aggravate his barking at the doorbell!!  I’ve created a monster…

Hi, Josh here – I’m Oscar’s dad, which is to say, I’m his owner. Lately Oscar’s mom, Anya, and I have been debating various training methods we use on Oscar. I’ve been saying we should do less treat/reward based training even though Anya has managed to get Oscar to do some pretty spectacular things (see video below) using treat based training. Let me see if I can explain what bugs me about it.

Now, when we’re training a dog to do something, say, “sit”, the most frequent training method I’ve seen is to get the dog to associate the behavior, sitting, with receiving a reward – which is usually in the form of a verbal acknowledgment (or a click from a clicker trainer) and a food treat. Eventually, the reward can be weaned back in frequency, and hopefully the dog will still perform the behavior. Instead of a food treat, we can also toss a toy or play tug of war as a reward for the dog.

So what, you may ask, is my problem?

Here’s the thing: Oscar is a very “good” dog. He’s very smart, very sweet, and very spoiled. He knows a ton of commands: sit, stay, lie down, sneak, spin, rollover, kiss, jump, shake, high five, stand, and Anya is even trying to teach him how to read – stay tuned for that one.

The issue is that he knows darn well when he’s going to be rewarded for his tricks, and performs them with considerable speed and zeal when the reward is pending (ie, when Anya gets the bag of treats out). He will still perform the tricks pretty well if he doesn’t see the treats, but not nearly as reliably or enthusiastically.

Now, I don’t know what exactly I’m hoping for – is it possible we could have taught him all of these tricks using only verbal praise and excitement as a reward for the tasks?  Probably not. 

I don’t think that the solution is to “hide” the treats so that Oscar never knows when the treat is coming – although perhaps it’s as simple as that. I guess what I really want is for him to do the tricks because he KNOWS it’s the right thing – because he knows it’s what we’re asking. Unfortunately, I think I’m quite likely anthropomorphizing here, and exhibiting a fundamental misunderstanding of the dog psyche.

What are some reader opinions on this topic? Has anyone had success with non-treat based training? Has anyone been able to successfully wean back the treats and still receive the same enthusiastic response from their dog?

Holy cow!  I think I just discovered the most fun thing you can do with you clothes on!  We just finished our 2nd lesson in Beginner’s Agility and we are hooked – or at least I’m hooked.  I think Oscar’s enjoying it too - of course, he’s a big fan of pretty much anything that involves him getting treats.

Oscar may not look like he’s built for Agility, but he seems to be learning the course elements pretty quickly.  Josh thinks that he was the best one in the class last night, but if I’m completely objective (or as close as I can get) I have to acknowledge that he has some strong competition.  Oscar’s friend Monty was kicking butt too and a Jack Russell Terrier and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel were also super stars.

I will agree that Oscar was definitely in the top half of the class.  His execution is excellent, the only problem is that he doesn’t seem to get the concept that he’s supposed to be going FAST.  That’s okay for now, because we’re focusing on learning the techniques, but I’m just not sure Oscar’s built for speed.  Oh well, maybe we won’t be traveling the country doing the professional agility circuit, but at least we’re having a lot of fun.

So assuming we graduate from the Beginner class, we’ll definitely be signing up for the Advance Beginner and Intermediate level classes offered by Andra Arden Dog Training at Animal Haven.  These classes are great – I can’t imagine that there are too many indoor locations in Manhattan that have a large enough space to have a mini-agility course. 

Assuming we stick with it and develop some decent agility skills, I’m wondering if there are any outdoor courses where you can go to practice on your own.  Does anyone know of a place nearby?

I’ll leave you with an action shot….Oscar takes the ramp at lightning speed!  Go Oscar, go!!

Thanks to our feline friends at Cat Sitter in the City for the great suggestion to Take a Pet First Aid Class This Summer! 

Classes held by the American Red Cross are going on all the time at their W 49th street location and other locations throughout the greater NYC area.  The 4-hour class costs $70 (including the $10 online registration discount).  Check out their website for details.

SUCCESS!!!  Well, kind of…

A little over a month ago (see post Product Review – Pet Steps), we invested in some Pet Steps for Oscar in an attempt to curb his tendencies to hurl himself out of our bed and potentially injure himself.

He quickly mastered going UP the stairs which presented him with far better bed accessibility (wonderful…), but until about a week ago, unless we stood at the bottom of the stairs with his favorite treat and coaxed him down, he was continuing to leap to the ground – giving me a heart attack every time.

So I’m happy to report that we’ve kind of had a breakthrough in the past week – Oscar has begun to use the stairs to get DOWN from the bed of his own volition about 50% of the time.   Of course, when he does come down the steps on his own, he’ll stand at the bottom wagging his stub (tail) and looking at us as if to say, “Okay, I used your damn stairs, now where’s my treat??”. 

Oh well…I’ll take it!!  Maybe I should just give up and go with Grasshopper’s suggestion of a “doggie slide”!

Who are these people that don’t pick up their dog’s poop?  Yeah, I said “poop” and I’ll say it again.  Poop. 

Okay, it’s kind of gross, but I have to ask my fellow dog owners…do you find yourselves talking about poop a lot??  Before we had a dog, I can’t remember talking about poop at all.  But now, I don’t think a day goes by that Anya & I don’t have at least a brief exchange regarding Oscar’s poop – frequency, size, consistency.  Is that weird???  I mean we’re just trying to keep tabs on whether he’s sick, going on enough walks and trying to make sure that his diet is agreeing with him.  That’s normal, right?

Anyway, every day there is fresh poop on my block, and on most of the surrounding blocks we walk on.  Anya and I have a long standing joke (since way before we had a dog) about poop we’d see on the sidewalk.  Anya said that she heard somewhere that the owners of guide dogs didn’t have to pick up their dog’s poop.  Now, I’m not sure if this is true, but it makes sense – I certainly wouldn’t expect a blind person to feel around on the groud for it.  So, every time we’d see poop on the sidewalk, we’d just say with a smile, ”Must be a seeing eye dog!” 

However, now that we’re dog owners, we’re taking the poop a little more seriously.  After all, if someone doesn’t pick up their dog’s poop, it’s a reflection on all dog owners. 

I pick up Oscar’s poop for another very simple reason (other than the fact that it’s required by law):  The Golden Rule.  I don’t like to step in poop!  And forensic poop evidence (CSI: Poop Police)  suggests that many of these droppings are definitely too small to be from a guide dog. 

Oh, and while we’re on the stinky subject – there should be a class in poop picking also.  You don’t need to mash the poop into the sidewalk like you’re making some sort of abstract finger painting -  don’t attack the poop – it’s not your enemy.  A delicate cradle & flip movement will usually extract even more stubborn poops from the sidewalk without leaving a trail of sidewalk devastaion in their wake.