What Is The Most Helpful Trick Your Dog Knows?

tenniskitty

Experienced Member
Okay, what is the most helpful trick you've taught your dog? Was it getting their leash? Getting you a bottle of water?
 

fickla

Experienced Member
well I suppose it would be how to walk on a loose leash. But taking out the basics, I would say "go to mat." I've used this behavior when people come the door, to be calm during agility/obedience classes, and now I'm using it for Lance's 4 on the floor behavior after the a frame in agility.

I would love to teach the fetch me a drink from the fridge trick so far have been too lazy, and too scared!, to try it.
 

tenniskitty

Experienced Member
LOL Haven't taught my dog that trick yet either! If she knows how to open the fridge, we won't ever have any food...:dogblink:
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Useful....

We get so SO much use out of "BANG!" We use that to dry and/or clean his paws many times each day when he comes in. It is WAY easier than lifting one paw at a time. way way easier. We have used that at the vets once or twice, too.
And once, Buddy had a tick, so bang was helpful to get to the tick, which was on tummy. (It was his only tick ever, thank dawg!!!) (by the way, that put alcohol, or put liquid soap, or put vaseline on a tick, or hold hot matchhead to the tick, all that stuff is baloney. The vaseline only makes the tick slippery..great.)

"Bring it to Daddy!" is also useful, i can put something into Buddy's mouth, and he will find Craig and bring it to Craig. Buddy adores that trick, just LOVES it. I posted a thread once, some time ago, on how we taught him that.

"Wait", is something we use daily, too. Anytime he gets in/out of any vehicle, he KNOWS he is gonna wait. I didn't want him running into/out of vehicles til told to.
And now, he doesn't.:msngrin:

"Leave it" is handy to have, too. And, like Fickla says, walking nicely on leash, WHEW, yes.

Oh, and recall-- to know when i call Buddy--he WILL come. when we are outdoors and at the park and stuff---Priceless.
 

herb2relax

New Member
I use this one daily is "drop it" and it is great! If she gets anything she is not suppose to have or something small in her mouth that she could swallow quickly if I wanted to get it. Wait is great so she is not pulling me when I am trying to retrieve more things out of the car. It may not be a trick but come is something I need her to do and I am working on "stop" where I want her to just freeze when I say it.
 

princessbride029

Well-Known Member
I agree with "BANG"!! It's so nice to have a command that drops the dog on her side to lay still! Of course, Cassidy still doesn't quite get the "dead" thing - she wriggles around and tries to pop back up quickly, but if you hold the "gun" hand over her head she'll stay down. Haha.

Anyway, great trick for when she's getting crazy wild and you just want her to STOP! Bang! Down she goes. :dogbiggrin:
 

szecsuani

Experienced Member
It's definitely "close the door", as most of the time I'm too lazy to close my room's door when having dinner in my bed... :D
Of course she gets her reward after closing the door. :D
 

srdogtrainer

Experienced Member
The most helpful trick that River performs is "go find my shoes or boots." River will then go search around the room to find them. Unfortunately the reason why I need to use it so much is usually because he has walked off with one or both of them. : (
But sometimes I do misplace them and it is really helpful to have River find them for me.
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
Most useful trick for me is "DUTIES", which is pee on command. Very useful when travelling or going to the vet, or when you are in a hurry and need to go somewhere. :dogsmile:
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
This one is only useful for Buddy, not for me so much, but i can be anywhere in the house, like upstairs and notice something going by that Buddy would like to look at, maybe his best dog pal getting his walk or a horse&buggy, and i call out, "Look out the window" and Buddy always always, without ever having to ask a 2nd time, always races excitedly to stand up with his paws on the window ledge and see what is going by.

Usually, he already knows if a dog or horse or whatever is going by, but, sometimes, he is wrong room or something. He loves this, loves it.
I also use if someone is our family is pulling out of the garage to leave home, so Buddy can watch them leave, tickles them to see him in the window.

but again, is useful only to my DOG, not so much for me,
except for amusement purposes!:msngiggle:

and yeah, like Jean, i also have taught Buddy "go pee pee", he KNOWS egggzactly what that means, and does co-operate with that, which is nice for when we have to hurry. But, i kinda wish i'd used Jean's cue word instead of the one i chose, ha.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Most useless trick buddy knows----and i didn't reeeeally mean to teach him THIS------is, see, Buddy has a giant teddy bear, he just loves this giant teddy bear, takes it and out of the house with him, drags it around, which is no small feat as it is almost as big as he is.

well, buddy humps the teddy bear, even though he is neutered. When he does, i say, "buddy's sexy!"

now, if i say, "Buddy's sexy!" he runs over and humps his teddy bear.....this has to be most useless trick ever.

but hey, it's why i come here to DTA, is to find BETTER ideas of things to teach Buddy, cuz he does have to have to have to keep learning.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
oH, another trick i like, is, in my neighborhood, i've pretty much got Buddy to stop at each and every corner. Now he does it without being told. He almost always will look up at my face while he does this, too, without being asked to.
(Which is yet another useful cue, is "look at me", to get his att'n onto me.)

We have one busy-ish street in my neighborhood, and i doubt, if Buddy ever got free he'd reflexively stop at the corner, but he sure does when he is with me, he gets "A+" for always remembering, especially at that corner. (i always leash him for that area anyway, of course). This is nonverbal, no cue given by now, he has just memorized this habit after so long. He stops on his own, at each corner in our neighborhood, til i say "okay" or "cross", depending, and then he moves fwd.

I'm pretty sure Buddy only does this from memorization, ("this is that spot i get treats sometimes if i stop, right HERE.") not from understanding the concept of a corner. He does not stop in strange neighborhoods at those corners.


I did NOT train a sit with that stop, cuz, Buddy has very very long fur on his haunches, and he really just doens't need all the snow, mud and rain etc etc, getting all on that fur if he doesn't have to. But he does stop, look up at me, and wait til i say "cross". Which is another cue he understands, is "cross"-------- he knows we are going to cross the street.

Now that one, "cross", he does generalize to any street, anywhere, but the corner thing, not so much.

Hard to explain, but most of our streets are curvey, and i've got a few spots, where i've got Buddy to understand, at those spots, i want him right beside me. (cuz i can not see what is around the corner, a car, a dog he won't like, a bunny, a deer, etc) buddy has also memorized those spots and usually without my asking, will now mostly automatically fall into a heel for those spots.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
HERE'S SOME INSPIRATION :msnohyes: FOR USEFUL TRICKS:
(not my dog, but i love love love this video)

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Fyey4D5hg[/media]
 

amytk9

New Member
I have to agree with everything else that has already been said, but also have add on the 'Get It' command! This command came in useful SO many times with Allie. If there was something out of my reach, I could tell her to get it and she would. Or since she is MUCH lighter than I am, my friend's hat fell out of reach and we were on 2nd story, un-finished room. Where his hat fell, the floor we didn't think it would hold either of us, but we knew she was light enough to go for us. She was a champ and got his hat! This has also came in very handy for teaching other useful tricks. So yes, Get It is wonderful! Bang has come in handy as well for reasons stated in other posts, along with wait, with me, leave it, and go lay down.
 

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
@amytk, that is amazing, that when you say "get it" the dog understands WHICH object to get!! Do you point, or the object is alone on the floor, or what?

I can tell Buddy to "Get______" and specifiy an object, like "Get your Bear" and he knows what "Bear" means... but, if i said to Buddy, "Get it", he'd probably just start bringing me various random objects, ha ha! COOL story about the roof!
 

tx_cowgirl

Honored Member
Staff member
LOL yes "GET IT" allows us trainers to be incredibly lazy, I've noticed. xD I use it regularly, haha. Very useful in getting things out of reach as well as new tricks that involve picking up things--there's pretty much no training to it; they get it right off the bat.
 
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