Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The tricks from past fall

Before I gave birth I was very intrigued with trick training Bella to pick up items for me. It did go well and then the pace of our training got slower but every now and then I'd make her do so and she is always eager to. She picks up reliably and normally returns to me right away but doesn't always drop on command.


This afternoon has been a slow one. We went out for a walk this morning and the weather is fairly boring. Trying to think of ways to give her her food by hand (so to speak) I decided to try her aptitude with picking up my son's toys and bringing them to me. Sure enough, it was no problem. She gets so enthusiastic and willing, I always feel bad for her once I end the sessions but I figure it's better to end on a good note than continue until she gets bored or distracted.


It's a very fun and handy skill if I can get her to pick the toys in my place but there's now issues I need to think through: 
First is how to get her to pick up the toys, do I point at them (I wonder if a laser might work) or identify each with a name. Is it possible to tell her one command to pick up the toys? I imagine that would be harder as the toys change. 
Then there's the fact I need to work on teaching her to place the items in the basket. Maybe the basket is too tall for her but I could possibly make her bring them all to the same place.



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