What "jobs" do you give your dog?

[em1126]

I think my 7-month old mutt puppy needs a doggy job. She is very high energy and it seems like sometimes she's just wandering around looking for something to do (which usually ends up being trying to get something off the kitchen counter, grabbing a towel out of the bathroom, etc.) Sometimes she'll play with her toys but sometimes she's just not interested. I know she's still a puppy so her attention span is short, but I want to keep her involved in constructive activities as much as possible. So,what are some things you do to keep your puppy busy or at least engaged?

[NotDesperate]

You can teach her commands like sit, down, stay, come, heel. And then teach her some tricks. You can teach her to fetch you things or to put her toys away.

[kemaji]

Ours knows his commands (although heel isn't very popular) and some tricks (roll over, wait, turn around (he turns around in a circle), up. He knows phrases like, "bring me your toy" and "go run" (he'll run around the yard like a madman on command). What is really funny is when he starts doing all of his tricks at once because he knows that I have a treat in my hand.

[katmg]

Every morning our dog goes out and gets our papers. He loves his 'job' and demands that it is the first thing done after a morning potty break.

We don't necessarily have any other 'jobs' that he does during the day but you could certainly train your dog to put away his toys in a basket. I would be wary of teaching him to fetch your shoes. But that is just because we have had to teach our dog not to touch our shoes or he will eat them. :o

This doesn't fall under the category of a job, but our dog has to earn everything he gets. He has to sit before he gets dinner, he has to ring his bells to go outside, we typically have him sit before he gets head pets. But that is really more of a dominance issue.

[fuzzy]

She's our little guard dog. She has about 3 1/2 acres of our property that is [invisible] fenced in. We ask "Is someone there?" and she immediately runs to the door. When she's let out, she starts patrolling the boundry until we tell her "ok."

[paulinaaa]

We don't necessarily have any other 'jobs' that he does during the day but you could certainly train your dog to put away his toys in a basket.

How do you go about teaching them how to do that?

[j*east]

Have you been reading Cesar Millan? In his dog book he says dogs need jobs, like carrying things. He suggests dog backpacks for walks, esp. for dogs who need extra exercise.

So far, we've done a lot of training with our dog. She also has to sit or obey some command before everything--putting on her leash, going in and out, eating, etc. Her job is also to carry her ball home from walks. Very cute!

We'll also tell her to find people in the house...or we say, "Where's the squirrel?" and she'll run to the window to bark at any intruding squirrels.

Oh, and in the winter she drives away the geese in the fields around us. (The farmers appreciate it, and she loves it.)

[katmg]

We'll also tell her to find people in the house...or we say, "Where's the squirrel?" and she'll run to the window to bark at any intruding squirrels.

We love the "where's the squirrel?" game! Drives our dog nuts - he runs from the front windows to the back windows to look for invaders!

paulinaaa - I'm not sure exactly what method would be best for teaching your dog to put away her toys since we haven't done it with our dog. Probably some sort of combination of the commands 'fetch' and 'drop it' with lots of treats and praise. We tell our dog to "Bring me your ___" and fill in the blank with whatever toy he's currently playing with. My MIL tells her dog, 'Put away your toys' and he does. I don't know exactly how she did that though...sorry! :o

[jajacobsen]

Our two have a basket of chew toys and squeaky toys that they know they can go to and select from for entertainment. This seems to keep them happy most evenings. I have NOT been able to teach them to put their toys back up in the basket. Apparently, they think that is MY job!

I would be interested in hearing techniques from anyone who has successfully taught their dog to put up their toys.

[notkk]

How do you go about teaching them how to do that?

First you teach "drop it." Then you select a toy basket to work with. Put it right in front of your feet (where you normally ask the dog to drop a ball, etc) and work at getting them to drop toys in the basket using whatever term you want to teach "put it away" etc. and "drop it". Once they have it down with the basket at your feet, move it a few feet away and build up the distance from there.

**These were the steps we were given by a trainer. We are still working on the dropping it in the basket at our feet part, we've been pretty lax about it.**

Our dog's job is to help us with our foster dogs. He helps them learn the rules of the house and shows them how to be a good house dog. We currently have a puppy mill foster dog and he is also teaching her that people are friendly and give positive attention and treats. He goes with her/us everywhere -- riding in the car, going to the vet, etc. He is her courage.

[ejs]

I think my 7-month old mutt puppy needs a doggy job. She is very high energy and it seems like sometimes she's just wandering around looking for something to do (which usually ends up being trying to get something off the kitchen counter, grabbing a towel out of the bathroom, etc.) Sometimes she'll play with her toys but sometimes she's just not interested. I know she's still a puppy so her attention span is short, but I want to keep her involved in constructive activities as much as possible. So,what are some things you do to keep your puppy busy or at least engaged?

Perhaps it's just my interpretation, but it sounds like you're looking for things for your puppy to do on its own. Is that right? Or are you looking for things for the two of you to do together?

[em1126]

Perhaps it's just my interpretation, but it sounds like you're looking for things for your puppy to do on its own. Is that right? Or are you looking for things for the two of you to do together?

I'm looking for things to do together. I'd like to teach her some "jobs." Last night, we started working on "fetch" and "drop it" which was really exciting. I am mainly looking for some alternatives to keep her busy with me when she's not interested in her toys. Thanks for all your suggestions!

[j*east]

First you teach "drop it." Then you select a toy basket to work with. Put it right in front of your feet (where you normally ask the dog to drop a ball, etc) and work at getting them to drop toys in the basket using whatever term you want to teach "put it away" etc. and "drop it". Once they have it down with the basket at your feet, move it a few feet away and build up the distance from there.

This sounded interesting, so DH and I started working on it tonight. Here are a few tips for anyone who wants to try it:
1. We used the command "basket" instead of "drop it" to differentiate the two.
2. Start with just one toy over and over and the basket in the same place over and over. We thought she was ready for the basket to be moved, but she wasn't...she'd learned that "basket" meant drop it right in front of us, not in the basket. We'll work on moving it very very slowly.
3. This trick takes a lot of steps--you have to get your dog to pick up a toy, bring it to you, and hit the basket. It took a while to do all of this. She's used to doing mostly stationary training with treats (sit, stay, down, take it, watch me, drop it, etc.), so when she saw the treats, she ran through all her tricks. It took a while just to get her to pick up a toy and bring it over, even though she knows "get a toy."

Anyway...we have "basket" down pretty well with about two toys, when the basket is right in front of us. It's going to take a few weeks to move the basket, and then get her to pick up her toys all at once.

I have heard that some dogs do this naturally...they like to hoard their stuff in one place.

I'll let you know if we're successful!