Here I am, quietly sneaking my post in at the last minute!
When I heard about the Train Your Dog Challenge on Something Wagging This Way Comes, I knew it would be a good opportunity for me to work with Saydee. She is a smart dog, she just could use some doggie manners.
Every morning after our walk, we play fetch in the back yard (walking is not enough exercise for her!). When we started, she used to bounce around me like she was on a trampoline. It’s amazing how high she can jump, but it’s also annoying! After a few days of telling her to “sit” and patiently waiting, she caught on. No treats, no clicker . .throwing the tennis ball was reward enough for her. I almost feel like I cheated, I didn’t have to work very hard to get her to understand what she needed to do to get me to throw the ball.
Nothing like Kristine from Rescued Insanity – she actually trained her dog AND her cat! Amazing!!! I would have never believed that you could actually train a cat! Sarah at Married with Dawgs taught THREE dogs a trick (why didn’t I include Cali . . she loves training!) and Kolchak Puggle from Kol’s Notes took charge and taught his mom a new trick (nice work!). Everyone did such a great job! I’m certain that Honey will be riding in that Doggie Ride bicycle cart in no time!
Saydee has even gotten better about not shoving her tennis ball in your face and trying to get you to play with her, as you’ll see in the second half of the video. I would say that we succeeded in teaching her some manners 
Now if we could just get her to quit stealing Cali’s toys from her!!
Thanks again to Pamela for challenging us all!!
Let's be social!
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Go Saydee! If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth an entire book!
Looks like you’ve done a great job together. Terrific idea for the challenge.
I’ll choose the winner of the donation at random tomorrow morning. Good luck!
Pamela – glad to see you are feeling better . .we missed you around the blogging world
Thanks again for creating the challenge!
Nice work with Saydee! You’re lucky she’s so motivated by tennis balls – it makes the training easier.
Yes, I think she likes tennis balls more than treats
Julie!!! What a fabulous job you’re doing with Saydee!! Keep up the good work.
Thanks Jennifer
Congratulations! Dog training, when done right, is supposed to be more fun than work. At least, that’s what I think. Saydee is obviously motivated more by play than anything else, which is not a bad thing at all!
This video is adorable! I could watch her run around all day. I loved when she started pawing at the ball and playing with it by herself. What a cutie!
Thanks Kristine! She can play with the ball by herself for hours! We had to make balls “outside” only toys . . my floors were taking a beating!
Great job at training guys!!
I had no idea you could train CATS?! I wonder if I could train them not to run away from me, I so want to play with them…..
Have fun,
Your pal Snoopy
congrats on the manners! we use the same technique with desmond when he’s acting a fool during fetch.
p.s. that video of her playing alone is so cute!
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