best tricks?

I too, have a slacker. He will shake and he will Hi-5 (low 5 for a Basset) but by far the best trick--Roll over and scratch my belly!

With Eddie, I'm not sure if it's stubborness or just slowness. But, it seems like if we teach him a trick, one goes out of his head. So, he knows sit, go to bed, and up (my husband thought it was hilarious to teach him that down means up and up means down). I tried shake, but then he wouldn't sit, so I stuck w/ sit.

Zoe knows sit, stand, sit pretty (up on her hind legs), down, and high 5, but that is it. I have tried roll over and crawl and she can't seem to get either one of those. She too is a pro at "scratch my belly"!!

My sister has trained her rottie, Kaya, to be a courier. She'll pickup something you want to give to someone in another part of the house and take it to the appropriate person (daddy, grandma, auntie woo, mimi--she knows everyone's names). You can also tell her to get a diaper or baby wipes and she'll go into the nursery and bring you a fresh diaper or the container of baby wipes--fun, but usually covered in slobber, so it's not encouraged. Her latest trick, she did on her own. My sister's laptop is in the kitchen and the printer is in her husband's office, she sent a document to print and didn't get up immediately to get it from the printer, so Kaya got up, went to the office, picked up the document from the printer and brought it to my sister's lap. Of course the ink was all smudged and smeared from her slobber, but it was pretty cool that Kaya figured it out on her own.

I can sit, shake and speak. I also clean up the yard.

Carolina knows sit, stay, down, up, back it up, quick-step, hi-five, paw and other paw, go to bed...do they qualify as tricks? If she's all excited and wants something I say, "What do you do?" She'll sit and wait for me to do whatever, like put on her leash, open a door, give her a treat, etc. She will NOT roll-over on command, she will offer her belly for scratches when she feels like it and when she sleeps. I'd like to get her to pray because my parents would get a huge kick out of it...anyone know how to teach that one?

LOL--clean up the yard--LOL. You mean, you're the head and mouth of Waste Management?

If you use a clicker to train with, I know you can teach some tricks by capturing them when the dog does them naturally. I had a really good bow for Batman because I noticed he stretched everytime he came out of his crate, so I clicked it and he figured it out, but then he started bowing when I wanted a down, so I gave up on bow.

But, if your dog puts its head down toward its paws and you can click that, then you could get a prayer I think.

Sheila can sit, beg, down, dance (up on two legs), bang (fall over and play dead). Best trick is combining dance & bang. Charlie can sit, down, dance, drop a ball (I consider this his best new trick), and is learning beg and present his paws for nail clipping.

Actually the bowing would be a really good one, bc it reminds me of the polite, respectful way of greeting Korean elders. And Carolina does that downward-dog pose for stretching, too. Cool. Thanks.

we say our prayers. We learned by clicker / behavior shaping. Paw up - two paws up - head down on paws... combine it all and you've got prayers. Ojo & I do it to your hands when you ask us to say our prayers but we're working (around other items) on how to pray on a couch or other item.

Mom taught me to pray at the couch or chair. She didn't think about doing it on her hands. She's so silly. Here's the BAD part. She is trying to teach that Heifer creature MY tricks! The very idea!

I fetch. Meowuf?