to shut the door i would hold a piece of food in my hand in front of the door so when he jumped up to get the food he would hit the door closed and i would give him the biscuit, every time he jumps up to get the food he hits the door and as he does i say " close the door", gradually i would move further from the door a bit at a time and point to the door and say close the door and he jumps and hits the door closed and i always give him a wee bit of food as a reward after he's done it.

Wow, that is so awesome! So how did you get her to know what each item is? You had to teach her what each thing was before you asked her to go get it for you, right? Also, how did you go about teaching this in the first place?

I taught Phil (the dog I raised/trained to be a seeing eye dog) to pick things up but he would always just think of it as a game and kind of play with it first before he actually picked it up then sometimes he wouldn't give it to me. lol But I never had to really teach him to pick things up.

Honestly... We were going outside for a walk and he brought one of his toys with him and dropped it in the driveway before our walk. We came back and I said to him "I'm not going to pick that up. You brought it out here so pick it up and bring it inside." I was just talking though... I "knew" he wouldn't actually do it and that I was going to be the one picking it up. But guess what... (smart dogs amaze me when they can figure things out) he understood what I was said! It was seriously amazing. He looked at me while I said it to him then he picked up his toy and brought it inside. It blew me away that he understood what I was saying like that. I couldn't believe it.

And ever since then he would pick things up when I told him to. But he did make a game out of it and not take it seriously most of the time. How do you teach a dog to be serious about it and to bring it to you every time and to pick it up right away? And how do you teach a dog this if they don't already know what you're talking about? lol

Originally Posted by DrIvEn

Wow, that is so awesome! So how did you get her to know what each item is? You had to teach her what each thing was before you asked her to go get it for you, right? Also, how did you go about teaching this in the first place?

I didn't really think about teaching her to bring certain items to me , it just sort of happened . When I got her , she didn't play with toys. I spent a lot of time playing games with her , and introducing toys for her to play with. I made these games so exciting for her that she couldn't resist joining in. Once she got the idea , I then had to teach her to fetch , as explained in a previous post on this thread. Because I always rewarded her for bringing her toys to me , one evening in the house , she just picked up one of my shoes and gave it to me. Me and my Mum were rolling about in hysterics as she then went and got the other one. I just had to put them on and take her for a walk. So , bearing in mind that she has always been rewarded for bringing things , she started using it as a form of attention seeking. It got to the point of being very silly where she would pick up anything in reach and put it at my feet. I then taught her that she only got attention if she brought me one specific toy. Anything else and I ignored her completely. Out of curiosity one day , I decided to see if I could get her to bring things that I asked her to. Take the bottle of coke for example. I'd sit on the floor so she would come over to see what I was doing. The bottle was nearby , so I moved it a bit closer and told her to pick it up. As soon as she took hold of it , I told her she was good and made a fuss of her. I spent a while playing this game with her , gradually moving the bottle further away. (I started clicker training at a later date , but this is what gave me the idea to try it). Every time I asked her , she brought me the bottle. I started asking her to " bring my juice" , but she kept bringing shoes instead. I then changed it to " bring the bottle" and she would bring other things instead.She was getting confused so that's when I changed it to " I need a drink". I would say this and ,at the same time , point to the bottle. When she went to the bottle , I then said " pick it up" so she did. Just lots of repitition , teaching 1 item at a time and plenty of praise and reward for doing the right thing. When I teach her something new , I work ONLY with that item until she is good at it. Then I'll ask her to do something easy which she already knows and finish on a good note. I work with new items for short sessions , 3 or 4 times a day for a few days , and always end the session with something easy. I teach her to pick things up first , then add a "name" for that item once she is confident with it. It's much easier since I started using a clicker. As soon as she sees me pick it up , she's over like a shot as she knows that is HER time , and she will do absolutely anything to get a click and reward. She almost turns herself inside out trying , just for the reward of hearing the click.

We had one dog who would fetch your shoes or slippers from upstairs, she got really good fetched the correct items for the correct member of the family, even got to the point where father could ask for his black or brown shoes & she'd bring the right pair. sadly her daughter was never as good, she'd fetch them but often not even a pair & you'd finish up with all the shoes down stairs to get one pair.

Awesome!