What thing did your pet learn really, really quickly?

:shrug:

I become alpha REALLY quickly, and all through positives, never negatives.

:rofl:

(Hew man's sew stew pit)

Every time that your roommate tries to feed them something that's not dog food, I want you to say "No!" and then squirt some water in her face. She'll figure it out eventually. :eyes:

in your roommate's face while yelling No!

I think evil thoughts.

It's really not fair to the dogs to train a negative behavior into them that can pose a barrier to their successful adoption. And she knows better.

Cali learned really quickly that HE is the boss. I'm a complete pushover.

stand with your tail raised in front of the but tutcher!

:rofl:

16 years ago we brought home two little flea-infested kittens that needed homes. My official title has been Slave to Kitties ever since, and two more Masters have joined the household since then.

Happy to serve! :patriot:

whenever i see pictures of pets on DU, i always call my cat so i can pet him.

so I can lean over and smooch him from time to time. :loveya:

Milk bones are kept in that closet. My dog learned to sit by that closet door very, very quickly.

That means get in the kitchen and be on GOOD behavior.

If I say "Do you want some cookies?" and then I open the cabinet door, that means get in the kitchen and be on BEST behavior.

Fish oil tablets are the best kind of cookie. :9

really? Do you open them or just give them the whole capsule?

:bounce:

If I can keep them on the tiled floor and off the carpet...no doubt they will whisk them right to the living room.

A helluva lot faster than I can. {{{sigh}}}

You can sleep with me if you want, but don't pester me. I'll kick you off the bed.

You have food and water in the kitchen. Get Lost!

Not a terribly difficult trick, as it happened. I just hung a nice big bell down low for her and rang it every time we went out and after a couple days, she started doing it to get my attention. The "trick" is more that you have to react immediately to reinforce it--which means we were trained as much as she was.

he still wants to chase them, so he just runs in circles and whines when he sees them.

What?!? She LOVES it's delicious steamy wonderfulness.

Something that some of us here in the Lounge have not quite mastered. :rofl:

:yourock:

:shrug:

Along with R-I-D-E and T-R-E-A-T. It took a little longer for sit and stay. the won't they don't seem to want to learn is "Move, dammit"

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

we're going outside!

1. He can chew right through a leash in under 30 seconds.
2. Never let your nose touch the broiler when it's on, no matter how good it smells.
3. Electrical cords are NOT good for chewing.
4. It's ok to chase the seagulls, but not the crows.
5. Rabbits are "magic kibble dispensers", well worth following around.

Dog #2 has a shorter list:
1. The sound of chopping from the kitchen means good things to eat.
2. Sitting and looking up at people will frequently result in treats.

Because I'm just going to ignore him, roll over, and go back to sleep.

if i roll over away from her, she either walks to the other side to face me again, or she sits there and licks my hair :wtf:

Still won't come

...on the chrome shelf in the bathroom. Let's just say that a toppled shelf, loud crash and shattered glass aided him in the lesson in one (failed) attempt.

:o

"Where do they hear such words?!" :eyes:

When i was over at their house, i kept hearing the one parrot spout gibberish of some sort and then the other parrot would yell "Shut up!".

:rofl:

(inside joke was that they copied their owners) :evilgrin:

Easiest for them to mimic.

Plus, there is just something guttural and rhythmic about profanity, which is why it is so fun to use.

They also get attention which parrots carve.

Especially "come here". Play play play all the time. And he didn't have to learn how to jump a fence. He just knew.

they hear the slosh of water in the squirt bottle. They hear that and instantly they stop what they're doing and run.

that means "Come here." One day I was trying to get her into the garage so she wouldn't kill the gardener, & I kept slapping my thighs saying "COME HERE!" Of course, she didn't. A few days later, I'm wandering around the backyard while she was still on the patio, & got attacked by mosquitos. I tried slapping them off my legs, then almost tripped over a smiling, tail-wagging madly dog. :eyes:

dg

I moved it up higher, but he got taller. I ended up putting a hinged cover over it.

I was able ot teach my mom's dog, Emma, to stand on her hind legs just by using the awesome power of treats. I just snap my fingers and up she goes though she still tends to run into me if I don't move out of the way.

Too soon?

...and that it was something he could bite through. The rabbit-proof cord-wrap was just a light snack for our hopper.

Worse, she has a broken "meow" that can barely be heard, so she's spent a sizable portion of her life in there. :(

Even scarier, she's leaped into the fridge a couple of times. Luckily, I've learned to locate her when I close that door, just to be sure.

took about 3 days. But I can't teacher her anything else (WEstie Terrier).

and I guess it was something her previous owner had taught her. They were here at the house with her last Christmas and she saw Licorice's box and just hopped in and did a doody. Licorice was all,"What the hey?!!!"

I think my Westie would just end up eating our cat's poop.

to get off my feet and go to bed. Now she's all confused because the computer hasn't "said that" in years so she's never ready.

I got him when he was 9 weeks old; he was fully housetrained by 10 weeks, and knew sit, come, and lay down by 13 weeks. He also knows "Go get your bone," "Hush," "Retrieve," "Release," "Get the brush," "Shake," "High-five," and "Go eat."

:hi:

As a free-lancer who often has to work on Tokyo time (i.e. till after midnight), I could not have my new cat do the usual cat thing of waking me at first light.

Following suggestions from the many cat owners in my choir, I 1) started giving him his main meal at night, and 2) refused to respond to any pre-dawn meows or nudges except with a sharp "no!" However, after the radio came on (usually at 7:30), I would pet and praise him.

He passed the test one day when I decided to sleep in. I woke up on my own a little after 9:00, and there was no kitteh to be seen. I reached over and turned on the radio. In no time at all, a big furry cat-critter had taken a flying leap and landed on the bed.

Since then, he's been pretty good, with only occasional lapses. In return, he has trained me to give him about a tablespoon full of raw egg every morning.

she'd dig up a nest and pop 'm like bon bons. and she learned that herons were not allowed in the koi pond

and struggling will just mean you get to gag on my finger a little bit longer.

It's funny --- it's like they're jealous and want to make sure the other cat doesn't get something, unless he gets it too.

end of NBC Nightly News means dinner will be served

And to "play ball"
You throw the ball, he fetches and returns to the deck. But he won't give you the ball. Instead he positions it on the edge of the deck then bats it with a paw or pushes it with his nose so you can pick it up and throw again. He taught this to himself when we lived in FL and the wooden deck was at ground level. When we moved to TX and the deck was now about 18" off the ground, he had a little trouble with the up and down thing at first and would put the ball on the ground below the edge and bat it under the deck. I think there are 2 or 3 balls under there we were unable to retrieve before he caught on.

Right now he wants out for his after dinner potty and is stomping his feet and huffing.

The Brita pitcher is in there, and the cats get their drinking water from it.

My Bella was abandoned at a very young age and yet she managed to survive in a tractor trailor parking lot in Puerto Rico until she was rescued by a nun at about 5 months old. She's not a big hunter but she can target slugs from a block away. Her default position is the puppy play bow and she is fast as lightning if someone she doesn't know tries to touch her.

She learned outrageously fast that she hit the lottery when we brought her into our home and she is smart as opposed to obedient. She learned 'gimme da foot' on the first try and can do all sorts of tricks as long as you convince her she wants to. She's scary smart. She also 'owns' anyone who sees her because of her story and how sweet she is and how dainty she looks.

So yeah, she learned how to survive really fast. :) Love her.

He's been jumping indoor pet gates since he was a puppy. Barriers just don't mean anything to him. Oddly enough, the other dogs, who could just as easily jump the gate, and see him do it every day, have never caught on.

He'd make a hell of an agility dog if I just had time to take some classes with him.

I control the food, hence, I am boss

known. He learned to sit within the first week that we brought him home (he was 8 weeks old). Cindy was house trained within one week - also the fastest of any of our pets.

it means that I am about to stand up, and that there is at least a possibility that I will be heading into the kitchen. This possibility is very significant to all of the cats, but Milo is especially attuned to it.

and me locked out.

OK, it was an accident and only happened once, but still locksmith's aren't cheap.

The dog had to pay for the locksmith.

That's when I found out he knew how to invest in the stock market.

Right after that I realized he was making long distance calls to his broker.

He paid the phone bill.

That's when he switched to a cell phone and an unlisted number.

How fast they learn.

and eventually he learned that if he hit the latch, the door would open.

He has since learned this for my mom's door, but not my door and not the screen door.

I fear the day. :scared:

Really. If she's sniffing around, as she does, and comes across an electrical cord, she looks startled and then backs away very slowly. She's done this as long as I've known her. So, she must have learned the awful truth about electricity at her first home.

But I'll bet she learned it fast!