The Best Dog Tricks We Taught Our Dogs

Some Of The Unique Things That Destin Does:

• He can "pray" religiously (and he doesn't get up from the "pray" position until we say "Amen").
• When he was a puppy, we taught Destin to "tell me" whenever he wanted something. Our hope was that he would bark to tell us when he had to go outside. It worked!
• His #1 goal in life is to be helpful, so he doesn't shy away from household chores. His favorites: "taking out the trash" and "getting the mail".



• When it's time to "get the mail", he makes a mad dash for the mailbox at the curb... waits patiently for Jim to hand him a piece of mail... then proudly trots toward Lynnette to give her the mail.
• Another basic command, "Stay" has always been a cinch for Destin. He's such a "pleaser".
• When it's time to "take out the trash" (signaled by the fact that we're changing the trash bag liner in the kitchen garbage pail), he knows that he gets to carry one item to the big garbage pail we keep in the garage.
• He can "shake" to knock the water off his fur before getting out of the bathtub or coming in the house after playing with the water hose. Since he's such a water dog, this one really comes in handy!
• In puppy training class, we taught Destin the meaning of "touch" (to tap our open palm lightly with his nose). This is supposed to be useful in teaching him to use his nose to nudge open a door on his own, to turn on a light, to signal us in an emergency, etc. Whether we'll ever need such a command has yet to be determined, but he's got it down!
• He gives you his "toes" on command...helpful for wiping off muddy paws and trimming toenails.
• He's not a chewer, but whenever we're not home, he's bound & determined to let you know when you've left something within his reach! Whether it's a candy wrapper, a piece of notebook paper, or a kleenex (his favorite)... he'll drag it to the hallway so it's the first thing we see when we arrive back home. Sometimes, this is useful... like when he brings us the remote control!
• Whatever is in his mouth (a toy, a piece of food, or something he shouldn't have in his mouth), Destin will "drop it" on command.
• Always eager to please, Destin learned to patiently sit still with a treat on the tip of his nose as a young pup.

Some Of The Unique Things That Jersey Does:

• He's been "praying" for years (of course, he became a Christian long before Destin...)
• He can oh-so-delicately crack peanut shells open just to get to the peanut inside.
• Whenever we can't find the remote to the TV, just say "where's the TV?" to Jersey and he'll search high and low for the remote control and ultimately bring it to you gripped softly in this mouth. Jersey taught Destin everything he knows about finding the remote control and bringing it to us on command.
• He wouldn't think of chewing on anything... not even a sock left lying on the floor. In fact, if he ever finds something lying around that he knows isn't normally there, he'll pick it up softly in his mouth and bring it right to you -- as if to inform you that you've left this behind. (In fact, we've been quite lucky... None of our dogs has ever been inclined to chew on things left lying around.)
• Oh, and talk about a clown with 4 paws! Jersey has always been adept at balancing a treat on his nose and then "catching" it on command.
• And while we didn't really teach Jersey how to do this, he just so happened to pick up on a fairly cute trick: baring his teeth.

Some Of The Unique Things That Tenor Does:

• One of the best things that Tenor grasped earlier, and far better than the other two dogs is heeling when we're walking.
• None of our dogs have ever been chewers (thank goodness!), but Tenor was the one that was the hardest to break of this. All it took was a couple "NO!" sessions with him surrounded by some of our favorite things: shoes, socks, hair combs, kleenex, etc.
• Tenor has probably been our easiest dog to train in the least amount of sessions. His newest trick is singing on cue. Can your dog sing?
• But wait, there's more! he can spell, too!

Tricks We Wish We'd Taught Our Dogs
Destin: To lick his lips to clean up his drool after a lengthy slurp from the water bowl. His flappy lips resemble those of a Saint Bernard... and they hold a lot of water!

Jersey: To tone down that yippy bark.

Destin and Jersey: To only get on the bed when WE want you on the bed. They've done great to remain off all the other furniture in the house, but not our bed. And despite its King size, there's just not enough room!

Destin: To quit playing with the toilet paper.

Jersey, Destin and Tenor: To stop shedding! Vacuuming the carpet every day doesn't work... especially now that we have three long-haired dogs... I mean two long-haired dogs and a short-haired dog who sheds more than the other two put together!

RELATED:
See how we taught our dogs most of these tricks.

More fun(ny) pictures of our pets.

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So, how smart is your dog? Try these 7 tests for dogs. They're quick & easy... and fun!