I think they like us to communicate with them in words, although they don't always know what each word means -they get the gist of the conversation.
Misty never did tricks. Not even one. I refused to teach her tricks. (we had enough to do! lol)
90% of the time she was off-leash, in our wonderful countryside. So there were basic safety instructions she had to respond to quickly. She learned fast and I never had to tell her twice. These were:
*Car coming. Get right in, now. (to get on to the grass verge off the lane. Cars are rare along the lanes but they can come up quickly. It got to the stage where she would get in to the side without me asking her to.)
*Here. (usually with a quick whistle....a call to come straight back to me.)
*Stay....wait.
*Drop it. (if she picked up anything to eat. Usually that was something horrific, but interesting to dogs, and which stank....like rotting crow-parts. But I was always aware that in countryside there could be poison bait around. I never saw any, but it was always at the back of my mind.)
*No! (when she wanted to chase a deer.)
That was about it for Misty's orders.
Misty never did tricks. Not even one. I refused to teach her tricks. (we had enough to do! lol)
90% of the time she was off-leash, in our wonderful countryside. So there were basic safety instructions she had to respond to quickly. She learned fast and I never had to tell her twice. These were:
*Car coming. Get right in, now. (to get on to the grass verge off the lane. Cars are rare along the lanes but they can come up quickly. It got to the stage where she would get in to the side without me asking her to.)
*Here. (usually with a quick whistle....a call to come straight back to me.)
*Stay....wait.
*Drop it. (if she picked up anything to eat. Usually that was something horrific, but interesting to dogs, and which stank....like rotting crow-parts. But I was always aware that in countryside there could be poison bait around. I never saw any, but it was always at the back of my mind.)
*No! (when she wanted to chase a deer.)
That was about it for Misty's orders.
