# When did your dog's training ACTUALLY come in handy?



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Every day, I would say. A word keeps the dogs from stealing the cat's food; "MINE" ensures Sophy gives me the pen she has found rather than chewing it all over the rug; a gasp of horror makes Poppy hop straight back in the car, on the rare occasions she jumps out before being asked to ... and when we meet big, bouncy or potentially dangerous dogs they both dash back and sit between my feet so that I can protect them.


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

We've had a tremendous amount of rain so our woods and property are awash with mushrooms, some of which are poisonous. Chagall likes to investigate anything new, and since the fungi literally pop up overnight, some of them brightly colored and quite large, they pose an "attractive nuisance" to him. He'll sniff them with much interest, but when I tell him to "leave it" and "walk on," he does. And I'm _so glad _he listens; two people locally are hospitalized in serious condition for_ not _leaving those mushrooms that beckon so much interest alone! Oh, I also find MUCH good use for the "leave it" command when it comes to the "droppings" of Canada geese, deer and fox, etc.:eat:


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

I really should teach my dog the "leave it" command! I tried the "drop it" (to drop toys) command but seems like it only worked when he thought he'd get a treat for it. Leroy typically stops whatever he's doing based on my tone of voice. We walked in the park and he nearly jerked my arm out of the socket because he picked up a scent. He went to it and it turned out to be a piece of bread. He picked it up and when I realized what it was I said "No!" and he dropped it. I should really use "leave it" so that he doesn't pick up things to being with!


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## Leooonie (May 30, 2009)

I've trained Harley to recall to a whistle, and usually I do it in situations of little excitment to get him back in the hang of it (he had a holiday with my stepgrandparents.......) 
But a few weeks ago, he was playing with some of my friends JRT's, and we saw some staffies wlaking in the distance.... now both these staffs are lovely by themselves, but together (on extendibel leashes with NO control or training) they are a menace, and the older dog guards the younger dog.

So..Harley saw them and pelted right over..and since he is entire and these two staffs were entire, I knew from past experience (and how they looked and approached him) there was going to be trouble...so in doubt I whistled for him to come back..he stopped..looked at them..and ran all the way back to me!!!!! I have neevr felt so proud in my whoel life  No doubt it saved from a possible fight breaking out!!


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## Marcie (Aug 2, 2011)

tokipoke said:


> We all love showing off our dogs' tricks! But when has your training actually benefited your dog in a real-life situation? Maybe your dog ran across the street just as a car was zooming by and the sit/stay command worked! My experience isn't as serious as that, but still came in handy.
> 
> I was in the dining room juggling some stuff and dropped a whole container of treats! You should have SEEN the look on my dog's face! It was like he hit the jackpot! The treats went EVERYWHERE. He made a step to go for them and I told him "NO. Sit. Stay." and he actually listened as I cleaned up the treats! Of course he was such a good boy he got some of the treats I picked up!


Our Pom, Kirby's training came in handy just last week. We have possum that come into our yard at night and run along the top of the fence. They can be quite mean when they want to be. Kirby likes to bark and run the fence when he sees them up there. Apparently a young one fell out of the tree in our back yard while Kirby was watching the fence for possum. My husband, Bill was out in the yard with him treasure hunting (picking up poop) and Kirby grabbed the possum and started running behind the garage with it in his mouth. Thank goodness Bill was paying attention. When he saw what had happened, he yelled for Kirby to "drop it!" Kirby dropped the possum and came running back to Bill. Bill quickly got Kirby back into the house and gave him some big time treats. 

Bill said he was suprised that Kirby actually listened and did what he was told! Bill went out after to see if the possum was hurt and it was gone. It was just a good thing the poodle was in the house. They would have teamed up on the poor little possum and I don't think Kirby would have listened then. I am sure glad "drop it" is in Kirby's vocabulary!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Ha, always! The 'leave it' command is very enforced here, and they are SO good at it! I could toss anything on the ground and they'll leave it alone if I tell them to.

Also, Vegas is trained to pretty much retrieve and hold anything, if I drop something I can point to it and say 'hold' then 'bring it here' and he'll bring it over.


Oh, and it's important to train in all voice types. I trained recall in a happy tone, angry tone, and yelling tone, all with mega praise when the dogs came to me. I would _never _punish my dog for coming to me, no matter how angry I was that they ran off. I will probably sound angry as I'm yelling for them though, but if it was in their training that even angry tones meant rewards, they there would be no reason not to come still.


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

That is quite impressive! I don't know if my dog would drop a rodent! They ate so tempting!!


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