Tag: Tricks

Other “miracle dogs”
I don’t know if all dogs are “miracles” in their own, unique ways. They probably are. The “Angel Dogs” site explores this question in serious depth. I call Shayna my “miracle dog” because we found each other when we most needed the other. Because the love and trust we’ve developed has helped each of […]

“Jesse” goes gonzo doing household chores
All I can say is… unbelievable!!! According to Jesse’s mom: *Our relationship is based on mutual respect, understanding, and trust. We have a wonderful relationship and bond, and that is the foundation of our training. We train all behaviors through the use of positive reinforcement* Jesse chooses to do the behaviors in this video, […]

April 12, 2009: Our seventh anniversary
I cannot believe it’s been seven years since I met and adopted Shayna, as a little 14 pound bundle of black fur. How fearful yet optimistic I was, being that I was going to be responsible for another living creature. Yet look how it all turned out, after those months of hunting for the […]

Pics: Shayna doing her “frisbee skiing”
This was one of the first indications I had of how inventive Shayna really is. She’d never been particularly interested in catching a frisbee. but was fascinated by its shape. Then one day when she was about six months old, she decided a frisbee could be used as a “skiing” device: she turned it […]

July 15, 2008: Shayna learning to ‘count’: “One ball, two balls…”
This is a skill we’ve been working on for some time – learning to essentially “count.” Shayna loves to go retrieve two tennis balls in her mouth at the same time. But from what I’ve read, teaching a dog the concept of “one” and “two” is a fairly big deal – as I found out, […]

March 18, 2007: Shayna retrieving two tennis balls at the same time
Practically since I adopted her, Shayna has been tennis-ball obsessed. That’s not particularly uncommon among dogs. But one day, when she was about six months old and we were at the off-leash dog park (when she could still go there), she apparently decided that retrieving one ball was terribly inefficient, crammed two into her mouth […]

Shayna retrieving toys with flash cards
Oct. 2009: Shayna’s memorized the names of dozens of her toys, and can retrieve and put them away by name. Now, she’s learning to identify their pictures on flash cards.

Getting toys by name for Aunt Gloria
Shayna shows off her toy-retrieval-by-name abilities for one of our long-distance guardian angels – and I sing one of my “Shayna songs” for her, too.

August 11, 2010: Getting toys by name – from behind sofa!!
The first thing to notice about this video is how well-lit Shayna is this time. (I’ve learned it’s not easy to photograph or videotape a jet-black dog!). She had a bath the day before, and as it was a sunny day today, I opened the door behind us, and used the big (good) camera, so […]

May 1, 2010: Getting toys by name – in a wind storm!!!
It’s been about a year and a half since our last video (here). But as you’ll see, we’ve been busy! I think this video is interesting for several reasons: (1) Shayna has lots of new toys. (2) A gust of wind knocked her entire box of toys into the grass!! (It also really messed up […]
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