Sunday, January 16, 2005

The words I know

We don't have practice today, so I thought I'd give a run-down of all the words I know (My buddy Renzo knows most of these t0o, so I'm not really showing off). Right now, I know 80 words and phrases (by "know" I mean that I will do the desired action or provide the desired response 80-90% of the time in ideal, non-distracting conditions. For most commands, I will do the action 70% of the time or better with distractions--depending on what they are, of course. My people work with me every day to "proof" many of the commands, especially basic obedience)

Basic obedience commands (15 words):
Sit, Down, Settle, Come, Wait (my people use this instead of "stay"--I don't know why), Heel (honestly, I'm not that great at Heel, but I know what it is), Leave It, Off, Quiet, Back, Yes (I've completed whatever command I was given), No (I've chose something that I really shouldn't), Wrong (I did the wrong command or did something I wasn't supposed to--less serious than "no"); Okay (I can be released from command); Oops (Wrong command--basically synonymous with Wrong),

Useful commands (24 words):
Bring your X, Get your X (synonymous with Bring), Drop It (I'm pretty much 100% with this command), Find (your) X, Where's X (bascially synonymous with Find), Up, Go to Bed (for crate in bedroom where I sleep); Crate up (for crate in living room where I hang out); Go to the Couch; Get in your Boat (my people call the plush bed Renzo and I share our "boat"--I don't know why and think it's a little weird), Easy; Let's go (when sniffing and snorfling around on walks), Come along (synonymous with Let's go), Right, Left, Watch, Catch it, Push (hit something with my feet), Touch (hit something with my nose), Through (just a general command for going through something--I have more specific commands for going through agility obstacles), Tug, Give, Hop up (get in the car), Bring it Here (put something in person's hand)

Things my people call tricks (12 words):
Bow, Crawl, Bang (this is basically play dead), Twist (turn clockwise), Spin (turn counter-clockwise), Left shake (shake with left paw), Right shake (shake with right paw), Wave, Whisper, Speak, Weave (walk in Figure 8 through person's legs), Shut the drawer

Commands specific to agility or flyball (12 words)
Tunnel, A-frame, Walk It (dog walk), Tire, Over, Big over (I'm not sure I really know this, but my person thinks I do--this is for the broad jump), Target, Teeter, Table (again, I don't feel that confident with this one), Jump (this is for flyball hurdles and differs from Over in that I'm supposed to jump flat for this one and jump "hilly" for over), Ready (means something's about to happen-it's more a cue for me than a command to do something), Weave pole

Names of people or things--these words can be combined with "Bring" and "Find" and "Where's" (7 words)
Renzo (my good buddy), Fritz (kitty I especially like to chase), ball, toy, puppy (specific toy), Susan (one of my people), Robin (another one of my people)

Random phrases that elicit a response from me (10 phrases)
Wanna go for a walk, Wanna play flyball, Wanna do agility, There's your friend X, You're o.k., Are you hungry, Want your dinner, Want your breakfast, Want a Kong, Want a cookie

Commands I know by hand signal (7 commands)
Sit, Down, Come, Wait, Bring/Get, Bow (rather than hand signal, I do this when you blow in my face), Bring it here


Words I'm learning now (9 words)
Talk, Loose (for loose-leash walking), Get ready (this is for flyball and means face the course and get ready to run), Line up (synonymous with get ready), Leash, Hold it, Sit up, Shut the cabinet door (with nose), Fuss (heeling on the right),


Words that my person would like me to know but isn't ready to teach me yet:
Roll-over, Roll the ball, Ring the bell, Turn on/off the light, Sneeze, Gather the laundry, Backwards weave, Frisbee