Name that toy?

[Amy & Bernie]

Have any of you trained your Doodles to recognize their toys by name? Back before we had Bernie (otherwise I would have paid better attention!) I was listening to a segment on NPR where they were discussing how many unique words can potentially make up a dog's vocabulary, and for 'brighter' breeds it was pretty impressive if I remember correctly. And of course I put Doodles in the 'brighter' category!

Anyhow, we'd like to teach Bernie the names of his toys and I was curious if any of you have succeeded at this, and if you have and tips for us newbies?

[Amy & Bernie]

PS - if you think this would be more appropriate for another group I'm happy to move it!

[cheryl & oliver]

Hi Amy, yes Oliver can get what I call his babies, which are unstuffed plush toys. I will tell him to get his baby or babies, and he goes to his toy crate or his bed crate and takes them out and will bring them to me...When it is bed time, I always say get your babies, it is time for bed, and he brings one or two with him everynight in his crate....He knows the words treat and food too, and of course when I say No in a loud or authoritive voice he will stop doing what he is doing. And yes I agree with you, Doodles are very smart dogs....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

All of my knew their possessions by name, and the way they learned it was easy...by calling it by name yourself constantly, just repetition. Bring the squirrel here (not bring it here), get your squirrel, do you have a squirrel, where's your squirrel, etc. Just lots of repetition. After you think he's "got" it, ask him for a specific item, and make a big fuss when he brings the right one. If he brings the wrong one, don't say "no, get the squirrel", just thank him, set the object aside, and ask again "Bring me the squirrel" until he gets the right toy, and then have a party.
I do think this discussion probably doesn't belong in the Challenges Group, though. This is not a problem or an essential issue...more a fun, optional thing.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I read the same or a similar article about a dog's potential vocabulary. The one I read said the "brighter" breeds can learn up to 250 words. I started training Tara to know the names of her toys but she was destroying them faster than she could learn their names!! I then set aside 5 or 6 toys that she can only have access to when I give them to her and we are working together with them. Right now we are working on "pig".

So far we are having limited success. We started with retrieving the pig and everytime she brought it back I would say "pig, good pig" or something like that. When I threw it out I would say "go get pig" . We did that for a while. Then I laid out the pig and another toy on the floor and told her to go get pig. When she brought back the pig we had a celebration and if she brought back the other toy I just took it and would send her back to get "pig". I can't say she has it down yet but I haven't spent a lot of time on it as we are putting most of our time into practicing sit/stay right now.

I read in a training book how to teach your dog to retrieve your slippers. But unlike a toy, the slippers have a definite scent to them that the dog can use to connect the word with the item. So we are at a bit of a disadvantage since dogs rely so heavily on their noses. They basically have to recoginze the difference by sight. It would probably be much easier if you could make each toy smell differently!! :)

Okay I just tried an experiment. Like I said we haven't worked in this for over a month but I put "pig" and a lesser value toy on the floor. We made three tries and she brought pig back each time. The I put "pig" out with a higher value toy. The first time she brought back the other toy.I sent her back and she returned with pig. The next two times she walked over and mauled the higher value toy then grabbed the pig and brought it to me. So maybe she is getting it somewhat!! We'll keep working at it when I have more time! Good luck!!

[Amy & Bernie]

Sounds like success to me! Nice work! We'll do the same thing with Bernie - I wish there was a toy he didn't care for as much! We just introduced him to his toy basket (we want to teach him to pick up at the end of the night) and now the basket is the coolest toy. When we put his toys away we name them, and give him the option to choose to play with one, and keep it out, but he picks every toy! He'll give his chipmunk a 'pardon' from being put away, but then he'll try to do the same with his lamb, and his chicken, and his kong. Haha. Slow and steady...

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

This discussion probably is better for the main forum or the "Does Your Doodle" group, since it's not really about a training challenge or mindset. That said, my guys know the names of some of their toys...Wubba, bone (actually antlers, but we call them bones), ball, and "squeaky" (any toy with a squeaker). If I say "go get your bone" they'll go looking. I think it's just from hearing me call them by name over and over.

[Amy & Bernie]

I'll put it on Does Your Doodle, good idea. Thank you! Sounds like repetition is the best tip - so it's all on us!