Funny Dog Tales Newsletter                                                 FunStuffForDogs.com

The Name Game  

I've taught my dog to recognize objects and people by name. When I tell him the name of a person or toy, to goes over to it, sits down and puts his paw on it. It's very amusing to family and friends. I never could get him to learn my boyfriend's name, though. After a while, I gave up. One day, I was kidding around with him and called him a jack***. Gunther got up, walked over to him, sat down and put his paw on Jim's foot. We laughed until we cried.

J. Bonsell, Wheeling WV

Let's Not Air Our Dirty Laundry

We're putting an addition onto our home and we have construction crews going in and out of the house and yard all day. My husband works from home, so he keeps an eye on Trevor, our Blue Heeler. One day, he called me at work, laughing so hard I couldn't understand him. He said that Trevor had got into the laundry, stolen my bra, and taken it outside where the workmen were. He was standing there, shaking it, when my husband found him. The workers got a big kick out of that, but I could never look them in the eye again.

G. Ripman, Parsippany, NJ

Shy Romantic

My Shiba Inu has a girlfriend, but he's terribly shy about it. When we go for a walk, we often see a white Bichon named Maggie. I always say hello to Maggie's owner and we let the dogs visit. Tippy will greet Maggie and touch noses, but not if we're watching, he just looks up at me. When we go back to talking, Tippy and Maggie start flirting again.

L. Carlysle, Whidby Island, WA

Tennis, Anyone?

After three or four training lessons with me, a client wanted to experiment with off-leash work. I told her I thought her dog was not sufficiently responsive to work off-leash, but if she really wanted to try it, she should take the dog to a tennis court and close the door so the dog would be contained if he ignored her.

The following week, at our class, I asked her how the off-leash exercises went. "Not so good," she replied. "As soon as I took him off the leash, he began running after people's tennis balls. One of the players tried to get his ball back and Boris bit him."

It never occurred to me that I would have to tell her to go to the tennis court when no one else was there.

D. Morrison, Bethany, Ontario (Canada)
 

A Dog Who Teaches Tricks

I once cared for a horse who had come from the race track. She didn't know anything outside the racing world, and had to pick things up as she went along, like how to take a treat from my hand, how to respond to leg cues from a rider, etc.

We used to go riding along the power line easements with a black Labrador Retriever, Chloe, who lived at the farm. Chloe loved water. Even a puddle was enough water for her to roll around in and get wet. After a few months, the horse got the idea. We were crossing a stream and Chloe was rolling in the water. The mare got down on her knees in the water and then rolled. I hopped off and watched helplessly as she kicked her legs up, rolling to one side and then the other, with the saddle on and everything. We were soaked for the rest of the ride, with me sputtering curses at Chloe, who was deliriously happy. I had to hustle that mare across every stream and deep puddle from then on, because if I allowed her to stop, she'd paw the water and take a roll