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  1. #1
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Teaching Names Of Toys

    Am in the process of teaching Archie the names of his toys. Been picking up the toy, saying the same a couple of times, and then letting him play with it. We're working on three different items right now, a ball, a Wubba, and a squeaky elephant. Think he's making headway or maybe he's just guessing correctly. He gets tons of praise when he's right.

    Is this the correct method? Anyone have other ideas? Archie is active and needs a lot of mental activity so thought this would be a good exercise.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    We have been doing the same with Luna. I use the clicker whenever she touches X toy and say "good X!" and she comes and gets her cookie. So we're pretty similar to you. She knows "crinkle fox", "ball", "elephant", "Wubba", "rabbit" and "stick" though we're working on lots more since she's got tons of toys.
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  4. #3
    Senior Dog MightyThor's Avatar
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    We haven't specifically trained the names but I think we say them enough that he's catching on. Thor is starting to get 'pickle' for his pickle pocket, I think it's because we say it more than his other toys (funny name, heee!). He also has a long pig squeaky toy that we call the Hot Dog, I think he understands that one too.
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  6. #4
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
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    Pretty much, I always use the name of the toy when we are playing with it too. "I am going to get Piggy", "Where's Chewy Wooie", "Ohh the humanity, poor bah bah sheep"

    Hemi is pretty good at picking up new names. I can say the name a few times. later on tell him "Go get Platapus" you can see the wheels churning which I love then he goes Oh, I know what you want.

    The biggest thing is picking names that are not also command names or sound like command names. I have a new problem I am not sure how to fix. Usually when we are ready to work, I say Ok. Like when getting ready to run agility or Rally, dance or something like that. It instantly snaps his attention to me to focus. Well Google introduce a new talk feature for all their stuff, it starts my just saying out loud, "Ok Google". So you Basically Say "Ok Google, whats the weather". You might have seen the commercial where the little girl is laying with her dog and says to her phone "Ok Google, Do Dogs Dream"

    Well every time I try to use this as soon as I say "Ok, Goo..." Hemi now has his full attention on me, what are we doing Dad. I don't want to loose this from him, but I must admit I do like the new feature.

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  8. #5
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    That's one of the stations in CARO Working Level One Rally. Three toys on a line, I think 5 feet in front of us. Or maybe it was 10 feet. Judge tells me which toy she wants dog to go pick up and bring back to me. Judge says middle, left or right. We were working on that, Oban thought it was fun. We learned toy names much the same way as you all are doing, we started them long before we began Rally just for fun.

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  10. #6
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    You are doing great! In our home EVERYTHING has a name, every room, every piece of furniture, every toy... With rooms and objects, if you get to the point you feel like an idiot for talking and repeating the object, you are on the right track.

    "This is the Kitchen, I am going in the kitchen, black dogs are not allowed in the kitchen,..."

    "HEY!!! You know what would be fun!!!!" Get him excited and L@@king at YOU. "I wonder where.... the WUBBA is!!!" OMG!!!! Panic search for the Wubba!!! When found, play like there is no tomorrow!!! Keep repeating Wubba, we are playing with the Wubba... Then, Change. Put the Wubba down. "OHH!, You know what I'm looking for!!!!" He should have YOUR attention and be wondering what YOU are wanting... "The SQUEAKY ELEPHANT!!!!" OMG!!! Panic mode searching for the elephant!!! YEAH!!!! The squeaky Elephant!!!! The bestest toy in the whole world!!!

    Whenever you are playing with an object, it has a name, keep repeating it. When you think Archie is catching on, try the 'get the named item' game. Make sure he is in 'training mode' as compared to being a nutty puppy/play mode. Place a few objects on the ground, a few feet in front of him. Name the item and ask him for it, using whatever verbiage you would like. "Archie. I am looking for the Wubba." "Archie, go get the Wubba." If an incorrect object is brought back, take it and drop it. "Nope, the Wubba." When the correct item is brought back HUGE PRAISE PARTY!!!! Wash, rinse, repeat...

    Sunshine knows several colors of balls now. Red, blue, green and white, as well as all her buddies. I'm an evil guy and will hide things from her, several days or weeks in advance. When she gets in one of those moods, I'll send her in search of something I have hidden. I've learned to be careful though. She is a VERY energetic and determined gal. NOTHING gets in her way. We had a dresser come down the other day because the "stupid brown bunny" was up there and it was her task to get it. LOL!!! *MY* fault not hers, she was not reprimanded. She did come back with the requested item.

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  12. #7
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    I'm impressed with everyone's tales! Kimber's pretty smart but I've had little success with nouns. She's amazing at reading our body language and vocal tones, and she knows verbs, but whenever I try to teach her the names of toys, I fail. I'm sure it's me.
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  14. #8
    Senior Dog Halcyon's Avatar
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    I hold a toy and shake it a bit. This usually gets him interested and he comes over to investigate. As soon as he touches the toy with his nose, I click and treat. He quickly gets the hang of what I want him to do and enthusiastically goes and stabs the toy with his nose. Eventually, I put it on the floor and repeat. As he gets good at it, I introduce the name of the toy. I move it a bit further for him to run to and eventually, get him to bring the toy to me.

  15. #9
    Best Friend Retriever OHfemail's Avatar
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    You're on the right course, especially for Archie's mental stimulation. We never made a conscious effort to 'train' Gabby by naming her toys, but now I'm not sure who's having more fun with every new one that comes in the house. Plus, we get to annoy friends and family with the old 'hey, watch what she can do' trick! It's become a challenge for us to bring her back something that's indigenous to any location that we travel to. A few that she knows: beaver (you can imagine the phrases we have for 'grab your beaver' and the like), elk, armadillo, chipmunk, pheasant, wubba, ball, ring, elk, ladybug, sheep, purple dog, pink dog, monkey...I can't even remember them all! It's pretty amazing to think that we just began with 'chewy'.

  16. #10
    House Broken Aerodogs's Avatar
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    Ryder loves the toy game! It's one of our "rain delay" games, which is frequent in FL, lol. There are a couple different ways you can teach them. I usually focus on one toy at a time until they have a couple down solid, before I put them together. For instance, I taught hippo first since that is one of his favorites. Next I focused on monkey, and would teach the name, then put it around other toys (except hippo). Left the toys I already taught out the of equation so he would be successful at a higher rate, and after I taught five or so, started bringing the others in one by one. I teach it with the ultimate goal of a "pick up/put away toys by name" game. He knows several by name, but still has his favorites.

    I taught him to pick up numbered bowls in order too, and am working on the rings (on a cone) game, which is a lot of fun to teach! I bet Archie would love the rings and its something the grandkids would get a kick out of too.

 



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