Carrying things where/when to start?

[anna&jacksmom]

The new rescue foster doggie (rott-shepherd) loves to carry things around. I was wondering how old he needs to be before I teach him to carry in the groceries. Also how is the best way to teach this? Who wouldn't want a dog who would carry their groceries for them? THanks!

[moondog]

I discovered Luna's willingness to carry when I walked to the pet store with her, bought her a pig ear (long since off the menu!) and she begged for the bag. I tied it in a knot, stuck the handles in her mouth and she carried it the whole mile walk home. When we got home, she got the pig ear. Ever since then, she wants to carry everything. When she does, she assumes something in the bag is for her. When I first started giving her the grocery bags, I would sneak a treat in the bag for her and give it to her when she made it all the way to the kitchen. She even asks to carry the empty plastic bag on walks!

When she carries something for me, her demeanor changes from la,la,la to I have a VERY important job to do. It's really very endearing and I just love her for it. :)

[anna&jacksmom]

I figured out Cody like to carry things b/c I handed him stick on our walk and he carried it all the way home. ~1/2 mile Judi W said to teach parlor tricks and he is learning shake so I will add carry the groceries also. Thanks for the treat in the bag tip I will try that. Does Luna carry paper bags or should I start asking for plastic?

Side note: If you take your bags (plastic) back to the grocery to recycle make sure they actually recycle. My fiance worked at a grocery store and said that they just threw the bags collected in the bag bin out with the store trash. I'm sure some recycle but that one didn't and they made it seem like they did.

[moondog]

The pig ear was in a plastic bag, so that's what clicked with Luna. She loves to shred paper (very fun at Christmas time), so she associates paper with shredding and plastic with carrying. I imagine you could teach Cody with either kind or both kinds. The key for Luna is that there's something in the bag for her. Will work for food! :D I think Luna would carry for a tennis ball, too, but I haven't tried it with toys.

[Burnsway]

Some other things you may want to think about is how heavy the bag is and how far the dog is to carry it. With Psyche she seemed to retrieve by nature. Thats how we started with carrying things. When she retrieved something I would then say go give to paw.(My Hubby) or Rachel(My daughter). Then of course when she did, she was treated.

SO one day walking home from the store she saw me counting the individual popcycles we bought in the bag and tieing it in a knot for my daughter to carry home with us. Psyche then started jumping up for the bag. I felt this was a good time as ever to let her try to carry for the first time. I went into the store and doubled bagged it and tied it again and thought, ok how are we going to do this.

Light balb went off and I said BRING TO PAW!!!! Well paw was at home...LOL!! She grabbed that bag and thank goodness we were on a retractable because she was moving faster then the leash and I...ROFLMAO!!!! She went up 3 flights of stairs I opened that door and she went straight to the couch where Paw was sitting and dropped the bag in his lap. The look on hubbys face was priceless. And I was full of pride on how little training time that one took....:D

Yes she got a popcycle, the one she happened to poke a hole in with her teeth!!!!!.....LOL!!!! Good thing they were not eggs but hey, for the first try it went well... ;) Now we have been bringing her to petsmart and trying to teach her to put her feet on the counter and give the thing we are carrying to the lady at the register. She will carry it all the way to the register drop it then jump up to get a treat out of the little bowl of treats they usually have up there. I then procede to tell her to pick up and give. I would like to take out that middle step and never have her drop it in the first place...LOL!!! Hubby keeps telling me to stop being a perfectionist..

[moondog]

The "give the lady your pig ear" is something Luna always did on her own. :) Too cute, she'd put her front paws on the counter and reach her head over to the cashier, who dutifully took the pig ear. I think Luna was probably reaching for a pet more than trying to give her pig ear away, but you couldn't tell by looking! :D After a few times, they even started tying up the bag and handing it right to Luna (I only got to pay the bill!)

The only time Luna has trouble is if the bag is too deep and it hits her legs ... then I tie a couple of knots with the handles to shorten it and no problemo. I don't ask her to carry really heavy things, just light to medium stuff. :)

[anna&jacksmom]

That sounds like such a great sight. I will start off with a light bag then and maybe try to train a place for him to put it down. I was just expecting him to carry the groceries from the car to the door so not too far. We will start practicing as soon as I get a grocery bag. I am going to try paper and see how it goes. If it doesn't work I will break down and support the non-recyclers. Thanks for the advice. Maybe get a beer out of the fridge would be a good one too but we will stick to one at a time for now. :) I don't know if a new family would like a dog who can help himself to leftovers even if he did bring drinks to them.

[ilikerotties]

I thought I would be smart and teach my dog to pick up sticks for me in the yard...until I got stuck in the bum with one and decided I would pick them up myself. LOL

[ilikerotties]

You know....getting you a beer out of the fridge is a do able task....I know of a lady that has a disabled son that her dog helps with the laundry, the groceries and is trained to open the fridge and get a pop for her son...he does not touch anything else in the fridge.:D