Today my dog fetched.

It was the proudest moment of my life. My last dog was not a fetcher, he was a ‘you throw the toy and then chase after me whilst I tear it to shreds’ kind of dog.
I wasn’t sure about Casper, he seemed to be ok with the bringing it back part but not so good at the handing it over to be thrown again part. Once he had brought it back he seemed to feel that it was now his prize and he should be able to either have soul possession of the toy or play tug with it.

However after nearly a month of training he know brings the toy back and drops it near you and sits whilst waiting for it to be thrown again. I could have exploded with happiness.

So now we have fetch down but I still have doubts about his ability to recognise his own name…

In other news I have fallen in love with Allie’s blog Hyperbole and a Half and whilst reading I found a post where she ponders the apparent unintelligence of her dog. She lists a few tests you can try to make a quick assessment of your dogs IQ and so I found myself trying the ‘hide the treat under a cup test and see how long it takes the dog to find it.
As soon as I got Casper to sit I placed the treat under the cup and stepped back, before I could blink Casper had rushed the cup and knocked it over with his nose, devouring the treat before I had time to start the stop watch.

I don’t know if that should tell me that I have a super smart dog but it does tell me he likes treats

I was going to take a photo for you but silly me managed to dangle the camera in front of the dog and he chomped it. It seems to be ok but the battery is dead now anyway… So I’ll just have to add a picture the next time I get around to charging my camera…