What do you do with your working dog?

What about helping you tidy up? Picking up his toys and putting them away, picking up things that you drop? Carrying things would probably also be fun. ("Here doggy, take this flowerpot for me and let's go plant the petunias!")

Great post! I need some ideas for my aussie mix too! I was thinking teaching him to fetch my sneakers to me instead of finding them and chewing them..lol

mine do conformation, herding, obedience and rally.  They are demo dogs for my obedience classes and my malinois hangs out with the police K 9s and we are dabbling in drug detection.

even though mine was a mix, he would carry the mail for me. No.. he wouldnt go out and GET the mail, he would escort me to the mail box (he held onto my hand with his mouth) and then insist on carrying the mail for me. Such a gent.
He could also open the door himself when he wanted to come back inside.
Another thing he did was bring my stuborn horse to the barn, but you havent got any stock animals, so thats not going to help much, huh?
Franky was very "mouthy".... if he didnt have my hand in his mouth, he had to carry something that was handed to him. he didnt run around with sticks or toys in his mouth.he had to be GIVEN something to carry.. mail, grocery bags, sweater, soft drink bottle. didnt matter to him. and he would strut around with these items like he was carrying the crown jewels!

Both of mine have basic obedience pretty well down pat (sit, down, stay, heel, etc.).  We go through the commands every day.  They also have been taught to sit and "wait" while I am getting their food, and sometimes I make them wait quite a while.  I've challenged them by talking to them while they are waiting, so that they have to listen for just the right command ("OK") until they can go eat.  Sometimes I'll walk out of the room for a little bit and they still must wait until I come back and say "OK".  My one dog literally drools while he's waiting, but it teaches them to respond to commands mixed in with other conversation very well, really "tunes them in" to you.
 
I also play frisbee with them, and they have both been taught to catch the frisbees.  I started out by throwing it right to them rather than making them chase after it (it's easier for them to catch it that way), by using that "wait" command while I back up to throw it to them.  Now I can throw it out far for them to chase after it and they have learned to give themselves a running start as I am throwing it, and they figured that out on their own!  Then I also taught them to bring the frisbees back to the house and drop them in the garage in a certain spot when we were done playing.  I use the "bring it home" command for them to carry the frisbees back, and then "here" and point to where they should put the frisbee back.  It's a lot of fun, and Aussies are so smart I swear they learned it the first time I showed them!! 

ORIGINAL: Jewlieee
I'm looking for ideas on jobs to give my aussie. I can tell already that he will make a great worker. He follows me around relentlessly and is SO eager to please. It seems like he'd be the happiest camper if I could include him in some of the housework or yard work I do.

Great thread! Thanks! []

I'd like to give my girl stuff to do when I'm at work, in addition to directly with me. I already hide treats, so she's doing a little hunting. But I like that idea of having her put stuff away. I'm going to start working on teaching her to put objects away with the idea that I can leave them in the yard in the morning, then find them in a basket when I get home ... heh. Well, maybe that's a bit too much to ask, we'll see!

Someone (brookecove or spiritdogs?) had mentioned teaching their BC to herd water bottles. That sounded fun!

I'm guessing somone could make a good list of drives to attach activities to. Here goes my totally uneducated attempt:

tracking: sniffing out treats or toys hidden around the house, hide and seek, fetch, frisbee

herding: watching and rounding up activities (putting toys away, herding water bottles), keep away games

pulling: moving things (pulling or carrying, like the garden help you mentioned), tug of war

protection: watching, barking

Not sure if prey is a separate drive, or fits in with tracking. Also not sure where agility stuff fits into working dog drives, herding, pulling?

Lots of good ideas here! I love the mail carrying thing. That has me thinking...My husky is a big "give me something to carry" type dog too. Everytime we go to the pet store she *must* carry something out with her. It's so cute, she gets lots of laughs. I should be teaching her to carry other things for me! I don't know why I never thought of it. She already targets pretty well, I just need to teach her to "take it".
 
I'm going to work on this with my aussie too. I put a laundry basket in the living room and put their toys in it last night. So, I'm going to start teaching them to put their toys away. I guess starting with a take it and target command would be the first step.
 
As far as herding water bottles goes - do you have any idea how I'd teach that? I have a couple of water bottles outside right now but my aussie just fetches it atm.
 
We are working on "Wait". My husky knows wait really well. I make her wait for just about everything. Lately my aussie has been picking this up from watching her.
 
I will start talking to my dogs in a sit/stay/wait command and inserting the "ok" in the middle so they have to really listen. That is a great idea too.
 
Keep them coming!

I had a Golden Retriever by the name of Rebel.

 He loved to help me out and carry stuff around..

 One day,I was working in my garage on my truck.I was laying on my back under the truck and needed a wrench that was out of my reach..As a joke,I looked at Rebel and said"Rebel,git my that wrench"and pointed to it..

 I could not beleive it when he got up,grabbed the wrench,and dropped it by me..lol/...I was in awe...though he wouldn't do it again,and laid back down..I loved that dog..lol

 Anyway,I like the idea of putting backpacks on my dogs to carry our water,treats and other stuff..small hand tools for gardening would be cool..As long as you don't overload..

 

Well havent worked much w/ the Koolie mix but she does a job keeping the Min-Pin and the cats under control wether its inside or out. Attempting to get her to realize that not that much force is needed on these little guys.

Wasn't me with the water bottles. I am firmly of the belief that you only herd herdable things - you know, animals that actually live and move in herds/flocks. [] Of course, some days I wonder about my own sheep, whether they'd fall in that category.

Really, you'll never see your pup's true working potential unless you work stock, if that's what you mean. It's a very, very, very different thing to the more artificial behaviors they are capable of (and doing so well). However, that doesn't mean your dog will suffer somehow if you don't ever unlock that.

Having a working dog as a companion simply means that you have a dog that possesses a package of inbred behaviors and a particular view of the world, all of which you simply need to take as it emerges and say, "Yes" or "No" to and act accordingly. As working trainers, we do nothing different from that, as a working pup develops physically and mentally.

I don't know how old your pup is, but a herding dog typically doesn't even have its first formal training session on stock until it is six months old or so. Until then, a pup needs to know just three things - its name, to follow you and know that the world basically revolves around you, and the fact that "No" won't kill it - the proper response to "No" is "Try again!"

Be careful with physical exercise with a pup. It's tempting to do fetch for long sessions once the clever little thing has caught on, because you get blessed relief when Pup finally tires out! Never push a pup to exhaustion, never, never, ever - no matter how much they beg. Don't do lots of repetitive exercises of any kind (including fetching games like with the ball and frisbee) - the bulk of Pup's training should be things a pup would normally do naturally and should indeed be primarily led by Pup's natural inclinations.

Resist the temptation to do a lot of formal performance training early on - your working bred pup is bred with lots of laxity in the soft tissues and pressuring these during growth can lead to weakness later on.

Instead, do lots of mental exercise. This is the time to teach lots of games and tricks and of course formal obedience. This is a great time to introduce the principles of Rally or Freestyle if you plan to do it. Some dogs get bored with obedience later on when they've tasted the ambrosia of more physical activities, but pups just drink up any time you devote to them regardless of what it is.

We have Shadow a 3 yr old Rottie.  He loves to please.  Started him fetching toys from the first day we got him.  He picks up socks, towels and wash cloths and takes them to the laundry room, finally, just recently got him to drop them in the hamper.   He brings me paper towels and pieces of paper from my Hubby's area of the living room and we put them in the trash. (Messy hubby makes this most fun for Shadow)  Hubby is disabled and Shadow knows to go find him when I ask, he will also find me when hubby asks. 
We got him a backpack cause he loves to help with the gardening.  He carries water bottles for both of us, his favorite ball, my small hand tools and my gloves.  We feed the birds and squirels every night, he loves to carry stick and limbs to compost area for me.  The backpack training just started the 1st of March and now when I ask if he is ready to go feed the birds he goes to the spot his backpack is in and waits for me to ut it on.   When I water the garden he helps me carry the hose to the proper place (of course he wants to drink from it first).  When I use the wheel barrow he walks beside me( had to use a leash for a while so he wouldnt get side tracked)     We live in the country and although we do not have cattle all of the neighbors do.   If the cattle get through the fence into our area he will herd them back to the proper pasture. This not only saves the flowers and yard but the neighbor appreciate not having to round them up.   He is always so eager to please.  I dont reward him with treats, just praise and he loves the praise.[sm=clapping%20hands%20smiley.gif]  We will work for a while, take off the pack and play ball, then put the pack back on and  work some more.  We have been working him since he was a puppy and now he just picks new jobs up so quickly.   He has even had to help me up from the ground when I get tangled up in the newly pruned grape and wisteria vines.  [sm=rotfl.gif]
I highly recommend the backpack and garden work.  I had always wanted to train him to pull my garden cart for me, we may still do that but the expense of the proper harness is out of our budget for now. 
We have had many dogs in my lifetime and I never took advantage of their need to work.   I am so pleased that we have done this with Shadow.   He is so calm, loving and gentle to both of us.   My main thought process in starting his working was that as my hubby is less able to manage daily activities, Shadow will be able to help me care for him and watch over him.  [sm=angel.gif]  We have taught him simple  commands such as "Open" to open the door, "Back" when he needs to back up, (came in real handy when he had to pull me up off the ground), "Put it up" taking things to the laundry, "Put it back"  when he brings me things he shouldnt have moved like sofa pillows[sm=no%20no%20smiley.gif]
I could go on forever .....[] I will spare you the novel about how wonderful my Shadow is.
 
 

It sounds like Shadow is a GREAT dog! [] I don't mind reading novels lol
 
 

He is an awesome dog, thank you.  I do have to say, that we have spent much more time with him and his training than any of the dogs we have had in the past.  I think that is the key to having a good pet or good working dog.   I often wish I had figured this out with some of our other dogs.   They were wonderful pets, but I think how they missed out by not having any jobs.  Shadow seems to carry himself so proudly when he is praised for a job well done.  Here is a pic of him carrying the hose when he was just a pup.

Laundry.
 
I'm serious. I was carrying my kids' laundry, dropped something and Gizmo picked it up for me. I praised him and now he's hooked on this "game." So when doing laundry, I leave a pile in the hall by the kids' rooms and Gizmo runs to the pile, picks something up and carries it to the washing machine as I load it.
 
I have three sons, one husband and a dog. [sm=lol.gif] I do laundry every day and Gizmo (who will carry anything anywhere) loves to run back and forth picking stuff up.
 
He also helps carry anything else I can think of.
 
True confessions time: Gizmo will steal stuff to carry if he isn't given something to do. He has gotten onto a kid's bed and swiped an entire stuffed animal collection (one toy at a time) and deposited it in the kitchen while I was cooking.