My Dog Is Smarter Than I Am...

[Staranais]

I've taught my dog to spin left and right on command, and today I've realised that she now knows her lefts and rights far better than I do.

I can ask for either, and she'll spin immediately in the correct direction. I, on the other hand, often have to look at my hands to check if she's right before I mark her. I've decided to give up checking, and just trust her and hand her the cookie, since she gets frustrated waiting for me to work it out.

I am blown away by how quickly and thoroughly she picked this up, since it seems like a very advanced concept. How the heck does she do it without looking at her little paws to see which one makes an L?!

Is this something dogs are normally very good at? Has anyone else taught this - did your dogs pick it up really easily too?

[sheena]

We have taught our dog to spin left & right (or back & close) as we call it. Got it off a Greg Derret Agility Training DVD & she does it well. It comes in handy when making sharp turns or wraps on an agility course. If I did it again I would simply just call it "left & right" though....one less thing to have to think of When practicing tho, I decide which way is going to be correct before I give the command, so I can treat immediately. She loves the game