I've been training Schmoozer to pick up anything I dropped. Schmoo the wonder pup is only 6 months, but he has the concept of picking up what I drop very well. He will pick up almost anything. Except for hats and socks, he has no troubles giving them to me. Hats and socks are just so much fun that sometimes he thinks he should run off and play with them a bit first
Much of the time he does it without prompting, especially with paper and pens.
So... 2 nights ago getting out of the car with Schmoo I heard something fall. Don't know if it would of registered except Schmoo stopped and looked. I couldn't see what fell or where it went (dark), so I told Schmoo "mine", which is the command word. He picked up the salsa (in a sealed, small plastic cup). I took it and rewarded him and headed into the house. In the house I dropped the salsa again. Schmoo picked up without prompting. Later Schmoo took the salsa off the table and brought it to me (ok, we've still got some refining to do, but he's only 6 months). Off that same table, my remote for my stereo had apparently fallen. I'd randomly thrown stuff on that table not being careful. It had landed in his toy box. Not a place I would have looked for it. So, my amazing puppy went into the toy box, pulled the remote out and brought it to me. Even though it was in his toy box, he knew it was mine.
He knows lots of ordinary dog tricks, but I really like teaching him practical stuff. What should I teach him next?
