I have been naughty and not done any Tricky T-Day posts for a long time. But don’t worry – I have still been doing trainings with my human. We usually do it in the 5-10mins before my dinner time, after my daily afternoon walk, as that is when I am most keen (and awake!) - We do different things each day – some days we learn new tricks, some days we do free-shaping and some days we practise dance moves…so sometimes, it might take me weeks to learn a new trick as I might only get round to practising it once every week. It is really amazing, though, how much you can learn in just 5mins every day! 
To show you, I’ve done a couple of movies to show how much I have progressed with just these short training sessions…
But first, I wanted to tell you about Coffee – a Golden Retriever who lives in Auckland like me! I got a lovely email from Coffee a few days ago saying that he had found my blog and watched my training video on teaching the Bow trick…and he’s learnt it! He specially made a video to show me -
I’m so impressed and proud of him! He does the Bow beautifully – much better than me! (I’m lazy and don’t bend all the way down). It is really nice to know that there are doggies out there who are finding my training tutorial videos helpful – Hsin-Yi is always worried that it might be boring for people when we post a lot of training stuff so it’s great to know that some people find it interesting and useful!
OK, well I’m sure you’re all keen to know how I’m getting on with my “helpful” curtain-drawing trick for Ludo‘s Tricky T-Day assignment this month – and yes, I know a lot of you were asking about the state of our curtains…well, if you watch this video, you will see Hsin-Y’s special trick of her own for the curtains! 
Actually, I have also been learning another “helpful trick” although I started this one before Ludo’s assignment but it has been going slowly because I was finding it difficult to understand what Hsin-Yi wanted me to do.
We got inspired to learn this after we saw the fantastic video on Lance the Corgi & Vito the Toller’s blog of them “doing the laundry”. But unlike those clever doggies who learnt it in just 3 training sessions (wow!), I’m a bit – er – slow and it took me a while to work out what I had to do. But with a bit of helpful advice from my trainer, Flip, we got there in the end!
(Sorry this is a bit long but I wanted to show you that it doesn’t always come out as a perfect trick first time – like you usually see in videos – but that sometimes, it takes me a while to learn a trick and my human has to be very patient and try to think of other ways to teach me…! )
(for those who missed it, here is Tricky T-Day (‘Being Helpful – Part 1)
HI Honey & Hsin-Yi,
You guys are just amazing. I just laughed (oh I mean barked out loud) when I saw your human scurrying about to clean the curtains before your male human came home…too too funny.
My mom wants to train me to pick up my toys and put them back in my toy basket so will let you know how that comes along. She’s says I’m not too good at retrieving things…hey doesn’t she know I’m not a retriever!! But now that she’s seen you she thinks I can do amazing things like you…well, I suppose I have to give it a try.
Mom says thanks for all your training videos as you inspire us to be better.
AARF Kasha!
Honey, you are so smart! Mom has been working on a few tricks with me…but nothing as clever as helping with the laundry!
Thanks for all the training videos, they are great examples for us in the future!
wags, wiggles and slobbers
Murphydog
Wow! I’m so impressed! I loved watching from the very beginning stages. It makes me feel like Jackal isn’t such a dope when he pulls that kind of stuff. I loved Honey’s expression at the end when she watched to play with the clean socks!! Too cute!
Very clever! We especially like your Mum doing the quick clean of the curtains! Hahaha!
We also like that you show your Mum’s frustration when she knows she’s not making it clear to you what it is she wants you to do. Too many owners get upset and think it’s just THEIR dog that can’t do it. Good for you Hsin-Y for continuing to try new ways to teach the trick
We love your training vids. Very inspirational.
Woo, Honey! You have to do the laundry now?!? Ha woo, just kidding! That was TOTALLY impressive! We watched everything. Mom loved how patient Hsin-Yi is with you and found a way to build up to what she wanted you to do and that she gives you praise. I loved it when Hsin-Yi called you a “good girl!” and called you “clever” and rubbed your ears! Woo! That was awesome!
Luv,
Dave
Honey you are soooooo helpful! Great job on learning your new tricks…er…chores.
Tell your mom that she makes great videos! They are so entertaining:) I wish everyone would teach their dogs in such a positive & fun way.
Inkhredible…as always!
l
That was furry khool of Khoffee to learn a trikhk bekhause of WOO!
Tank woo fur sharing!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
Honey, we’re impressed, seriously impressed!
Yup, I think the folks might have met a friend of yours in Madrid Not as big as you maybe , but very dignified all the same!
Take care
Clive
Great helping videos, Honey!! You are so good at pulling the curtains and doing the laundry! How did your mom teach you to hold onto objects? Mom tries to get me to do that but I pick something up and drop it in a second. So we are having a very difficult time doing any helping tricks.
It’s true that all of us dogs have limitations due to our size etc. We think you do wonderful tricks and dancing and agility, Honey, even though you are a big big girl! We’re glad to see you don’t let anything stand in your way!
Honey, I have an urgent request -- please come to my house asap. Mom just watched your video and she has this crazy notion that I am going to learn how to pick up all the kidlets toys for her. I think you would do a much better job:-)
Woos, Thunder
Well, that certainly was very hard work. I am unclear as to why you only get to help with the dirty laundry. Sigh… humans.
Slobbers,
Mango
Hi, Honey!
You are soooo good!
I had a good laugh with the finish of the curtains video!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza
Your curtain trick is coming along nicely! How did you train your mom to clean them so well? BOL. We love how you are sitting there watching her too. so funny Honey!
Interesting about the Laundry trick! I bet that would have worked for Moose too. Just like your first try he kept dropping it just outside the basket in the beginning and when I would point in the basket he thought I was asking him to pick up one of those toys so he would drop what he had and then put his head in to get a new one . I guess I was lucky that he figured out what I wanted after I kept sliding the basket under his mouth… I am not sure what I would have tried next (until I read your post of course)!
THat was hilarious how you found all those socks and were looking at them like you found a treat tree! Moose gets that look on his face when he sees the clicker… it is as though they could be turned into a treat before your eyes!
Moose + Dana
p.s. nice job by Coffee! Your tips have helped lots of doggies learn to bow for sure! At the moment that is Moose’s ‘go to’ trick when he really wants a treat. He bows like crazy all the time!
That laundry helping is one of your best training videos ever! I think we learn the most from seeing a trick broken down into its parts and from seeing the first, unsuccessful attempts.
Thanks!!
Hi,
OMG, I was amazed with the training you are doing-again:-) Maybe my mommy will learn something from your videos:-)
Kisses and hugs from Nessa
Wow Honey that is a great trick! We have our mom trained to clean up after us too. We really love watching you in videos and seeing how your mom does training. Mom said we are going to work on more of that stuff when it is just the two of us again. She is concentrating on teaching Benjamin some manners right now so that he will know how to act when he gets his new family.
Thanks for the bloggy advice too. I added a title to that video so that it shows up now. Thanks for searching for it. I am really proud that I figured out how to put my feet down.
Kisses from Boxen
Honey, you are the smartest dane ever, we dane boys are a bit slow sometimes, but mummy has just taught us to twist, once we get a few more things down pat we shall get mummy to video us
mooshes n slobbers
Stripe N Nitro
I’m glad you liked the video. I’m planning to work him on backing in the hallway from now on I just had to film it in the living room because there are no lights in the hallway. The crooked backing is the reason I stopped the sessions so short and I also used my leg a couple of times to block him which seemed to work. I almost didn’t click a couple of times because he was crooked, but realized it was too soon to discriminate because it had just clicked in his brain what I wanted and I wanted to reinforce every backward movement. After a few more sessions in the hallway I’ll stop clicking the crooked ones.
I think I’m going to start working on ‘hold’ soon so I’ll have something new to film then. I actually like making the videos. I’m so glad you encouraged me to try it.
I’ll also try moving the jumping outside as soon as it stops raining.
You are so sweet I want to kiss you both!
That is a lovely bow by Coffee! And thanks to you, Honey for sharing your training tips with us all! Excellent job in drawing the curtains and doing the laundry. You are such a great help around the house, your humans never need to employ people to do the household chores! Keep up the great work, Honey! Love, Dino
Mom is trying to teach my brother how to bow for his AAT work! We’ll have to check out your video to learn the proper way to go about it.
Very cute sock trick. But I personally think that dirty socks are the best and they’re really good for chewing…
Honey, you are so talented! Your hooman is super talented as well at cleaning curtains, I LAUGHED so hard at the “fast forwarding” in the video… hilarious!
As for the laundry trick, well, I gotsa say I know exactly why you don’t want to learn that trick… in a few weeks, Hsin-Yi will have you folding socks and undies, and that’s no fun!
Hi Honey,
We’re sorry we haven’t visited for a little while, but as you know our humans have been really busy. We’re very excited about what they’re up to but we have been missing our bloggie pals! We specifically asked our humans if we could log on and visit you tonight though, we couldn’t wait any longer….he he he!
You are truly inspirational -- we really look forward to your training videos. We like to think we’re sometimes helpful but you really set the bar, he he! We’re off now to find out about your swimming lesson -- how exciting!
Schnauzer snuggles -- JD and Max.
You can use clicker in lot of thigs in agility. Mom has used clicker with us: tyre, weavers, contacts. She even bought a book about agility and clicker and she uses its advice to when she coach us. Yestedy she did teach Ressu once again lick her nose and touch a mousepad and Lenni learned to bark before touch the mouse pad. She keeps saying that we take too much behavior in our repeats for the clicker.
Clicker training is fun you get lot off treats.