Last Friday, I read about the concept of K9Signing and bought the book, "Dogs Can Sign, Too." Basically, the book describes how to train your dog to do sign language in order to communicate with you. I started reading it and after about 80 or so pages, it finally gets into the training aspects. The first command they recommend teaching is the "play" command. I decided against that, as Baxter is very food motivated, and took a try at the "food" command instead.

After sitting with him and half a cup of his dinner, he learned the sign for food. Fast. The bad part was that I had accidentally taught him the sign with the wrong paw. ><

In order to try to undo what I had just done, I took some more of his food and we re-did the lesson. He picked it up but seemed annoyed that I was no longer responding to his first "sign."

We continued our training Saturday night and it went really well.

That Sunday, I was driving to the pet store with Baxter and he was being grumpy and making lots of quiet "bruff" noises. So I decided to try and teach him the "whisper" command. When he saw that I was getting treats he started signing "food." I was pretty happy, until he wouldn't stop. He would continue to "bruff" and sign at the same time every time I would try to give him a "whisper" command. I was not too pleased and figured I would calm down on the K9Signing for awhile.

We have not done the K9Sign training for just about week now.

So today, Baxter was getting a bath after getting just plain filthy at the dog park. He was so dirty that I forgot to take my training treat bag off while I gave him the bath. When he got out of the bath tub, he sat in front of me to get dried off. As I was toweling him off, he looked right up at me and signed "food." I was a little dumbfounded as we really haven't been working on it at all and if I was a little more adamant in drying him off, I could have missed the sign completely. Of course he got a big "Yes!" and a treat. I was pretty impressed because we have a bath routine and when he gets dried off which wouldn't allow him to use this sign. He is usually really focused on the towels and throwing his body into them and rubbing his head and back on them.

I may pick up the book again soon and start on the "toy" sign next. I should probably go back to the "play" command as the book recommends doing the signs in order.