I have a bad back and have become very clumsy in my old age, always dropping things and having to bend down to get them. Recently it occurred to me that it would be very handy if I could get Fraser to give me some help, so I started clicker training him to bring various objects of different sizes, textures and shapes. I'd line up things like a hat, a duster, a pair of protection goggles, a small wooden ornament, a glove, and even a hairy duster on a stick to get him used to fetching random objects. I'd toss the item out and get him to wait for the command to bring it and hand it to me. He loves being trained so happily brought back all of the objects, sometimes nosing around it to figure out exactly how to lift the thing. He didn't like the hairy duster, but finally figured how to get it in his mouth by the handle so the hairy bits didn't get up his nose. All good.
The other day I was walking along the seawall and Fraser crouched for a poop. I got the poop bag out and just as I was about to put it to use, a gust of wind snatched it out of my hand and it slipped down the sloping face of the seawall. It was only about four feet down, but the slope was too steep for me to risk going down, so I tried to hook it with my walking stick. No luck as the wind was rolling it along the base of the wall. As I poked at it with my stick, it suddenly occurred to me that this was exactly the sort of situation I was training Fraser for. I pointed to the bag and gave him the 'bring it' command, but he wasn't sure what I wanted, I suppose because it was a different context from his training. But I repeated the command and to my delight, he stretched down and got the bag in his teeth and then brought it back to me. I was beyond thrilled. This was the first time his training was so specifically useful to me. Clever pup. Now if I could teach him to mix a martini, I'd be set
