Talented border collie knows many tricks and routines

Not intentionally. Sometimes the treat bounces unpredictability and ends up at the bottom of the stairs to the basement. He’s almost 13, so he doesn’t really do stairs anymore. So those treats stay down there until I get the energy to go retrieve them.

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My old dog (Belgian shepherd) consistently* would save her “boss goes to work” treats for until I got home. Not pig ears, which are dog crack, but things like a rawhide chip or a bunch of treats stuck in a toy tire and wrapped in a knotted blanket. When I got home Kira would dance around, haul the morning treat out, and eat it. Like, “I saved this until you got home!”

*and new dog (German shepherd) sometimes

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Our beast is a kind of Swiss herding/working dog. They’re also very intense. This one will run, fetch, tug, wrestle, or work to learn anything I can invent for as long as she can physically keep up, and will start all over after a short rest.

That said, she doesn’t seem to be as specialized, natural, or automatic about herding as border collies, but she will e.g.

  • get concerned when people we’ve just been in the elevator with don’t come with us after we get out,
  • protest (sometimes loudly) when my wife and I go in different directions in public (especially in strange places),
  • double-check to see if nearby pedestrians are supposed to be part of our herd/pack when we meet my wife somewhere in town,
  • run very fast in circles around other (groups of) people (especially children) or dogs.

She doesn’t vacuum though.

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