I've been thinking about what I've actively taught my dogs and cats. Most everything they've learned is from repetition and observation. For instance, dogs have always known whether they were going with me by the clothes I was wearing. If I had on jeans, they assumed they were going. Sometimes Toby would hold out hope and stand halfway between me and his crate, head turned to the side, waiting for a sign. I always hated it when I had to tell him to go get in his house. Such dejection.

I realized that I have always made a "hmmm" noise in my throat to get their attention. I do it with the girlies, too, and they always answer with the same noise. I don't think that's actively teaching though. The thing is that they learn things so easily on their own there isn't really any need to teach. Unless, of course, you'd like them to behave and do things like sit, stay, heel, etc.

So, here's the one thing I did teach dogs - to eat from a fork. All of them have known how to do it. Fork in mouth, teeth touching the tines, and I would say, "do your lips," and they would close their mouths over the food and pull it off. Now, that was probably Letterman-worthy.