The one thing I’m very happy about is training them to “wait”. We used to “wait” at each intersection. Now it comes in handy when I accidentally drop a leash when we’re out. “Wait” makes them stop every single time.

Don’t rain on my parade! It’s the one the she does consistently. 😉

I love learning from all our online friends, too! We’re fortunate to have such a tremendous wealth of quality knowledge and experience with them.
As for CindyLu, one thing that comes to mind immediately is “crate-training”. She never was, and I was one of those who thought it was unnecessary. Moving to our new place meant containing her (for both her safety and to avoid her causing any issues with our housemates) when I was out. That’s when I learned she not only was hysterically averse to being locked in a crate, but that she suffered separation anxiety and possibly claustrophobia as well.
I also never worked on her resource aggression, since the big guy and cats she shared a home with learned to back away from her. In our new home, Vedder is just as aggressive, and it’s led to some scary exchanges between the two.
Just those two issues caused major challenges when we moved. I focused only on what was necessary with our then-current circumstances, and like you point out – that can backfire. And it did!

Haha, that’s super clever!! Love it! One of my friends used to have a Husky named “Killah”. People usually kept their distance when she would call him 🙂

Wait, do dogs actually have to be trained to jump on the bed? 🙂

I’ve had several people mention training their dog to be on tables. I wish I had thought of that one years ago. It would certainly be easier than trimming nails while twisted up like a pretzel on the floor.

As I noted with Aavery above, I think men pick up big dogs because it’s how they show affection while still looking totally macho. Yep, we’re onto them. 🙂

But if he wants to think he’s preparing Laika for having to be picked up or carried, that’s good too. You might find it as helpful as we have. 🙂

In truth, I think training has a few specific uses: 1) so your dog can cope with the environment we need them to live in; 2) to give us something to do together; and 3) to exercise their brains.

Which makes Blueberry perfectly trained besides smart as can be.

I think it’s adorable that you use tricks to keep Blueberry occupied in the face of the unexpected.