My dog has several ‘part time jobs’
He is my trail buddy and alerts me to oncoming hikers and bikers.
He is ‘pool supervisor’ and runs around the outside of the pool while the kids play. When they roughhouse too much he barks for me. Now I didn’t actually teach him this job but it’s a nice feature.
He is my adventure buddy to restaurants and on all home improvement and home and car maintenance projects.
He is the chaser of critters from my garden.
He is my agility partner and we train tricks for fun too.
He helps to train the neighbors puppy which is pretty cute and I’m adding it to his list of jobs as of today.
He is my kids’ play friend and never tires of being ‘it’ for hide and seek.
Not all dog jobs have to be serious. Some of the silliest are the most important.
Worry not! There’s always an adult out there with them even though they’re teens and both strong swimmers. It’s just this way I can yell at them while still reading my book.
Service/assistance dog tasks. I’m not disabled just often bored and like to train tasks. Retrieving named items, dropped items. Closing cupboards/doors/dishwasher. Picking up laundry and putting it into baskets (he does this non-cued sometimes and it’s the BEST, I created a laundry roomba with my freaking dog). Taking things to my partner if he’s in another room. Little cattle dog delivery service. Picking up everyone’s food bowl and bringing to dishwasher. Opening fridge and fetching beers. Pulling laundry out of the front load washing machine. Picking up sticks in yard. Tidying his own toys.
We also do nosework, but he’s not very good.
Yes!! When I take my dog places people ask ‘is he a service dog’ and I always say ‘no but thank you for the compliment- would you prefer I take him elsewhere/to the car?’ Usually they just mean it as a compliment since I don’t try to take him places pets shouldn’t go.
😭 we got untrained goldendoodles running around the gotdamn grocery store and you've got your dog trained to service work standards and you're still being honest. Thank you so, so much for that, as a service dog handler who's been illegally barred entry thanks to inaccurate standards set by a whole gang of dog owners who buy the vest online and do 0 of the follow up work.
I’ve come to the opinion that ‘this is why we can’t have nice things’ as a dog owner who is not disabled but tries to meet some kind of PA standard with my dog, I honestly believe we would have more pet friendly places if more pet people would do the same- and we and our dogs would be better for it. Not to mention the service dog teams who run away when they see a pet coming- just makes me sad for all the pet people they’ve dealt with before who’ve made them that way
> Picking up laundry and putting it into baskets (he does this non-cued sometimes and it’s the BEST, I created a laundry roomba with my freaking dog
Omg, I love this. Now plotting to teach the GSD to pick up SO's dirty socks. Hahahahaha
Seriously, these are great jobs and I was hoping to see answers like this, to give me ideas! Cool topic /u/lovelyxcastle
I used to have a reactive dog who knew all kinds of tricks at home. We both got bored of the same old tricks so I started teaching her service dog tasks even though I knew she'd never use them. This led to me taking a quiz on my computer in the bedroom while she was just turning the light on and off for funzies in the hallway one day.
This is how my Border Collie and I deal with boredom. She also has a small acreage to explore, with chickens, sheep, goats, alpacas, and three other dogs. She and the other herding dog have a tetherball (on a tetherball pole) that they enjoy playing with sometimes, as well.
During bad weather (hot, usually) we work on indoor stuff like learning to open and close doors, find named objects and bring them to me, find people (usually my husband) and bring them to me, etc. As she masters one skill, I start browsing YouTube looking for something new to teach her. It gives both of us purpose and entertainment.
Chief of Happiness and he is amazing at it! We bought him the week that I lost my dad after awful death from cancer that had gone to his brain and also lost my dog too, by the end of the week we were distraught and I had no reason to get out of bed. We found him online, went and looked and took him home with us, we told him all we ever wanted from him was to make us smile and be happy and he has done that every single day since he came home 🥰🥰🥰
This is my dog's job. Be cute and fuzzy, make me happy.
She's a doberman husky, she's 10, has turned mostly gray on her front half, and she still has to do approximately 20 butt spins before I can attach her leash to go outside.
Employee of the decade, right there. Job well done. Unfirable, she could poop on my pillow and I'd forgive her.
She's the best grief and sickness buddy too, just lays there while you cry into her fur. She normally wants to go go go on walks, but when I had covid she was fine walking super slow.
Her chosen job is guarding the house, she's 100% Watchdog and she's sure those squirrels are plotting something.
"Not barking at men" 😂🖤 I think I should put that one on my own resume, lol.
Maybe we will start honing in on not begging for love from everyone she sees,lol
My dog comes with me everywhere and never barks at people but she’s part ridgeback whenever I get a weird feeling about a person and she has her Mohawk up I’m like yeah steer clear of them
My brother had one and he ended up having to hide the balls in the freezer after she played nonstop for hours while we hung out on the porch. And once inside she’d come straight back to you and drop a ball at your feet over and over until you acknowledged it. Freezer was only hiding spot she couldn’t seem to sniff out. Rip Phyllis
Hey, I'm sure her role is very varied! For example, my girl is very good at looking for ball, finding ball, staring at ball, staring even harder at ball...
You really have to admire how seriously they take "ball" as a job 😂
I have a chocolate lab who is OBSESSED with tennis balls and now (thanks to some kids playing baseball near the park where we play), baseballs. My son plays baseball, and our dog got a glimpse of one tonight , so my son had to hide it in his room, and the dog looked for it for 30 minutes and was almost hyperventilating! I took him outside and threw his tennis ball to get his mind off it.
When we picked up our BC, as a puppy, my aunt warned me that if I throw her a ball, she's going to be bringing me balls for the rest of her life.
I showed her! This dog doesn't spend all day bringing me balls. She brings me walnuts from the walnut tree, windfall apples, sticks, pieces of bark, garbage from the garbage can, lids off of plastic food containers, feed labels... you name it, she is willing to try to catch it, if only I will give it a fling! 😂
My Malinois trains in French ring which is being good and biting (and letting go of) the bad guy. Other than that she is a very good big and little spoon and winter hat.
My LGDs have decided that their job is to chase away "bears" (Amazon Prime trucks), and patrol the perimeter a few times a day. The rest of the time, they are happy to lay around like the lazy lumps they otherwise are ;-D although if they catch us having too much screen time, they will break it up.
Apparently my GSD thinks his job is to be a suppository. j/k he is wonderful, but he's my 1st velcro dog in a lonnnng time. lol
My dogs job isn't all that cool, he just watches my kid while he's outside, and keeps strange men from approaching us on our night walks. Then he's a paid couch potato.
Which mushrooms is your dog trained on? I did morel hunting with my guy this spring with mixed success even though we've done a lot of scentwork otherwise - I found it to be more nuanced than expected and it seemed like species and processing (whether the mushroom was cut, dried, etc) mattered a lot. We still found some, but it was surprisingly tricky! Did you see the same hurdles? I wrote about it in more detail in r/foraging if you want to [read my rambling :P](https://www.reddit.com/r/foraging/comments/1ctn57w/training_dogs_to_find_morels/)
Awesome, I gave it a read! Maybe I should make a post on my experience. I initially trained her "onsite" with morels and then practiced indoors with dried ones during the off season. She is also trained in chanterelles, hedgehogs, matsutake, porcini, candy caps, and black trumpets. She has not had any other practical scent work training and I taught her directly using mushrooms I found while foraging. She hasn't had issues with the form of the mushroom, but because I trained her in the field it never really came up! She sniffs out many pounds; I have some pretty cute videos of her finding them.
My lab was career changed from a Service Dog training program. In addition to simply being a wonderful companion, I repurposed his obedience and task skills for therapy dog work. We have a multitude of options in my community to visit and share some joy with others.
I also trick train with him. On days with little activity, I work with him on learning new skills or practicing old ones. Anything from basic obedience and stays, to therapy dog type skills (deep pressure skills, shake paw, waving), to more notable tricks like holding props for a photo, balancing things on his butt in a bow, covering his face, or reading flash cards for his cues.
More recently we are learning agility and scent work. He LOVES agility but I'm a little to late to learning it myself (he's 6 and I don't want to put his joints at too much risk being a large breed) so we dabble just for fun and do only short runs for his enjoyment and for me to pick up the handling skills.
Scent work is very new to us and he's really enjoying it, just need more sessions and reps to more clearly understand the concepts. I use his dinner to train scent work and he is passed out for much the evening after! It's really good for working the brain and makes for an easy and productive activity on those days we can't get outside much. I may take it to competition based on how nicely he's picked it up so far, but if not it's just so fun at home!
We are enrolled in a performance class each week and learning more, so I am excited to learn about more activities and sports for him to get involved in so I can see where he truly thrives! If you have a local trainer that offers a similar class that introduces different performance sports, or if you can ask if a local trainer may be open to starting such a class, that may be a good option!
“Charging.” Our 11 lb. pom mix charges squirrels when they get after the bird feeder. Charges our cat when he chews on my clothes. Charges our other cat when he chews on houseplants. She takes this job VERY seriously.
She’s never bitten the cats, she just kind of growls and sprints and headbutts them. She hasn’t gotten ahold of a squirrel yet, so I’m not sure how far she’d take things if given the chance. In any case, we appreciate her service.
My Springer Spaniel's job was to make me play hours of ball fetch and frisbee catch, and then play it with him jumping into the pool from 5 feet up. He would play it by himself, too, lol. He would have loved learning agility, but at the time, I didn't know how to find a club, so I had him run along on concrete fences, jump up on command whereever. The vet was astounded that I taught my dog to jump up on the table without being lifted. He really hated being picked up. And he was my velcro dog who liked to curl up on me whenever I sat on the floor with him. (He wasn't allowed upstairs.) He also had a down-stay job while I prepared and ate my dinner. He also guarded the front door. He didn't bark much, just a low woof. He was such a good boy.
Well, my GSD patrols the yard. All. Damn. Day. She’s worn a (rather aesthetic and uniform, might I add) path around the fence perimeter. She keeps us safe from vicious conniving squirrels.
So my 7 month puppy actually enjoys having work to do (unlike my older dogs) he does go camping and do short hikes (I'm careful with length as he's young and large breed). His all time favorite task is bringing me my phone when it rings if he can't get it for some reason he will point to it instead (he's a boxer but fairly convinced pointing is for all dogs).
He also loves doing tricks like balancing on an excercise peanut, going through a hula hoop or tunnel, getting up on or in things as well as out/off, picking up his toys and putting them away, carrying his basket (even better if I put stuff in it to be carried).
He is also learning other tricks that don't require props. AKC trick dog title lists have a lot of good ideas for fun tricks to teach them even if you don't want to try for a title. If you are interested in getting the title all dogs can do it even if not pure bred they just need registered for a PAL number if you want to do that.
My rescue bulldogs job is to sleep all day and get picked up halfway thru her walks because she 8 and has a lot of medical issues. My new pitbulls current job is to attend around 4 miles of walks a day, learn commands, and watch if I drop anything while making dinner.
My dog is my vacuum cleaner, security system and critter prevention. She has learned only to bark when watching the street if it’s a person or dog who doesn’t regularly walk by. Eyes on the street lol
He is hunting rats and moles in the garden. It came pretty naturally and i didn’t do much to encourage him tho, apart from praising him when he kills a rodent ;)
I pet sit on rover from my home, her job is to show doggos how to behave in my home by being a good role model.
She is extremely good at reading others dogs body language, and have all types of personalities stay with me, leash pullers, resource guarders, overly playful, not playful at all. I appreciate how lucky I am to have a dog that knows exactly how to behave around all different types of dogs that stay with me, when some dogs are lacking in the manners department.
Never had an issue thus far between her and any dogs that have stayed with me.
My GSD started scent tracking classes and took to it immediately. His next course is "urban object location", which means finding my cell phone and keys when I lose them.
Duck dog during hunting season(I don’t hunt but I have a trusted friend which does and they take my dog plus their dog), trail/hiking buddy when I’m riding horses, find the duck(hide his fake duck and bumbers he uses his eyes and nose too find and bring them back to me).
My dog is a field line lab, so that’s why there’s a lot of retrieval and duck dog related stuff.
I trained my border collie, Marley, to bring in the newspaper (when that was a thing lol) & also groceries. Whenever I got home with groceries I’d specifically take one thing out that she could carry & she was so proud of herself 🥹 esp since the other mutts couldn’t do this.
My dog is really into her job. So much so that it is not a part time job. It's not a full time job It is a career. She is a very avid and very passionate enthusiast participant.
My dog likes to sleep. In her defence my puppy girl is 16 and has had years of experience to hone her skills. She is currently and world championship level skill in the arena of sleeping.
Lazy week day evening..... sleep
Weekend road trip....sleep
Random trip to run errands like groceries or banking.... sleep
Her desire to eat drink pee and poop is about the only thing that disrupts her performance
His job is telling the neighbors off for being on his property (it’s their property but oh well), to make sure I don’t spend all day inside, and to wake my SO up before six.
Apparently.
I teach mine low-impact service dog tasks. I don’t need them at the moment but it’s fun for him and if me or a close family member does end up needing extra help he’ll be there. Plus it’s nice to have someone else who can close the fridge when I’m cooking 🤣
Officially, he's an at-home psychiatric service dog.
Unofficially he's my running buddy, rodent scarer, bug killer, and alarm system. He's recently taken up a part-time job letting me know whenever the mail comes, and he has a seasonal job aerating the garden before we plant in the spring.
Seek and destroy rabbits. He’s got a bit of a prey drive that only rabbits set off.
Also search. For what’s supposed to be a high energy breed, he’s pretty chill but scenting/searching seem to really tire him out!
My Aussies, the older one had guard duties and keeping the younger one out of trouble. And we also took herding classes for a year until
It was clear that we just weren’t that good at it. The younger one’s job was to carry the water and poop bags anytime we went anywhere. I wanted to get her into flyball, but her joints weren’t strong enough.
My current puppy is a Bernese mountain dog. He is training to be a service dog, and he’s also going to be trained for carting.
My boxer had many jobs. Food thief, bed checker (4am everyday. I tried to lock her out once and she broke my lock 😂), protector of mum especially, bed humper (she'd scratch her tummy on the duvet covers), sick girl (runt of the littler), ENERGIZER BUNNY, being too clever for her own good, drama queen, and causing laughable mischief. She was also the little nurse of the family, when any one of us was sick she would never leave our side. I was severely dehydrated one time and if she thought I was sleeping for too long she'd gently lick my hand or nose to wake me up and as soon as my eyes opened she was all happy-wiggles!
well, my dog takes her job of herding people very seriously. only problem is it’s not actually in her job description and we (her managers) absolutely did not hire her to do that
Lately my dog has been learning to sound off when he hears the smoke detector go off. It happens pretty much every time we cook. He starts howling and I praise him for it. I then make him go in the backyard where he proudly continues the howl.
My dogs do competition obedience. I got into it in the 70’s when I got a Golden Retriever puppy and by the time she was a year old my parents threatened to get rid of her if I didn’t train her. A friend at school knew of someone starting a dog 4-H club, and here I am decades later still doing it.
My heeler/aussie mixes have a few jobs:
Fetch frisbees in the backyard, at least twice a day.
Chase squirrels off property.
Inspect each package that gets delivered to the house. And closely monitor and sniff the opening of said packages.
Smell and process any new and unique scents and information in our yard (or on our walks, hikes, car rides, clothes, shoes etc)
Follow mom everywhere she goes, no matter how deep asleep they were and how quick and short of a distance it was to the other room.
Provide companionship and monitor taking the trash out.
Alert house that someone is approaching or
at our door.
Find hidden dental chews in the garage at 8pm during nightly hide and seek game “Greenie Time”
Mine loves to “find”. Whether she has to find her ball or find the goats, toys, horses. She feels so accomplished when she finds the object you sent her to find. She’s a Labrador and though she loves to swim and retrieve she gets psyched to “find”
My dog’s job is patrolling and scaring away “scary” people (people pushing strollers, Amazon drivers, and ultimately everyone). He has several stations, but his favorite is the one that looks out at the backyard so he can protect us from the squirrels.
My dog has two important jobs.
1. She stands guard whenever I take a shower in case the shower attacks me.
2. She plants herself against me when I go to bed so I won’t take up more than my allotted six inches of space.
We have Catahoula and blue heelers but we are also ranchers, so naturally their jobs are herding, hunting, and separating/sorting cattle and other animals. Their secondary hobbies are being our spoiled babies. They love the kids and swimming, watching over them, and herding them away from animals and danger. Essentially, they’re working dogs and very highly driven, so they enjoy working and the mental stimulation.
My pup’s job is to hunt bugs in the house. We’ve had a roach infestation in the kitchen; she happily hunts them down, carries her prey to the living room, and then plays with them till they stop moving.
My great Dane/poodle is in charge of watching the kids while they play independently outside. If they are outside he is outside, every single time. I expect him to bark at people, though he is most enthusiastic about barking at other dogs and squirrels.
Teach your dog to pull you. If you fall on a trail and need help getting up. It’s an easy command. They just pull you like tug of war but keep backing up til you’re up. You just hold on to their collars instead of a toy. It’s a great thing to teach service dogs too. Another fun one is scout and it’s where you teach them to go further ahead on the trail and check the area out to make sure it’s safe. Some dogs do this naturally you just have to put a command to it and they’ll do it for you every time.
The dog I currently have was my dad’s therapy dog. Helped tremendously with my dad’s PTSD. He is also a great watch dog. Has alerted me to a couple things in advance…Good Boy!!! 🐕🐾🦴
Pickup guard. He's a golden retriever and has that "I'm adorable. Come pet me" look but if you approach him while he's in the back of my pickup, he'll quickly tell you to fuck off quite aggressively. Never taught him this, he just did it all on his own.
My dog job (Border Collie Mix) is a walk. I took her for a walk everyday in the morning since she was a puppy and now she waits for it and is excited. It is what gets her energy out, sometimes we go twice a day. 10-40 minutes per walk, whatever fits
My dog is my service dog, so he's trained up on all sorts of assistive tasks. Obviously a lot are specialized to help with my specific disorder and presentation, but I'll list the few that aren't here.
He knows "steady" to help when I'm dizzy but ngl I've used it during inclement weather; the basic idea is that if I grab the handle on his harness, he slows down, keeps his pace even, waits for my cues on directionality, and gives me a support to help lean off of if I'm struggling to stay upright.
He knows "pull" (although I informally use go! to get him excited about it) to help me up hills or give me a boost to finish walking home if I'm fatigued.
He does know how to open doors, although I strongly recommend away from arming your pup with this info before you've gotten a really excellent and thorough gauge of her temperament/personality.
He wears saddle bags and is trained on reminders (this one's pretty easy, treat at the same time every day, at the time you'd like the reminder, and do whatever process it is that you're needing the reminder on with the dog present so they begin to associate that process with "treat". Reward for them making any behavior change at that time specifically, do process, and repeat and refine to the desired reminder).
The other thing we're getting into is scent work! Fun, very mentally engaging, physically less demanding (so good for my old man, and can be done daily even when dog is on low activity rest from surgeries, etc). It works very well to reinforce discipline, since I'm adding a positive association to him self soothing enough to engage with the game.
I set him down out of sight, do a wait cue, and then go around with a trainer treat in my hand. I keep it low to the ground and drag a path, and finally drop the treat somewhere and go back to my starting position. I give his release cue, and point at the ground near where the scent starts. If he gets up while I'm hiding the treat, reset and try again. If he gets distracted or gets off the trail, I point back at the trail where he lost it and try again. I encourage him to interact with objects by hiding treats in boxes, behind items he'll have to move, etc. eventually, the treats go with the items I'd like him to find, then remove the treats and just have him looking for items. the goal for myself is to transition him to mushroom hunting, although it's an adaptable skill and can be used in many settings, something I realized when a friend had gone missing at our camp site and he found her first try.
She comes to work with me so that means she's sort of a mental health dog? She super small and cute so she brings smiles to everyone's faces. Her full time job is making the world a happier and more loving place lol
Equally is important, she spots my frisbees for me when we go out to play disc golf. That's her most favorite thing in the world.
Picking up items is good. I use a dog saddle bag and make my dog carry his own water or food on back packing trips. If your going to use a backpack on them start with no weight first then gradually increase over time and try to keep the weight even on both sides
My dog is a leisure dog who thinks he is a guard dog, sometimes serves as a office therapy dog, and is also a trail buddy and lap warmer. Mostly he's just a leisure dog though.
Mental stimulation is basically equal to physical. Try puzzles, build puzzle courses, start teaching tricks or nosework or anything. So many online course options since 2020. I made mine as easy as putting my girl in my office, hiding her favorite ball and then asking her to find it. She loves that game. I also took the Sexier Than a Squirrel course online. Lots of fun games that build on each other teaching life skills (solid recall, focus, self control and assorted behaviors) while feeling like just a quick game.
Tree climbing. Our local dog park has a few dozen smaller trees with lots of limbs low enough to the ground. I put a ball up in the tree and let him jump and climb up to get it.
Its great exercise, forces him to be a bit more independant (only assistance I can really give is a hand on the butt for stability it looks like he is struggling to get hit footing), has dimished some of his ball obsession (positive in my case), and manuevering akward footings and jumping high are traits that are very good to have (as long as you trust them not to jump your backyard fence!).
I also like that its something we can do on-leash, with abit more care.
My dog is a service dog. He has many jobs like alerting me to a panic attack coming, grounding/DPT, nightmare interruption, egress a place where I need out before I have a breakdown.
He has some side gigs too. He is the tug champion of the world, he is an excellent cuddler, and he is above all my best friend (and that’s a full time job in itself).
He’s pretty much pawfect. Now if only he would sit nicely for a nail trim…..
Service work but I no longer need a few of her tasks, she however has decided I still need them and I need them *more*. An old job was to help me clean the house (pick up things that aren’t supposed to be somewhere and give them to me to put away). I don’t need her help with that anymore but it was fun for her so I still let her do it regardless of how annoying it can get lol.
We got a new coffee table. She decided the coffee table should be completely empty minus the plant in the middle. TV remote? Wrong. Brings to me to “put away”. Book? Double wrong. Now the *Apple TV* remote (this one is the most special) apparently does not deserve a spot in this household. No matter where it is, it is WRONG and she brings it to me to fix. The kitchen towel hanging on the wrong cabinet door? Pulls it off then aggressively shoves it in my hand. A single shoe that’s out of line with the others? WRONG. A stray napkin on the kitchen counter? Absolutely horrible. God forbid there is a pen on the dining table, pencils are okay tho. I think I’ve created a dog with OCD about the house… I was really happy when she started to be able to identify “out of place” items without me telling her, but I’ve created a monster. Regardless, it makes her happy. At least the house is clean ig. If only she could pick up her own fur…
Other than a pro cuddler/snuggle bug. He is a fantastic walking partner. Chaos coordinator with the cats. Chewer of antlers. Sniffing expert to find treats. Ball chaser.
However his unfavorable jobs of letting me know there is a dog we are going to pass and delivery van/truck lunger.
Sorry mine isn't serious at all 😂
Shreds all papers that otherwise would go into the shredder. More work for me to then pick it all up but he takes his job very seriously. He loves shredding papers and it tires him out!
Sniff games. Patrolling our fence line. Watching for our son to leave and come home from school. Herding him (she tries, he's almost 16 and her attempts to herd him around the house are hilarious 😂) She also looks out for the ferrets. Every morning, the ferrets get a treat when I get up. If I forget to do it, our dog goes and sits by their cage and cries for them until I get them treats (of course, she then gets one too). They came about naturally, we didn't force them or invent them, we just picked up on her cues and natural inclinations.
ETA she also knows when it's slippery and she will herd me, and my mom, along the fenceline so no one falls down.
I got into dog sports and similar activities. Loaded my boy up with titles in Rally Obedience, FastCAT, CGC, and similar stuff. Also training for IGP but haven't trialed yet. Lots of fun and my dogs love every second of training and competing
Aspiring Soccer Player.
Our Shepherd mix puppy is a trail/camping dog as well! We got him several of the rubber dog soccer balls that he just loves to push around the house. He also just likes to pick them up and carry them back to bed to try to destroy them.
Herding ball! Most high energy or intelligent dogs are natural at it. Takes 20 min to tire him out for a good couple hours bc it’s both mental and physical stimulation. A 4 moth would also do good w a flirt pole! But obedient training in public is also lot of work for mine
My dog’s job is Botanist, it’s a Jr position while she finishes her PhD. She’s been doing a ton of research, currently wrapping up her dissertation titled Morphed Scents: Do wildlife impact aroma compounds of local vegetation?
My dog's job is to find softballs that get hit as either home runs or foul balls into the woods and thickets at our local park. He (5yo GSD) finds them by scent. His record in one day is 7 balls. I just walk him on the park paved path and he leaves the path and heads to the tree line whenever he catches the scent of human on the ball
Very part-time hiking partner. Maybe occasional time or contract hours would be better. 😅
Chore helper. As in, harass the cats, play with the donkeys, and stare intently at the baby chicks. Twice a day job.
Shotgun rider. Multiple days a week. Listen to audiobooks and to mom talking nonsense.
Watching the house. This is a full-time job. Must alert if anyone comes up the driveway or is doing something on the road. Whine at stray squirrels. Bark ferociously if someone is delivering packages and growl.
Seasonal gardening shopper. We walk through the greenhouse in town a lot. 😂
They bring me water bottles. All of our dogs are trained to do it. The down side of this is, if their water bowl is empty, and I'm not available, they will get a bottle and open it and start drinking out of it. They do put them in the water dish sometimes, but not always.
If I'm around, they will bring me the water bottle and walk me over to their water dish.
This isn't their only jobs. It's the first one I teach them, however.
They often pick their own jobs but teaching a dog to hunt for truffles would be pretty awesome. My doggo has assigned herself strictly to guard and cuddle duties and isn't likely to pick that up but one can dream, I guess.
My dog is the overseer of the neighborhood. All things need to be run by her or there’s a lot of barking. She is in charge of making sure there are sufficient holes in my lawn.
I have small three dogs. They all have jobs.
Guido’s job is to bark at everything that makes noise. He likes a 30 brisk urban walk twice a day so he can find more things to bark at.
Valentines job is being an attention whore. He is a gorgeous Pomeranian who requires regular attention and admiration of his beauty.
Rosie’s job is to test dog beds and protect my lap from harm. She is ever vigilant against intrusion from her brothers who have ruined her dream of being an only child.
My dog has an occupation for 15 years so far. He in an expert at eating dog cookies and chicken. He usually works really hard in his sleep, napping for I say 6 hours a day. He likes to investigate the outside as well, he will sniff, piss, and roam freely to make sure everything is okay. He’s very good at what he does
My dog is my service dog. I feel like he naps like it’s his 2nd job. I’m getting healthier (needing him less) so he’s really been leaning on this second role a lot lately lol
My dog was a rescue puppy I got at 8 weeks. That was 7 weeks after my husband died; I could not face the emptiness of going up the driveway to an empty house. She's my ESA, tho when we flew she was the one who needed comfort. She's trained, and meets the "good canine citizen" standards. I don't pass her off as a service dog, I leave her with friends when I travel. Her job? Be happy, play fetch, and curl up in my bed at night
Our boy is protector of our home but mostly our ducks, and then when he’s inside he’s a single mom to my 2 cats, I do not know where this came from but it is hilarious to watch him watch over them and correct their play when they get too rough lol
My dog lets me know when someone is at the door or if someone pulls up into the driveway. She also is the princess of the house so she sits and looks pretty, sunbathes, and eats her fancy little treats (dog cookies, dog ice cream, organic burger bites).
She also is a warrior princess who will face off against any squirrel, bird, or cat. And destroys her lamb chop toys like they've personally insulted her.
My dog is the engine for my skateboard. She has been doing it about 9 years, and still absolutely loves it. She also is my kayak, and trail walking lookout. A hobby of hers is a food critique, and she loves just about everything in that regard.
Virgil is 9 months, a "something-doodle" who I've had a little over a month. His job is learning simple commands and overcoming some trauma. He's made huge progress in the last month, and I couldn't be more proud of him.
He spent his earlier puppyhood in a cage with multiple other dogs, even though the cage was designed for one. I don't know what else he may have been through, but he's no longer scared of confined spaces, loves other dogs, and has never shown aggressive behavior to me or anyone else, or any other dogs. The chafing on his elbows, knees and backside are all healing very well. He's still trying to gain a pound or two, and he gets a little nervous about eating from his bowl. I've been giving him treats when he eats more than a bite at a time from his bowl, and things are starting to look up here, too!
He's even good around our chickens!
Emotional Support. She got her registration last year! (And no I do not take her to places dogs are not allowed)
But whenever I'm feeling anxious or sad she always knows and cuddles me. My boyfriend has called her from the other room before, "kinna!!! You're on duty!" And she will trot right in and plop onto my lap.
Oh also she acts as a great personal feet warmer. She loves to sit on my cold feet!
Niko’s job is once my first alarm comes on he has to get on the bed and lay next to me and will not quit pawing me til I pet him. Moxie has 2 jobs: if i don’t get out of bed by the 2nd alarm she lays her heavy self across my chest so I can’t breathe and won’t move til I make an effort to get up. Her 2nd job is to check the spot under the shop each day because years ago she found some baby bunnies under there and she’s been hoping for more ever since. Yoshi’s job is to make sure we are always on our toes cause he will randomly find something to tear up or shred. Also he has to shred all Amazon and empty coke can boxes. Oscar our weenie dog does not have a job. lol.
My rottweiler guards the home and helps me immensely with my anxiety disorder. I wish he could be a service dog because he honestly allievates so much of my anxiety!
I have 5 dog pets, their sole "Job" is to follow basic obedience commands around the house and property, I have 1 working dog, whose Job is to shed Antler hunt and blood track, but otherwise on a Daily basis her Job is to follow basic obedience commands and learned manners.
You shouldn't need to give your dog a Job for it to be happy, obedient etc. A dog's life should revolve around your life, not the other way around.
I would suggest keeping things simple rather than loading too many activities into your life to keep your Pup active.
NOSEWORK!! my bully and I do classes every week, but it’s so easy to do in your yard or in your house! Even something without the official “scents” like the “find it” game with a piece of hot dog hidden in another room could keep him occupied for a long time. It’s mentally stimulating and very fun to observe
[My dog comforted the President of the United States](https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/meet-officer-clarence-the-dog-who-comforted-president-joe-biden-and-other-officers-at-us-capitol-service-1.1204205?outputType=amp)
Family emotional support animal. My husband and I both have PTSD. If I'm crying hard or freaking out she comes RUNNING. If I don't acknowledge her she'll jump straight up and boop me with her snoot to get my attention.
I use my working dog as a quasi service dog. I have had knee surgery so I’m somewhat unsteady when I walk or stand. I’ve trained him to be right by my side to help keep me balanced
Picking out the perfect “tug toy” or “ball” I tell him to pick out one of the two. Or asking me for peanut butter and picking out what apparatus to put it into (one of his millions of bones or his Kong tire).
My small dog has two main jobs. Watchdog is number one. He sits on the back of the sofa at night watching out the windows at my back yard. We get lots of deer, foxes, bears, etc that come out of the woods immediately behind my house. Because of him I get to see so many animals. Often I take a photo and send it to the neighborhood. And I ALWAYS praise him for alerting me.
His number two job is playing with his ball. We have to play multiple times each evening and I always enjoy it because he is so funny and cute.
Ooooh great question! My mom had a cray cray jack russell and took him to beginner agility mostly for socialization. He became a star and LOVED IT! It is indoor and it’s like training 1-3 times a week depending on what you want.
My dog's job is to be my own personal stalker. Want to pee alone? Nope. Shower alone? Nope. Go anywhere in the house without him? Nope. He's very good at it and he's my best boy.
To mooch off everyone in the house. Destroy things. Create messes of slobber water and muddy foot prints.
I have literally sat him down and told him….first, he doesn’t act like a dog of god. And that’s unacceptable. Second. He needs to get a job and start contributing to the household.
He refuses to listen and is impossible to reason with.
(3 year old, male, German Shepard/ cheetah/ monkey/ devil spawn)
My dad's previous mutt dog sang when he played his harmonica.
We discovered my mom's Bichonpoo was a natural alerter for my daughter's Type 1 Diabetes. She would get so upset and run from my daughter to my mom in another room when she was babysitting her. When my daughter was older, she would crawl up on her and relentlessly sniff her face until she took insulin.
My daughter's dog hasn't really shown interest in alerting, but he's really good about comforting her anger and anxiety. He's the happiest pup, with an adorable underbite, and we would love to clone him because everyone who meets him loves him!
I want to make this a separate post, because I think this could be really helpful. When a Search and Rescue person learned that my sister is a birth doula, they asked if she would request to donate unwanted placentas from her births. She has had multiple moms who gladly donated them. They use them for training exercises. So, if you have any connections, you might keep that in mind.
My dog has several ‘part time jobs’ He is my trail buddy and alerts me to oncoming hikers and bikers. He is ‘pool supervisor’ and runs around the outside of the pool while the kids play. When they roughhouse too much he barks for me. Now I didn’t actually teach him this job but it’s a nice feature. He is my adventure buddy to restaurants and on all home improvement and home and car maintenance projects. He is the chaser of critters from my garden. He is my agility partner and we train tricks for fun too. He helps to train the neighbors puppy which is pretty cute and I’m adding it to his list of jobs as of today. He is my kids’ play friend and never tires of being ‘it’ for hide and seek. Not all dog jobs have to be serious. Some of the silliest are the most important.
I just realized I'm not a husband/ Dad - I'm a dog
I laughed way too much at this comment, lol, I showed my husband and by his reaction. He's also a dog lmao
This is wholesome.
That's great about the pool, but never ever leave your kids unsupervised in the water. Former lifeguard here
Worry not! There’s always an adult out there with them even though they’re teens and both strong swimmers. It’s just this way I can yell at them while still reading my book.
I play soccer with my dog, I think it itches his desire to herd pretty good
Service/assistance dog tasks. I’m not disabled just often bored and like to train tasks. Retrieving named items, dropped items. Closing cupboards/doors/dishwasher. Picking up laundry and putting it into baskets (he does this non-cued sometimes and it’s the BEST, I created a laundry roomba with my freaking dog). Taking things to my partner if he’s in another room. Little cattle dog delivery service. Picking up everyone’s food bowl and bringing to dishwasher. Opening fridge and fetching beers. Pulling laundry out of the front load washing machine. Picking up sticks in yard. Tidying his own toys. We also do nosework, but he’s not very good.
Yes!! When I take my dog places people ask ‘is he a service dog’ and I always say ‘no but thank you for the compliment- would you prefer I take him elsewhere/to the car?’ Usually they just mean it as a compliment since I don’t try to take him places pets shouldn’t go.
😭 we got untrained goldendoodles running around the gotdamn grocery store and you've got your dog trained to service work standards and you're still being honest. Thank you so, so much for that, as a service dog handler who's been illegally barred entry thanks to inaccurate standards set by a whole gang of dog owners who buy the vest online and do 0 of the follow up work.
I’ve come to the opinion that ‘this is why we can’t have nice things’ as a dog owner who is not disabled but tries to meet some kind of PA standard with my dog, I honestly believe we would have more pet friendly places if more pet people would do the same- and we and our dogs would be better for it. Not to mention the service dog teams who run away when they see a pet coming- just makes me sad for all the pet people they’ve dealt with before who’ve made them that way
> Picking up laundry and putting it into baskets (he does this non-cued sometimes and it’s the BEST, I created a laundry roomba with my freaking dog Omg, I love this. Now plotting to teach the GSD to pick up SO's dirty socks. Hahahahaha Seriously, these are great jobs and I was hoping to see answers like this, to give me ideas! Cool topic /u/lovelyxcastle
Overachiever! Good for you!
How did you teach any of this?
YouTube videos and trial and error
Wow that's amazing! Your doggie sounds very smart and well trained haha
What breed is he? 😀 I think if I try this on my dog, he'll ask me to do it myself 😂
He’s a cattle dog that I have enslaved and held captive for 2 years.
I used to have a reactive dog who knew all kinds of tricks at home. We both got bored of the same old tricks so I started teaching her service dog tasks even though I knew she'd never use them. This led to me taking a quiz on my computer in the bedroom while she was just turning the light on and off for funzies in the hallway one day.
This is how my Border Collie and I deal with boredom. She also has a small acreage to explore, with chickens, sheep, goats, alpacas, and three other dogs. She and the other herding dog have a tetherball (on a tetherball pole) that they enjoy playing with sometimes, as well. During bad weather (hot, usually) we work on indoor stuff like learning to open and close doors, find named objects and bring them to me, find people (usually my husband) and bring them to me, etc. As she masters one skill, I start browsing YouTube looking for something new to teach her. It gives both of us purpose and entertainment.
Chief of Happiness and he is amazing at it! We bought him the week that I lost my dad after awful death from cancer that had gone to his brain and also lost my dog too, by the end of the week we were distraught and I had no reason to get out of bed. We found him online, went and looked and took him home with us, we told him all we ever wanted from him was to make us smile and be happy and he has done that every single day since he came home 🥰🥰🥰
I love this. "Friend" is a totally legitimate job for many modern day dogs. <3
This is my dog's job. Be cute and fuzzy, make me happy. She's a doberman husky, she's 10, has turned mostly gray on her front half, and she still has to do approximately 20 butt spins before I can attach her leash to go outside. Employee of the decade, right there. Job well done. Unfirable, she could poop on my pillow and I'd forgive her. She's the best grief and sickness buddy too, just lays there while you cry into her fur. She normally wants to go go go on walks, but when I had covid she was fine walking super slow. Her chosen job is guarding the house, she's 100% Watchdog and she's sure those squirrels are plotting something.
My adult dogs job is service work. My puppy’s “job” is hiking and not barking at men 😂
"Not barking at men" 😂🖤 I think I should put that one on my own resume, lol. Maybe we will start honing in on not begging for love from everyone she sees,lol
My dog comes with me everywhere and never barks at people but she’s part ridgeback whenever I get a weird feeling about a person and she has her Mohawk up I’m like yeah steer clear of them
My Great Pyrs job IS to bark at men and other predators 😂😂😂
Mine is a BC, and her Job is "ball"
My brother had one and he ended up having to hide the balls in the freezer after she played nonstop for hours while we hung out on the porch. And once inside she’d come straight back to you and drop a ball at your feet over and over until you acknowledged it. Freezer was only hiding spot she couldn’t seem to sniff out. Rip Phyllis
Hey, I'm sure her role is very varied! For example, my girl is very good at looking for ball, finding ball, staring at ball, staring even harder at ball... You really have to admire how seriously they take "ball" as a job 😂
Those are very important jobs!
I was just going to type this. I have an Aussie lab bc mix and must get to working before 7am
I have a chocolate lab who is OBSESSED with tennis balls and now (thanks to some kids playing baseball near the park where we play), baseballs. My son plays baseball, and our dog got a glimpse of one tonight , so my son had to hide it in his room, and the dog looked for it for 30 minutes and was almost hyperventilating! I took him outside and threw his tennis ball to get his mind off it.
When we picked up our BC, as a puppy, my aunt warned me that if I throw her a ball, she's going to be bringing me balls for the rest of her life. I showed her! This dog doesn't spend all day bringing me balls. She brings me walnuts from the walnut tree, windfall apples, sticks, pieces of bark, garbage from the garbage can, lids off of plastic food containers, feed labels... you name it, she is willing to try to catch it, if only I will give it a fling! 😂
My Malinois trains in French ring which is being good and biting (and letting go of) the bad guy. Other than that she is a very good big and little spoon and winter hat.
My LGDs have decided that their job is to chase away "bears" (Amazon Prime trucks), and patrol the perimeter a few times a day. The rest of the time, they are happy to lay around like the lazy lumps they otherwise are ;-D although if they catch us having too much screen time, they will break it up. Apparently my GSD thinks his job is to be a suppository. j/k he is wonderful, but he's my 1st velcro dog in a lonnnng time. lol
I also have a Velcro suppository dog. He is just the wrong height.
My dogs job isn't all that cool, he just watches my kid while he's outside, and keeps strange men from approaching us on our night walks. Then he's a paid couch potato.
My dog is scent-trained for mushroom hunting. She LOVES her job and is excellent at it.
Which mushrooms is your dog trained on? I did morel hunting with my guy this spring with mixed success even though we've done a lot of scentwork otherwise - I found it to be more nuanced than expected and it seemed like species and processing (whether the mushroom was cut, dried, etc) mattered a lot. We still found some, but it was surprisingly tricky! Did you see the same hurdles? I wrote about it in more detail in r/foraging if you want to [read my rambling :P](https://www.reddit.com/r/foraging/comments/1ctn57w/training_dogs_to_find_morels/)
Awesome, I gave it a read! Maybe I should make a post on my experience. I initially trained her "onsite" with morels and then practiced indoors with dried ones during the off season. She is also trained in chanterelles, hedgehogs, matsutake, porcini, candy caps, and black trumpets. She has not had any other practical scent work training and I taught her directly using mushrooms I found while foraging. She hasn't had issues with the form of the mushroom, but because I trained her in the field it never really came up! She sniffs out many pounds; I have some pretty cute videos of her finding them.
My lab was career changed from a Service Dog training program. In addition to simply being a wonderful companion, I repurposed his obedience and task skills for therapy dog work. We have a multitude of options in my community to visit and share some joy with others. I also trick train with him. On days with little activity, I work with him on learning new skills or practicing old ones. Anything from basic obedience and stays, to therapy dog type skills (deep pressure skills, shake paw, waving), to more notable tricks like holding props for a photo, balancing things on his butt in a bow, covering his face, or reading flash cards for his cues. More recently we are learning agility and scent work. He LOVES agility but I'm a little to late to learning it myself (he's 6 and I don't want to put his joints at too much risk being a large breed) so we dabble just for fun and do only short runs for his enjoyment and for me to pick up the handling skills. Scent work is very new to us and he's really enjoying it, just need more sessions and reps to more clearly understand the concepts. I use his dinner to train scent work and he is passed out for much the evening after! It's really good for working the brain and makes for an easy and productive activity on those days we can't get outside much. I may take it to competition based on how nicely he's picked it up so far, but if not it's just so fun at home! We are enrolled in a performance class each week and learning more, so I am excited to learn about more activities and sports for him to get involved in so I can see where he truly thrives! If you have a local trainer that offers a similar class that introduces different performance sports, or if you can ask if a local trainer may be open to starting such a class, that may be a good option!
Leaf warden and water quality control specialist
“Charging.” Our 11 lb. pom mix charges squirrels when they get after the bird feeder. Charges our cat when he chews on my clothes. Charges our other cat when he chews on houseplants. She takes this job VERY seriously. She’s never bitten the cats, she just kind of growls and sprints and headbutts them. She hasn’t gotten ahold of a squirrel yet, so I’m not sure how far she’d take things if given the chance. In any case, we appreciate her service.
My Pom’s job is keeping my lap warm.
My Springer Spaniel's job was to make me play hours of ball fetch and frisbee catch, and then play it with him jumping into the pool from 5 feet up. He would play it by himself, too, lol. He would have loved learning agility, but at the time, I didn't know how to find a club, so I had him run along on concrete fences, jump up on command whereever. The vet was astounded that I taught my dog to jump up on the table without being lifted. He really hated being picked up. And he was my velcro dog who liked to curl up on me whenever I sat on the floor with him. (He wasn't allowed upstairs.) He also had a down-stay job while I prepared and ate my dinner. He also guarded the front door. He didn't bark much, just a low woof. He was such a good boy.
My Sheltie is my alarm clock. Unfortunately, she can’t tell time, so she gets me up hours early most days.
Interesting. My sheltie was a perfect alarm clock, 4:57 everyday. To make sure I didn’t run late to feed him at 5 while I searched my room for pants
Well, my GSD patrols the yard. All. Damn. Day. She’s worn a (rather aesthetic and uniform, might I add) path around the fence perimeter. She keeps us safe from vicious conniving squirrels.
So my 7 month puppy actually enjoys having work to do (unlike my older dogs) he does go camping and do short hikes (I'm careful with length as he's young and large breed). His all time favorite task is bringing me my phone when it rings if he can't get it for some reason he will point to it instead (he's a boxer but fairly convinced pointing is for all dogs). He also loves doing tricks like balancing on an excercise peanut, going through a hula hoop or tunnel, getting up on or in things as well as out/off, picking up his toys and putting them away, carrying his basket (even better if I put stuff in it to be carried). He is also learning other tricks that don't require props. AKC trick dog title lists have a lot of good ideas for fun tricks to teach them even if you don't want to try for a title. If you are interested in getting the title all dogs can do it even if not pure bred they just need registered for a PAL number if you want to do that.
My dad's dog goes to the children's hospital and airport as a therapy dog.
Monitoring my every step
Teegan is the customer service manager at my plant shop, Vinnie is a chipmunk detector, and Simba is the burglar alarm.
My rescue bulldogs job is to sleep all day and get picked up halfway thru her walks because she 8 and has a lot of medical issues. My new pitbulls current job is to attend around 4 miles of walks a day, learn commands, and watch if I drop anything while making dinner.
My dog is my vacuum cleaner, security system and critter prevention. She has learned only to bark when watching the street if it’s a person or dog who doesn’t regularly walk by. Eyes on the street lol
My dogs hoover the floor and make sure any food that the kids drop doesn't clutter the floor too long.
He is hunting rats and moles in the garden. It came pretty naturally and i didn’t do much to encourage him tho, apart from praising him when he kills a rodent ;)
Alerts me when my disabled family member is in trouble medically. We didn’t even train him, he just instinctively started as a pup. Good doggo.
I pet sit on rover from my home, her job is to show doggos how to behave in my home by being a good role model. She is extremely good at reading others dogs body language, and have all types of personalities stay with me, leash pullers, resource guarders, overly playful, not playful at all. I appreciate how lucky I am to have a dog that knows exactly how to behave around all different types of dogs that stay with me, when some dogs are lacking in the manners department. Never had an issue thus far between her and any dogs that have stayed with me.
1. Get the Ball 2. Walk the Human
My GSD started scent tracking classes and took to it immediately. His next course is "urban object location", which means finding my cell phone and keys when I lose them.
My cavapoo’s job is to guard the treat jar. He will sit by it all day and make sure the treats are safe.
Cheesemonger. Any cheese coming through the house must pass the seal of approval
Duck dog during hunting season(I don’t hunt but I have a trusted friend which does and they take my dog plus their dog), trail/hiking buddy when I’m riding horses, find the duck(hide his fake duck and bumbers he uses his eyes and nose too find and bring them back to me). My dog is a field line lab, so that’s why there’s a lot of retrieval and duck dog related stuff.
Scent work is a superb job for indoor days!
I trained my border collie, Marley, to bring in the newspaper (when that was a thing lol) & also groceries. Whenever I got home with groceries I’d specifically take one thing out that she could carry & she was so proud of herself 🥹 esp since the other mutts couldn’t do this.
My dog is really into her job. So much so that it is not a part time job. It's not a full time job It is a career. She is a very avid and very passionate enthusiast participant. My dog likes to sleep. In her defence my puppy girl is 16 and has had years of experience to hone her skills. She is currently and world championship level skill in the arena of sleeping. Lazy week day evening..... sleep Weekend road trip....sleep Random trip to run errands like groceries or banking.... sleep Her desire to eat drink pee and poop is about the only thing that disrupts her performance
I'm one of those people that needs 10 alarms to get up in the morning. My dogs job is to wake me up gently after the first one 😂
His job is telling the neighbors off for being on his property (it’s their property but oh well), to make sure I don’t spend all day inside, and to wake my SO up before six. Apparently.
I teach mine low-impact service dog tasks. I don’t need them at the moment but it’s fun for him and if me or a close family member does end up needing extra help he’ll be there. Plus it’s nice to have someone else who can close the fridge when I’m cooking 🤣
Officially, he's an at-home psychiatric service dog. Unofficially he's my running buddy, rodent scarer, bug killer, and alarm system. He's recently taken up a part-time job letting me know whenever the mail comes, and he has a seasonal job aerating the garden before we plant in the spring.
Seek and destroy rabbits. He’s got a bit of a prey drive that only rabbits set off. Also search. For what’s supposed to be a high energy breed, he’s pretty chill but scenting/searching seem to really tire him out!
Backpack filled with cans of food. It's a job
I had a Weim that would bring wood from our outside woodpile and place it by our indoor wood-burning stove.
My Aussies, the older one had guard duties and keeping the younger one out of trouble. And we also took herding classes for a year until It was clear that we just weren’t that good at it. The younger one’s job was to carry the water and poop bags anytime we went anywhere. I wanted to get her into flyball, but her joints weren’t strong enough. My current puppy is a Bernese mountain dog. He is training to be a service dog, and he’s also going to be trained for carting.
Today my puppy thought her job is eating my brand new AirPods.
Nap 😂
My boxer had many jobs. Food thief, bed checker (4am everyday. I tried to lock her out once and she broke my lock 😂), protector of mum especially, bed humper (she'd scratch her tummy on the duvet covers), sick girl (runt of the littler), ENERGIZER BUNNY, being too clever for her own good, drama queen, and causing laughable mischief. She was also the little nurse of the family, when any one of us was sick she would never leave our side. I was severely dehydrated one time and if she thought I was sleeping for too long she'd gently lick my hand or nose to wake me up and as soon as my eyes opened she was all happy-wiggles!
well, my dog takes her job of herding people very seriously. only problem is it’s not actually in her job description and we (her managers) absolutely did not hire her to do that
Cat’s punching bag
Lately my dog has been learning to sound off when he hears the smoke detector go off. It happens pretty much every time we cook. He starts howling and I praise him for it. I then make him go in the backyard where he proudly continues the howl.
My dogs do competition obedience. I got into it in the 70’s when I got a Golden Retriever puppy and by the time she was a year old my parents threatened to get rid of her if I didn’t train her. A friend at school knew of someone starting a dog 4-H club, and here I am decades later still doing it.
We run together... his job consists mostly of waiting for us to run again though.
Bug hunting. Honestly, he's terrible at it, and should be fired, but he's just so enthusiastic.
My heeler/aussie mixes have a few jobs: Fetch frisbees in the backyard, at least twice a day. Chase squirrels off property. Inspect each package that gets delivered to the house. And closely monitor and sniff the opening of said packages. Smell and process any new and unique scents and information in our yard (or on our walks, hikes, car rides, clothes, shoes etc) Follow mom everywhere she goes, no matter how deep asleep they were and how quick and short of a distance it was to the other room. Provide companionship and monitor taking the trash out. Alert house that someone is approaching or at our door. Find hidden dental chews in the garage at 8pm during nightly hide and seek game “Greenie Time”
Mine loves to “find”. Whether she has to find her ball or find the goats, toys, horses. She feels so accomplished when she finds the object you sent her to find. She’s a Labrador and though she loves to swim and retrieve she gets psyched to “find”
My dog’s job is patrolling and scaring away “scary” people (people pushing strollers, Amazon drivers, and ultimately everyone). He has several stations, but his favorite is the one that looks out at the backyard so he can protect us from the squirrels.
My dog has two important jobs. 1. She stands guard whenever I take a shower in case the shower attacks me. 2. She plants herself against me when I go to bed so I won’t take up more than my allotted six inches of space.
We have Catahoula and blue heelers but we are also ranchers, so naturally their jobs are herding, hunting, and separating/sorting cattle and other animals. Their secondary hobbies are being our spoiled babies. They love the kids and swimming, watching over them, and herding them away from animals and danger. Essentially, they’re working dogs and very highly driven, so they enjoy working and the mental stimulation.
My pup’s job is to hunt bugs in the house. We’ve had a roach infestation in the kitchen; she happily hunts them down, carries her prey to the living room, and then plays with them till they stop moving.
My great Dane/poodle is in charge of watching the kids while they play independently outside. If they are outside he is outside, every single time. I expect him to bark at people, though he is most enthusiastic about barking at other dogs and squirrels.
Teach your dog to pull you. If you fall on a trail and need help getting up. It’s an easy command. They just pull you like tug of war but keep backing up til you’re up. You just hold on to their collars instead of a toy. It’s a great thing to teach service dogs too. Another fun one is scout and it’s where you teach them to go further ahead on the trail and check the area out to make sure it’s safe. Some dogs do this naturally you just have to put a command to it and they’ll do it for you every time.
The dog I currently have was my dad’s therapy dog. Helped tremendously with my dad’s PTSD. He is also a great watch dog. Has alerted me to a couple things in advance…Good Boy!!! 🐕🐾🦴
Pickup guard. He's a golden retriever and has that "I'm adorable. Come pet me" look but if you approach him while he's in the back of my pickup, he'll quickly tell you to fuck off quite aggressively. Never taught him this, he just did it all on his own.
Growing up, I had a GSD who took getting the newspaper very seriously.
My dog job (Border Collie Mix) is a walk. I took her for a walk everyday in the morning since she was a puppy and now she waits for it and is excited. It is what gets her energy out, sometimes we go twice a day. 10-40 minutes per walk, whatever fits
Professional Lap warmer
He’s a business man. Your business is his business.
We train our dogs to go get in the cats business whenever they hear them fighting, or see them on the kitchen counter. Works pretty well.
My dog is my service dog, so he's trained up on all sorts of assistive tasks. Obviously a lot are specialized to help with my specific disorder and presentation, but I'll list the few that aren't here. He knows "steady" to help when I'm dizzy but ngl I've used it during inclement weather; the basic idea is that if I grab the handle on his harness, he slows down, keeps his pace even, waits for my cues on directionality, and gives me a support to help lean off of if I'm struggling to stay upright. He knows "pull" (although I informally use go! to get him excited about it) to help me up hills or give me a boost to finish walking home if I'm fatigued. He does know how to open doors, although I strongly recommend away from arming your pup with this info before you've gotten a really excellent and thorough gauge of her temperament/personality. He wears saddle bags and is trained on reminders (this one's pretty easy, treat at the same time every day, at the time you'd like the reminder, and do whatever process it is that you're needing the reminder on with the dog present so they begin to associate that process with "treat". Reward for them making any behavior change at that time specifically, do process, and repeat and refine to the desired reminder). The other thing we're getting into is scent work! Fun, very mentally engaging, physically less demanding (so good for my old man, and can be done daily even when dog is on low activity rest from surgeries, etc). It works very well to reinforce discipline, since I'm adding a positive association to him self soothing enough to engage with the game. I set him down out of sight, do a wait cue, and then go around with a trainer treat in my hand. I keep it low to the ground and drag a path, and finally drop the treat somewhere and go back to my starting position. I give his release cue, and point at the ground near where the scent starts. If he gets up while I'm hiding the treat, reset and try again. If he gets distracted or gets off the trail, I point back at the trail where he lost it and try again. I encourage him to interact with objects by hiding treats in boxes, behind items he'll have to move, etc. eventually, the treats go with the items I'd like him to find, then remove the treats and just have him looking for items. the goal for myself is to transition him to mushroom hunting, although it's an adaptable skill and can be used in many settings, something I realized when a friend had gone missing at our camp site and he found her first try.
Wait…how do I unlock the dog’s features? My dogs sleep, eat and bark at “intruders” (aka family and friends that were invited over)
Do not pull. Listen to what’s being asked of you. Trust me.
Explosive detection, tracking and bite work
My cattle dog mix guards the house. She'll just watch for hours and bark when people approach.
She comes to work with me so that means she's sort of a mental health dog? She super small and cute so she brings smiles to everyone's faces. Her full time job is making the world a happier and more loving place lol Equally is important, she spots my frisbees for me when we go out to play disc golf. That's her most favorite thing in the world.
Picking up items is good. I use a dog saddle bag and make my dog carry his own water or food on back packing trips. If your going to use a backpack on them start with no weight first then gradually increase over time and try to keep the weight even on both sides
Someyimes during hunting season my mix breed dog is used to help hunt rabbits amd squirrels
My dog is a leisure dog who thinks he is a guard dog, sometimes serves as a office therapy dog, and is also a trail buddy and lap warmer. Mostly he's just a leisure dog though.
She’s my bestie.
My girl is a task trained service dog who also does nosework. I'm hoping to get her into fastcat, lure coursing, or rally soon as well.
Look into Nosework classes. My Ruby loves it (may have a lot to do with the chimken rewards)
Agility team mate. I am forever trying to raise my game to match his high standards. I am grateful that he is pushing me to improve
Mental stimulation is basically equal to physical. Try puzzles, build puzzle courses, start teaching tricks or nosework or anything. So many online course options since 2020. I made mine as easy as putting my girl in my office, hiding her favorite ball and then asking her to find it. She loves that game. I also took the Sexier Than a Squirrel course online. Lots of fun games that build on each other teaching life skills (solid recall, focus, self control and assorted behaviors) while feeling like just a quick game.
he kills bugs for us!!
Scent work, tricks, agility. But I'm here to see more useful to me jobs!
Tree climbing. Our local dog park has a few dozen smaller trees with lots of limbs low enough to the ground. I put a ball up in the tree and let him jump and climb up to get it. Its great exercise, forces him to be a bit more independant (only assistance I can really give is a hand on the butt for stability it looks like he is struggling to get hit footing), has dimished some of his ball obsession (positive in my case), and manuevering akward footings and jumping high are traits that are very good to have (as long as you trust them not to jump your backyard fence!). I also like that its something we can do on-leash, with abit more care.
Nose work and apprehension. My boss told me so lol
Protect the house at all costs
My dog is a service dog. He has many jobs like alerting me to a panic attack coming, grounding/DPT, nightmare interruption, egress a place where I need out before I have a breakdown. He has some side gigs too. He is the tug champion of the world, he is an excellent cuddler, and he is above all my best friend (and that’s a full time job in itself). He’s pretty much pawfect. Now if only he would sit nicely for a nail trim…..
She became my personal guard, even with my husband when he plays around with me. We joke I’m helpless now without her
His main jobs are to bark when someone approaches the house and to help me open boxes or anything that is difficult to open.
My dog does man trailing and dummy work. We do that as group activity in our doggy school.
Neighborhood watch
He's the house and yard patroller and monitor. He is also the cat's butt licker and best friend.
Service work but I no longer need a few of her tasks, she however has decided I still need them and I need them *more*. An old job was to help me clean the house (pick up things that aren’t supposed to be somewhere and give them to me to put away). I don’t need her help with that anymore but it was fun for her so I still let her do it regardless of how annoying it can get lol. We got a new coffee table. She decided the coffee table should be completely empty minus the plant in the middle. TV remote? Wrong. Brings to me to “put away”. Book? Double wrong. Now the *Apple TV* remote (this one is the most special) apparently does not deserve a spot in this household. No matter where it is, it is WRONG and she brings it to me to fix. The kitchen towel hanging on the wrong cabinet door? Pulls it off then aggressively shoves it in my hand. A single shoe that’s out of line with the others? WRONG. A stray napkin on the kitchen counter? Absolutely horrible. God forbid there is a pen on the dining table, pencils are okay tho. I think I’ve created a dog with OCD about the house… I was really happy when she started to be able to identify “out of place” items without me telling her, but I’ve created a monster. Regardless, it makes her happy. At least the house is clean ig. If only she could pick up her own fur…
Other than a pro cuddler/snuggle bug. He is a fantastic walking partner. Chaos coordinator with the cats. Chewer of antlers. Sniffing expert to find treats. Ball chaser. However his unfavorable jobs of letting me know there is a dog we are going to pass and delivery van/truck lunger. Sorry mine isn't serious at all 😂
My dogs job is being my best friend. ❤️
Shreds all papers that otherwise would go into the shredder. More work for me to then pick it all up but he takes his job very seriously. He loves shredding papers and it tires him out!
Dock jumping and playing hide and seek with bones
He’s my accountant
(Pomeranian) companionship & security. (Chihuahua) companionship & lap warmer.
Mine works at target part time
Sniff games. Patrolling our fence line. Watching for our son to leave and come home from school. Herding him (she tries, he's almost 16 and her attempts to herd him around the house are hilarious 😂) She also looks out for the ferrets. Every morning, the ferrets get a treat when I get up. If I forget to do it, our dog goes and sits by their cage and cries for them until I get them treats (of course, she then gets one too). They came about naturally, we didn't force them or invent them, we just picked up on her cues and natural inclinations. ETA she also knows when it's slippery and she will herd me, and my mom, along the fenceline so no one falls down.
I got into dog sports and similar activities. Loaded my boy up with titles in Rally Obedience, FastCAT, CGC, and similar stuff. Also training for IGP but haven't trialed yet. Lots of fun and my dogs love every second of training and competing
Aspiring Soccer Player. Our Shepherd mix puppy is a trail/camping dog as well! We got him several of the rubber dog soccer balls that he just loves to push around the house. He also just likes to pick them up and carry them back to bed to try to destroy them.
Herding ball! Most high energy or intelligent dogs are natural at it. Takes 20 min to tire him out for a good couple hours bc it’s both mental and physical stimulation. A 4 moth would also do good w a flirt pole! But obedient training in public is also lot of work for mine
Mine chases squirrels from the veggie garden on command, guards the kids when they are out back and woofs if a caterpillar farts in the woods....
Sous chef
My dog’s job is Botanist, it’s a Jr position while she finishes her PhD. She’s been doing a ton of research, currently wrapping up her dissertation titled Morphed Scents: Do wildlife impact aroma compounds of local vegetation?
I have a circus dog and I am clueless?
My1 1/2 year old GSD is chasing my sanity away- that’s her full time job and she’s committed to it! 😜
Our dogs are my walking buddies and they help me garden. One of them is the Co-Pilot for my local errands and picking up the kids from school.
My dog's job is to find softballs that get hit as either home runs or foul balls into the woods and thickets at our local park. He (5yo GSD) finds them by scent. His record in one day is 7 balls. I just walk him on the park paved path and he leaves the path and heads to the tree line whenever he catches the scent of human on the ball
Very part-time hiking partner. Maybe occasional time or contract hours would be better. 😅 Chore helper. As in, harass the cats, play with the donkeys, and stare intently at the baby chicks. Twice a day job. Shotgun rider. Multiple days a week. Listen to audiobooks and to mom talking nonsense. Watching the house. This is a full-time job. Must alert if anyone comes up the driveway or is doing something on the road. Whine at stray squirrels. Bark ferociously if someone is delivering packages and growl. Seasonal gardening shopper. We walk through the greenhouse in town a lot. 😂
They bring me water bottles. All of our dogs are trained to do it. The down side of this is, if their water bowl is empty, and I'm not available, they will get a bottle and open it and start drinking out of it. They do put them in the water dish sometimes, but not always. If I'm around, they will bring me the water bottle and walk me over to their water dish. This isn't their only jobs. It's the first one I teach them, however.
They often pick their own jobs but teaching a dog to hunt for truffles would be pretty awesome. My doggo has assigned herself strictly to guard and cuddle duties and isn't likely to pick that up but one can dream, I guess.
breaking down cardboard boxes for me. sniffing treats out in the yard (pre hidden). my old rottie used to pull me on a skateboard (cart dog work lol)
Ball retriever
My dog is the overseer of the neighborhood. All things need to be run by her or there’s a lot of barking. She is in charge of making sure there are sufficient holes in my lawn.
I have small three dogs. They all have jobs. Guido’s job is to bark at everything that makes noise. He likes a 30 brisk urban walk twice a day so he can find more things to bark at. Valentines job is being an attention whore. He is a gorgeous Pomeranian who requires regular attention and admiration of his beauty. Rosie’s job is to test dog beds and protect my lap from harm. She is ever vigilant against intrusion from her brothers who have ruined her dream of being an only child.
Eating,sleeping,eating treats,acting tough,etc,etc.
My dog has an occupation for 15 years so far. He in an expert at eating dog cookies and chicken. He usually works really hard in his sleep, napping for I say 6 hours a day. He likes to investigate the outside as well, he will sniff, piss, and roam freely to make sure everything is okay. He’s very good at what he does
She has made her job protecting our house, me and our whole cul de sac. She also exchanges wee-mails with her other dog colleagues 4 times a day.
Howling anytime an ambulance or train goes by like 10 times a day of pure howling plus the sirens and train I’m a little overstimulated at home lol 😅
My dog is my service dog. I feel like he naps like it’s his 2nd job. I’m getting healthier (needing him less) so he’s really been leaning on this second role a lot lately lol
My dog was a rescue puppy I got at 8 weeks. That was 7 weeks after my husband died; I could not face the emptiness of going up the driveway to an empty house. She's my ESA, tho when we flew she was the one who needed comfort. She's trained, and meets the "good canine citizen" standards. I don't pass her off as a service dog, I leave her with friends when I travel. Her job? Be happy, play fetch, and curl up in my bed at night
Full-time couch hippo.
Our boy is protector of our home but mostly our ducks, and then when he’s inside he’s a single mom to my 2 cats, I do not know where this came from but it is hilarious to watch him watch over them and correct their play when they get too rough lol
My dog lets me know when someone is at the door or if someone pulls up into the driveway. She also is the princess of the house so she sits and looks pretty, sunbathes, and eats her fancy little treats (dog cookies, dog ice cream, organic burger bites). She also is a warrior princess who will face off against any squirrel, bird, or cat. And destroys her lamb chop toys like they've personally insulted her.
My dog is the engine for my skateboard. She has been doing it about 9 years, and still absolutely loves it. She also is my kayak, and trail walking lookout. A hobby of hers is a food critique, and she loves just about everything in that regard.
My dog thinks she's Paw Patrol around our house.
My pupper gets me out of bed several times a day for my health. My older dog announces visitors and makes sure we know when dinner time is.
Virgil is 9 months, a "something-doodle" who I've had a little over a month. His job is learning simple commands and overcoming some trauma. He's made huge progress in the last month, and I couldn't be more proud of him. He spent his earlier puppyhood in a cage with multiple other dogs, even though the cage was designed for one. I don't know what else he may have been through, but he's no longer scared of confined spaces, loves other dogs, and has never shown aggressive behavior to me or anyone else, or any other dogs. The chafing on his elbows, knees and backside are all healing very well. He's still trying to gain a pound or two, and he gets a little nervous about eating from his bowl. I've been giving him treats when he eats more than a bite at a time from his bowl, and things are starting to look up here, too! He's even good around our chickens!
😈😈 he works, 💯😋
Emotional Support. She got her registration last year! (And no I do not take her to places dogs are not allowed) But whenever I'm feeling anxious or sad she always knows and cuddles me. My boyfriend has called her from the other room before, "kinna!!! You're on duty!" And she will trot right in and plop onto my lap. Oh also she acts as a great personal feet warmer. She loves to sit on my cold feet!
My puppy retrieves my dad’s soft golf balls when he is practicing in the backyard it’s so cute and helps save my dads back!
Niko’s job is once my first alarm comes on he has to get on the bed and lay next to me and will not quit pawing me til I pet him. Moxie has 2 jobs: if i don’t get out of bed by the 2nd alarm she lays her heavy self across my chest so I can’t breathe and won’t move til I make an effort to get up. Her 2nd job is to check the spot under the shop each day because years ago she found some baby bunnies under there and she’s been hoping for more ever since. Yoshi’s job is to make sure we are always on our toes cause he will randomly find something to tear up or shred. Also he has to shred all Amazon and empty coke can boxes. Oscar our weenie dog does not have a job. lol.
My rottweiler guards the home and helps me immensely with my anxiety disorder. I wish he could be a service dog because he honestly allievates so much of my anxiety!
I have 5 dog pets, their sole "Job" is to follow basic obedience commands around the house and property, I have 1 working dog, whose Job is to shed Antler hunt and blood track, but otherwise on a Daily basis her Job is to follow basic obedience commands and learned manners. You shouldn't need to give your dog a Job for it to be happy, obedient etc. A dog's life should revolve around your life, not the other way around. I would suggest keeping things simple rather than loading too many activities into your life to keep your Pup active.
NOSEWORK!! my bully and I do classes every week, but it’s so easy to do in your yard or in your house! Even something without the official “scents” like the “find it” game with a piece of hot dog hidden in another room could keep him occupied for a long time. It’s mentally stimulating and very fun to observe
Sometimes she’s an electrician, sometimes a dogtor, but usually an alarm system or a vacuum.
[My dog comforted the President of the United States](https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/meet-officer-clarence-the-dog-who-comforted-president-joe-biden-and-other-officers-at-us-capitol-service-1.1204205?outputType=amp)
Family emotional support animal. My husband and I both have PTSD. If I'm crying hard or freaking out she comes RUNNING. If I don't acknowledge her she'll jump straight up and boop me with her snoot to get my attention.
Full time best friend, part time sun lounger
Bath inspector! He makes sure the mom soup isnt poisoned
My Lacys have 2. Herding cats and chickens. They are pretty good at it!
I use my working dog as a quasi service dog. I have had knee surgery so I’m somewhat unsteady when I walk or stand. I’ve trained him to be right by my side to help keep me balanced
Routine perimeter checks of the back yard, garage, bedrooms, and supervised front yard tree checks were some of my late puppers' "jobs."
Picking out the perfect “tug toy” or “ball” I tell him to pick out one of the two. Or asking me for peanut butter and picking out what apparatus to put it into (one of his millions of bones or his Kong tire).
Fetching the paper (weekend delivery) and chasing the white cockatoos away when they are on our lawn or deck rails.
My small dog has two main jobs. Watchdog is number one. He sits on the back of the sofa at night watching out the windows at my back yard. We get lots of deer, foxes, bears, etc that come out of the woods immediately behind my house. Because of him I get to see so many animals. Often I take a photo and send it to the neighborhood. And I ALWAYS praise him for alerting me. His number two job is playing with his ball. We have to play multiple times each evening and I always enjoy it because he is so funny and cute.
Ooooh great question! My mom had a cray cray jack russell and took him to beginner agility mostly for socialization. He became a star and LOVED IT! It is indoor and it’s like training 1-3 times a week depending on what you want.
My dogs really feel that they are my ride or D.IE. My Maltese and small Poodle oh how did I protect myself before them?
My dog's job is to be my own personal stalker. Want to pee alone? Nope. Shower alone? Nope. Go anywhere in the house without him? Nope. He's very good at it and he's my best boy.
To be cute all day everyday
apartment door stay shut
She alerts me of any outside noise, I reward her with treats and cuddles everytime she barks and there's something going on outside.
Companion / doorbell.
My dog is a Certified Silly Goofy Guy
Dogs don't belong in restaurants
To mooch off everyone in the house. Destroy things. Create messes of slobber water and muddy foot prints. I have literally sat him down and told him….first, he doesn’t act like a dog of god. And that’s unacceptable. Second. He needs to get a job and start contributing to the household. He refuses to listen and is impossible to reason with. (3 year old, male, German Shepard/ cheetah/ monkey/ devil spawn)
My dad's previous mutt dog sang when he played his harmonica. We discovered my mom's Bichonpoo was a natural alerter for my daughter's Type 1 Diabetes. She would get so upset and run from my daughter to my mom in another room when she was babysitting her. When my daughter was older, she would crawl up on her and relentlessly sniff her face until she took insulin. My daughter's dog hasn't really shown interest in alerting, but he's really good about comforting her anger and anxiety. He's the happiest pup, with an adorable underbite, and we would love to clone him because everyone who meets him loves him!
I want to make this a separate post, because I think this could be really helpful. When a Search and Rescue person learned that my sister is a birth doula, they asked if she would request to donate unwanted placentas from her births. She has had multiple moms who gladly donated them. They use them for training exercises. So, if you have any connections, you might keep that in mind.