Oh yes she already 'ups' on chairs (outside, not indoor) and then sits. I like to take her to the dog park when no other dogs are in one side. I put all the human chairs in a circle, then have her hop up and sit on each one. I could easily switch to hop on my lap when seated, then while I am crouched down, then to standing. I mark with the word yess. I am a strong country girl and could probably handle 70lb.s As long as it wasn't a running jump, she would knock me down if she did that.

This is off topic, but Cristina, my goodness, you have some very poisonous snakes in Brazil, the Fer de Lance for one. We have four kinds here. The Copperhead, very common and actually is not that toxic, the Water Moccasin, which has about 6 look alike harmless water snakes, and the Coral snake. It has a neuro toxin that can stop a creature from breathing. They are rear fanged snakes, their little teeth are in the back and they have to get a good hold and chew, not likely with a great hairy beast like a German Shepherd. Coral snakes have about 7 look alikes, mostly beautiful and beneficial Kingsnakes. Of most concern to me is the local Timber Rattler, a large heavy bodied pit viper that is well camouflaged. It looks like the forest floor pine needles and dead grass with some black shadows. Their venom is almost all neuro toxin and they deliver a large amount. The freaky thing is that they seldom rattle. They lie still and hope to hide with their camouflage.

I do not kill snakes. If I find any of these in my yard I 'give them a ride out of town'. I catch them with a snake tongs and put them in a garbage can with a good lid. I don't want them living there biting me or my animals. But they have their place in nature and eat a tremendous number of rodents. Generally, you have to move a snake or a varmint at least 5 miles away or they come back. I have tested this by painting some fingernail polish on the tail of a Texas Ratsnake I found in my henhouse. The next night, there he was again. Texas Ratsnakes can grow as long as 6 or 7 feet. We call them Pineywoods Pythons I have also put a bit of spray paint on a raccoon I trapped alive. Sure enough, that rascal came back and was trapped again. After 5 miles they do not come back.

Since Inga was a little puppy I have caught harmless Texas Rat Snakes to bring home and teach her snake avoidance. Texas Rat snakes, the males anyway, will rear and strike like a cobra. Inga has gotten tagged on the nose a few times. Its been a while since I caught one so am not sure if she remembers to avoid them.

But anyway, we are moving to Oregon and near the coast there are no venomous snakes. The Pacific Rattlers are more inland. This SNAKE trick is really about fun but I can see it would be useful for other things.

Sounds like your of to a pretty good start with the chairs.

Once she is putting it together then you can change the command to "snake".

Simple enough to do just say the "snake" command right before the "up" command.

It wont take long to fade the "up" command out altogether.

Awesome how you made her jump up on chairs and your lap, Melissa. Wow I couldn't hold a dog of that weight and my bigger Pit has 40 kgs (about 88lbs). I guess you'r probably a little bit younger than I. (75). She already knocked me down recently in full speed when all our dogs where chasing each other and I was stupidly watching them in the middle of the danger zone!!!

But teach them jump on chairs I'll try too. Great idea.

I agree with you, that every animal has it's place in nature. But I have no experience how to catch a snake and the more experienced Braziliens mostly kill them. I'm damned shocked to read that you had the courage to mark a snake. Fabulous method, but makes me shudder.

I wish you all good luck for Oregon. There at least you can save some money for finger nail polish.