One summer, years ago, Pete-R-Bilt and I were sitting in my back yard enjoying the shade, drinking cold beer, and lighting fireworks. My backup labrador at the time, Cujo, was the self designated fireworks prevention dog. Everytime a firecracker went off, the dog went nuts... he chased it down to the spot where it had exploded... just a pile of paper shreds and smoke. It got to the point we had to wait for the dog to be looking away, or until he wandered off toward the deck before we lit any more fireworks, because we were afraid he'd get to one before it blew up. This went on for a couple hours, light a firecracker, dog goes nuts and chases a pile of shreds and smoke.
A week later, Pete dropped by on a weekend afternoon. We sat in the lawn chairs in the shade with a cold beer, forgetting that Cujo, the ever vigilant fireworks prevention dog, was on duty. Pete struck his lighter to light a cigarette, and Cujo bolted across the yard, took the lighter out of his hand, and bolted with it. LOL. Paybacks.
Maybe non traditional, but, yes, you can train your dog to do nearly anything with enough patience, enough explosives, and enough beer.
