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My dog knows (though she's probably forgotten as now she's old and we don't practice any more) her toys by name and actions by name too. If I say "point to the ball" she'll paw at the ball, if I say "fetch the bone" she'll do that.

I didn't even know it was possible before I tried and saw that she actually responded to it. Amazing.

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(slightly off-topic) Many years ago, I got a puppy to keep my older dog company (it was as disaster as she was an over-excited nightmare and in the end I gave her to a friend, where she lived a happy life with two other over-excited dogs).

The older dog was sat on the stairs, sulking, as I played with the puppy (he was always very moody).

I showed her a squeaky ball; she liked the squeak so I tried to get her to bite it and make the sound. But she just wasn't getting it. Then the other dog charged down the stairs, stamped on the ball to make it squeak, then went back upstairs to continue his sulk.

I was playing with my friend's dog who liked to bring you sticks. I asked him to bring my a stick, and when he did, I just as a joke said, "no, silly, not that stick, the one by your ball." and was absolutely shocked when he dropped the stick and went and retrieved the one by the ball.

If you pointed, they can tell.

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