I find that a dog's capacity for patience and understanding increases dramatically when treats are involved. We have 2 dogs, a cat, and 2 parrots. One of the parrots can flawlessly mimic every electronic noise it hears (door chimes, smoke alarm, various appliance buzzers/bells,etc), my commands to the dogs, and my wife's laughter. We used to have a smoke alarm installed in the dining room right off of the kitchen, but whenever anything on the stovetop generated steam or smoke, it would set off the alarm. We moved the smoke alarm farther from the kitchen, but now, when the parrot hears the sound of something sizzling or boiling on the stove, she begins chirping exactly like the smoke detector.
