We do Watch Me every now and then. Thor is such a submissive dog, he has trouble making prolonged eye contact.
I have not taught Thor a new trick in a long time. I recently decided to try Take It, which he's making some progress on. He knows the command has something to do with biting the object, he's just not that interested in actually holding on to it.
Then tonight, we had an extended fetching session, and I thought, why not try Hold It? And it worked beautifully!
Thor already has some practice in that area, because I will only give him a treat if he drops the ball/toy into my hand. So I just wouldn't put my hand down for a few seconds. What was interesting too was that he was totally happy to stare into my eyes while waiting for a break from Hold It.
I'm really excited about this one, because (1) I want it for photo sessions
and (2) it's the first step in teaching him to play frisbee. He loves chasing the frisbee, but he doesn't really like to play with anything that's not at least a little fuzzy. So I'm hoping I can teach him to Take the frisbee and one day faaaaaaar into the future, that will translate into him catching the frisbee. A girl can dream.
I'm thinking about teaching him Catch, or maybe Stand Pretty. They look like little prairie dogs on their hind legs, don't they?