My dogs tolerate so much crap from me. I do most of what you guys do.
I also have found a trick to play on Ripley that makes him absolutely freak out... I will be sitting next to him, and reach out and squeeze his nose (gently, mind you) and pull away like I've just pulled his nose off. I say "I've got your NOSE!" and Ripley FREAKS out and starts snapping and snarling. When I've seen enough of a show, I press on his nose to make him think that I've put it back on, and he goes back into normal, happy mode.
I don't know exactly why he does that, but I believe he seriously thinks that I've stolen his nose. At first I was kind of alarmed, like OMG what is with this aggression, but he never gets angry over it, it's just a big performance.
The people at work just can't get enough of it. I can leave Ripley alone at my station for a few minutes and I come back to everyone crowded around him - "I've got your nose!" - "RAWR!" LOL.
With Dakota, I play "boo". When I'm sitting down, he'll sit next to me and stare at me, so I'll stare back at him. We'll stare for about 10 seconds and then I'll go "BOO!" and he jumps straight back. He absolutely loves it, for some reason.