Dogs

[airboss]

 

[FJRay]

All our dogs are good at training humans.

 

[LKLD]

Their eyes and tails, speaks volumes!

 

[garyahouse]

Airboss,

I was reading the comment you posted about soap at the bottom of your entry above. Ha. I'm thinking that back in the early 60's, every boy learned what soap tasted like just about the same time he learned what 4 letter words are...

Gary

darksider #44

 

[bigjohnsd]

 

[ionbeam]

I dunno. Our critters are pretty clear 'speaking'. We understand the sounds for: FEED ME RIGHT NOW -- play with me -- GO OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW -- pick me up and pet me. Absolutely clear, plain and distinct 'words', easy to understand every time. The words are often reinforced, FEED ME is often accompanied by sitting up in the beg position and waving one or both paws. Pick me up is often accompanied by standing on the hind legs and waggling paws. GO OUTSIDE, they come get your attention then lead us to the door.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Mine understand Out, Do Your Business, Dinner, Ride, Swim, Birds, Fetch as well as all the normal sit, stay, heel, come, etc....

 

[radiummadman]

mine are way smarter than I, and I am OK with that, namaste

 

[BakerBoy]

It is amazing how 'perceptive' dogs can be. Our 2 dogs are demonstrative to us, but their signals are subtle (they don't 'bark' their needs). How they hold their body, head & neck, tail, ears, eyes, etc, even how they move is tied to what they "need" from us--both dogs are different. My wife used to give me the look of "your IQ is lower than I thought" when I would say to her what the dog(s) were trying to tell her--life is easier now that she believes I've a low IQ.

 

[SacramentoMike]

My grandfather used to say "if you want to train a dog you have to be smarter than the dog." Mine have all been ill-behaved brutes.

But worth passing along: a friend used to be a puppy trainer for Canine Companions for Independence--CCI--a great organization that supplies assistance dogs. She had them from when they were weaned to about age one and taught basic commands and social acclimation. Brought them to work every day, where everybody loved them. My favorite command was "hurry." The dogs figured out pretty quick that hurry meant "hurry up and pee" or "please take a **** now," but sounds soooo much better when you're standing there yelling it in public. Useful command.

But I agree. They DO talk to us.

 

[rbentnail]

Our rescue dogs are basically fuktards but they aren't stoopit when it comes to communicating. They understand many words and hand signals but eerily it only works for me. My wife gets ignored regularly. I tried to explain that she's a sap but she thinks she's the alpha female. Ha!! Not even close...

 

[infrared]

FWIW, much of the language of Dog has been sussed out by scientists. There is a lot on line (some sites are better than others) if you want to know what that dog is really saying. Barks mean very little as communication, mostly, but body language is everything. If a dog lies on his back with four feet up, with the head outstretched, that says "You are the top dog here." If a dog puts both front legs out straight, close to the ground, head low and tail end high, that means "Let's play!" Sniffing loudly around the ears means "We can be friends," and often the dog will return that gesture with enthusiasm, sniffing around your ears. A lot of the dog language depends on having a tail, which may be up, down, or wagging. Without a tail, humans really can't say too much to a dog in his language, but these are a few of the "words" that any dog raised among other dogs will understand and accept from a human.

Cheers,

Infrared