Some people's fear that dogs might take over the world just might be confirmed! I hereby nominate our dogs for Congress! 
(They might actually do a better job, too!) What has your smart dog figured out?
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
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Fundog
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Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
Oh dear. Can you just imagine what would happen if all of our dogs got together for some huge "Internet doggy friend" convention, and actually met each other? Some people's fear that dogs might take over the world just might be confirmed! I hereby nominate our dogs for Congress! (They might actually do a better job, too!)
Some people's fear that dogs might take over the world just might be confirmed! I hereby nominate our dogs for Congress! (They might actually do a better job, too!) If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
Well I don't know about Congress, but today Opal slipped out the door while people were installing our new TV stuff. She went outside, ran around a tree, then came back in and looked up to where we keep the treats. 
We didn't even have to call her back! Haha. 
We didn't even have to call her back! Haha. Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
We once had an Old English Sheepdog named Heidi. She could open doors and could let herself out when she needed to go. She taught our two other dogs, mutt Mickey and terrier Max, how to climb a 4-foot high fence (occasionally giving Max a platform to step on with her nose). When you were sick, she would lay next to you to keep you warm. And, she could speak - she could say "out" quite clearly, as well as "walk," "food," and "dog." I would have voted for her for Congress! 
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
i am actually thankful that gypsy is less than a foot tall - i can't imagine the mischief she would get up to if she could reach door handles or the freezer where the chicken is kept
one thing that stumped us for ages is how she was getting on our bed when we were gone (she sleeps with us in the bed and hangs out up there when we are home, but while at work the "stairs" are taken away since she left us a couple of little pee-presents up there after we got a new bedspread) - we would come home, and she would be parked right in the middle of both our pillows, snuggled down in the doona and look at us like "...what?"
turns out she was "monkey-ing" across several bits of furniture - from the arm of the couch, to the side table, to the single-seater chair, and then doing a massive LEAP across space to land plonk on OH's pillow. we only figured it out after OH was home sick one day and had left the dog off the bed, and watched as she simply invited herself right back up
one thing that stumped us for ages is how she was getting on our bed when we were gone (she sleeps with us in the bed and hangs out up there when we are home, but while at work the "stairs" are taken away since she left us a couple of little pee-presents up there after we got a new bedspread) - we would come home, and she would be parked right in the middle of both our pillows, snuggled down in the doona and look at us like "...what?"
turns out she was "monkey-ing" across several bits of furniture - from the arm of the couch, to the side table, to the single-seater chair, and then doing a massive LEAP across space to land plonk on OH's pillow. we only figured it out after OH was home sick one day and had left the dog off the bed, and watched as she simply invited herself right back up
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
Errol has figured out that if no one will play with him, he can take his toy and fling it off the stairs, thereby playing 'fetch' with himself!
I am contemplating moving to a bungalow to thwart this as its very noisey, he would far rather do this game with a nylabone or a real bone than with something soft or bouncy!
Ellie has she thinks, sussed that giving us a paw is the key to almost everything - its great as a transition stage in her progress from 'totally shut down dog' to 'normal', but I am keen now to make sure shes not stuck on it! Shes also developing a good line in, whizzing about yowling and woodling and bouncing to demonstrate she NEEDS something... a work in progress that one I think!
Rocky is v smart, he knows if he makes the 'im about to be sick' noises (lots of licking and swallowing), i will drop what im doing and rush outside with him. So these days when he does it I say 'really?' and if he isnt goign to be sick he makes a sad face and lies down again! Hahahaha.
I am contemplating moving to a bungalow to thwart this as its very noisey, he would far rather do this game with a nylabone or a real bone than with something soft or bouncy!
Ellie has she thinks, sussed that giving us a paw is the key to almost everything - its great as a transition stage in her progress from 'totally shut down dog' to 'normal', but I am keen now to make sure shes not stuck on it! Shes also developing a good line in, whizzing about yowling and woodling and bouncing to demonstrate she NEEDS something... a work in progress that one I think!
Rocky is v smart, he knows if he makes the 'im about to be sick' noises (lots of licking and swallowing), i will drop what im doing and rush outside with him. So these days when he does it I say 'really?' and if he isnt goign to be sick he makes a sad face and lies down again! Hahahaha.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
that's so funny emmabeth
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Fundog
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- Location: A little gambling town in the high desert
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
And whoever said dogs can't talk?
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
That's hilarious because Sheba does that too!emmabeth said: Errol has figured out that if no one will play with him, he can take his toy and fling it off the stairs, thereby playing 'fetch' with himself!
I am contemplating moving to a bungalow to thwart this as its very noisey, he would far rather do this game with a nylabone or a real bone than with something soft or bouncy!
Ellie has she thinks, sussed that giving us a paw is the key to almost everything - its great as a transition stage in her progress from 'totally shut down dog' to 'normal', but I am keen now to make sure shes not stuck on it! Shes also developing a good line in, whizzing about yowling and woodling and bouncing to demonstrate she NEEDS something... a work in progress that one I think!
Rocky is v smart, he knows if he makes the 'im about to be sick' noises (lots of licking and swallowing), i will drop what im doing and rush outside with him. So these days when he does it I say 'really?' and if he isnt goign to be sick he makes a sad face and lies down again! Hahahaha.
I've also had to learn how to hide the peanut butter so she doesn't get it, because once she gets the jar, she manages to get the lid off, and if there is that paper that acts like a safety shield, she rips that off perfectly, and has her own peanut butter-filled toy! 
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
Bendog susses out Kongs in no time.
He also knows "Wait" at roads to the extent that I can walk him round our QUIET road without a lead.
When he's sitting on the sofa or bed and we need him to move for someone else to sit down we say "Ben budge" and he's learnt to either get off or shift down the bed.
If he loses his tennis ball when out for a walk we can say "Wheres your ball?" and he'll go off to look for it in the place he thinks he lost it (though he doesn't always find it!)
He also picked up "Do you need to go out?" for if he needs to go to the toilet.
And has rather annoyingly learnt who is likely to give him food or drop food (mostly the toddler!) and will follow them round.
He also knows "Wait" at roads to the extent that I can walk him round our QUIET road without a lead.
When he's sitting on the sofa or bed and we need him to move for someone else to sit down we say "Ben budge" and he's learnt to either get off or shift down the bed.
If he loses his tennis ball when out for a walk we can say "Wheres your ball?" and he'll go off to look for it in the place he thinks he lost it (though he doesn't always find it!)
He also picked up "Do you need to go out?" for if he needs to go to the toilet.
And has rather annoyingly learnt who is likely to give him food or drop food (mostly the toddler!) and will follow them round.
My Blog: www.terriertreks.wordpress.com/
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
Well, I don't know for sure,... but...
My dogs have 'their' sofa in the portacabin where I work, and where I take my breaks. It is their sofa - if anybody comes in to the cabin, (but I don't mind sitting there too when nobody is looking).
Anyway, this one time, Odin got up and started to fuss at the door. No big deal. I got up opened it for a look but nobody there. I thought nothing of it.
A few days later, same thing. I got up, checked the door, nobody there, but this time, I noticed Odin making a bee-line for the sofa, - the warm bit where I'd been sitting. I thought to myself, did he really, and actually mean to do that? Surely not.
Next time, it wasn't me but... My other dog Pippin, was finishing the biscuits in his bowl when Odin starts his huffing and puffing at the door. Pippin instantly wants let out to check it out, and when I open the door, he's off outside, but there's Odin, bee-line for the bowl. Now I don't know, but that Ridgeback of mine could be, I repeat could be one smart cookie, - and a sly old devil at that.
He's also worked out standing in front of the telly gets attention, and when told to shift, if he turns round a bit on the spot but stays in the way, he gets more attention.
The frustrating thing is I suspect he is a really clever dog, but he just isn't into toys, and not especially motivated by treats, and I don't really know how to work out just how smart he actually is. That's actually why I'm here.
He frustrates me when out walking because he lags behind myself and Pippin. I won't go in to all the details, but I think it might have started out with him trying to anticipate the turn for home, and give himself a head start leaving us to catch up. It's something hard to put my finger on, but it's not simply wilful disobedience, but keeping that distance in the way he does, - it's like he just wants to show you that he knows we're about to head back the way we've come. I'm sure its his idea of a game.
He can't open doors, but he can get the lid off a plastic juice bottle or milk carton.
The penny drops right away when you put down some bedding or a jersey down that that's a place to sleep. It doesn't have to be his bedding.
I'm very aware that some people dote on their animals and convince themselves there's something there when really there isn't, but where Odin is concerned, I just don't know.
Dog No 2, (just by age not preference), is Pippin the Border Terrier. Typical heart of a Lion, adoreable, but in a different league. Odin teaches him stuff too.
My final story is not one I'm proud off, but Pippin the terrier sometimes has a little bit scrap with other dogs. It's not vicious, and seconds later he might be playing with the same dog. It's not acceptible, but it's a terrier thing. Odin just lets him get on with it, doesn't get involved, thank goodness. Well this one time, Pippen had a tiff with a black lab, and this lab decides he's up for it, and really sets about Pippin, and had him on his back, in trouble basically. I was just thinking oh, oh, I might have to do something here or he's going to get hurt, when this big brown blur piled into the lab. It wasn't a fight, just a massive GERRROFF!!! And this poor Lab got the message instantly. Now I really don't like dogs fighting, I absolutely don't want Odin showing any aggression, he's just too big, and he is a big powerful animal for that kind of thing to be tolerated in any way, but I have to confess on this occassion I was sooo proud of him coming to help his little pal. Not just for what he did, but also for what he didn't do.
He's not that smart though. He hasn't worked out that the reason I know he's been standing on the chairs, and yes, the table too, are the big size ten footprints which he left there. - But curiously, he doesn't steal. I think he just wants to see out the window.
This is them on their sofa, - watching TV.
My dogs have 'their' sofa in the portacabin where I work, and where I take my breaks. It is their sofa - if anybody comes in to the cabin, (but I don't mind sitting there too when nobody is looking).
Anyway, this one time, Odin got up and started to fuss at the door. No big deal. I got up opened it for a look but nobody there. I thought nothing of it.
A few days later, same thing. I got up, checked the door, nobody there, but this time, I noticed Odin making a bee-line for the sofa, - the warm bit where I'd been sitting. I thought to myself, did he really, and actually mean to do that? Surely not.
Next time, it wasn't me but... My other dog Pippin, was finishing the biscuits in his bowl when Odin starts his huffing and puffing at the door. Pippin instantly wants let out to check it out, and when I open the door, he's off outside, but there's Odin, bee-line for the bowl. Now I don't know, but that Ridgeback of mine could be, I repeat could be one smart cookie, - and a sly old devil at that.
He's also worked out standing in front of the telly gets attention, and when told to shift, if he turns round a bit on the spot but stays in the way, he gets more attention.
The frustrating thing is I suspect he is a really clever dog, but he just isn't into toys, and not especially motivated by treats, and I don't really know how to work out just how smart he actually is. That's actually why I'm here.
He frustrates me when out walking because he lags behind myself and Pippin. I won't go in to all the details, but I think it might have started out with him trying to anticipate the turn for home, and give himself a head start leaving us to catch up. It's something hard to put my finger on, but it's not simply wilful disobedience, but keeping that distance in the way he does, - it's like he just wants to show you that he knows we're about to head back the way we've come. I'm sure its his idea of a game.
He can't open doors, but he can get the lid off a plastic juice bottle or milk carton.
The penny drops right away when you put down some bedding or a jersey down that that's a place to sleep. It doesn't have to be his bedding.
I'm very aware that some people dote on their animals and convince themselves there's something there when really there isn't, but where Odin is concerned, I just don't know.
Dog No 2, (just by age not preference), is Pippin the Border Terrier. Typical heart of a Lion, adoreable, but in a different league. Odin teaches him stuff too.
My final story is not one I'm proud off, but Pippin the terrier sometimes has a little bit scrap with other dogs. It's not vicious, and seconds later he might be playing with the same dog. It's not acceptible, but it's a terrier thing. Odin just lets him get on with it, doesn't get involved, thank goodness. Well this one time, Pippen had a tiff with a black lab, and this lab decides he's up for it, and really sets about Pippin, and had him on his back, in trouble basically. I was just thinking oh, oh, I might have to do something here or he's going to get hurt, when this big brown blur piled into the lab. It wasn't a fight, just a massive GERRROFF!!! And this poor Lab got the message instantly. Now I really don't like dogs fighting, I absolutely don't want Odin showing any aggression, he's just too big, and he is a big powerful animal for that kind of thing to be tolerated in any way, but I have to confess on this occassion I was sooo proud of him coming to help his little pal. Not just for what he did, but also for what he didn't do.
He's not that smart though. He hasn't worked out that the reason I know he's been standing on the chairs, and yes, the table too, are the big size ten footprints which he left there. - But curiously, he doesn't steal. I think he just wants to see out the window.
This is them on their sofa, - watching TV.
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Fundog
- Posts: 3874
- Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:31 am
- Location: A little gambling town in the high desert
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
THAT is PRECIOUS. I laughed right out loud when I saw it.
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
This picture should have been posted under the "Monthly Photo Comp" thread under "Photos of your dog", flyby! This is really a cute and funny picture!
"Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius." -author unknown
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
Ha, I thought there was a thread somewhere on things you'd inadvertently taught your dog 
When we pass other dogs Jasper often gets a treat, as I'd rather meeting a dog meant 'treat from Mum' rather than 'check out the dog and decide whether I need to snark at it'. Occasionally, he'll look at me expectantly when we've passed a person without a dog, but I often treat him then anyway. But today I noticed a common factor... if we pass a person and I say 'Hi', he doesn't expect a treat. If I say 'Morning', he does... so I seem to have taught him that 'Morning' means 'treat'
When we pass other dogs Jasper often gets a treat, as I'd rather meeting a dog meant 'treat from Mum' rather than 'check out the dog and decide whether I need to snark at it'. Occasionally, he'll look at me expectantly when we've passed a person without a dog, but I often treat him then anyway. But today I noticed a common factor... if we pass a person and I say 'Hi', he doesn't expect a treat. If I say 'Morning', he does... so I seem to have taught him that 'Morning' means 'treat'
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
they are so damned smart sometimes A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
Re: What has your smart dog figured out?
You know how we often tell people to fit a few minutes of training in during the day : for example whilst the kettle boils etc etc....
Poppy and Bendog were upstairs in bed with OH, I put kettle on to make a drink to take to bed, and at the sound of the kettle boiling both have come hurtling down the stairs hoping to train
Poppy and Bendog were upstairs in bed with OH, I put kettle on to make a drink to take to bed, and at the sound of the kettle boiling both have come hurtling down the stairs hoping to train
My Blog: www.terriertreks.wordpress.com/
