What Do You Want?

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

There's something I love about Ted and I'm wondering how common it is in the breed.

 

Ted tries very hard to read what you want from him and do it. I see this all the time with the stock of course, but here's an example from around the house.

 

I can't get enough of touching his little furry head and ears. He's the softest dog I've ever had. His original name was "Teddy" because of his round little face and silky fur. Even though he's two now his fur is as silky as ever. So around we Ted constantly sticks his head where I can reach it, of course.

 

My son hates dogs. Poor kid. He hates when they even look like they are going to jump on him or even touch him. He has a sensory disorder where he is hypersensitive to all five senses and dogs just put him into overload. He's the reason we've always had a "kids" side of the house and a "dogs" side.

 

Ted has lately started coming up when we are doing school, and sitting nicely in front of PJ. He doesn't stare at him like he does me, nor does he stick his head under his hand. He glances up at him like he's saying, "Is this okay?" I've never taught Ted to "sit" by the way. I told PJ, "Give him a little pat if you like what he's doing."

 

That's all it took. Now whenever Ted is around PJ, he goes to his spot about a foot from him and gives him the "Is this okay?" look and many times PJ will actually pat him.

 

This is just one example of Ted really trying hard to figure out not only what I want, but what others want too. He's still a baby, so sometimes his enthusiasm gets the better of him (I'm guessing for instance when Laura was farmsitting for us a month or so ago, that she actually didn't want Ted to jump the fence and get into the sheep).

 

Do you have a dog that tries to read your mind?

[stockdogranch]

I have one who's always read my mind when it comes to work, and even (especially) when training her when she was young. When I first started her at 12 weeks old (very low pressure), she would circle round them both ways, and when I lined her up behind them and started walking backwards, she was coming fast like they do. I said "take time," not really giving any body cues as to what that meant, and she immediately slowed to a nice little walk. When she was maybe 6 months old, I would blow a whistle she'd never heard, she would do the right thing, like take the proper flank, I would tell her she was right, and we would move on to the next thing to learn. To this day (she's now 7 1/2 and was fully trained by the time she was 10 months), I can count on one hand the times she's taken a wrong flank or not done exactly what I wanted, how I wanted it. My psychic friend says I just send out really good mental pictures of what I want, and she (the dog) reads them. Dunno, but it totally spoiled me. I know it's not realistic, but I kind of expect them all (at least her offspring) to be like that now.

 

A

[Angie H]

Yes, I have one of those "What do you want?" dogs. He is my first and what's really cool is that he is also quite the "thinking dog". It's the best of both worlds.

 

He uses his "what do you want" moments mostly on my husband. I guess he figures I'm constantly teaching him what I want, and it's more interesting to probe the quiet guy in the house!.

 

ETA: Oh yeah, and he also has that silky hair that you described. How old is Ted? I am always wondering if the silky coat will last or if it will change when he's older. Binx is almost 9 months now.

[JohnLloydJones]

Ted tries very hard to read what you want from him and do it.

 

We got Senneca (at the time, guessed to be about 2yrs old) a bit over a year ago, and right from the start, she bonded well with me. She has always had that "what do you want" look to her, but I have noticed in the last few months that she is increasingly able to figure out what I want without explicit training. This sort of rapport is what I love about border collies.

[Root Beer]

Oh yeah! That's totally Dean! I often see him watching us intently during a conversation as if he's trying to figure out what it is supposed to mean for him!

 

When we are running an Agility course and I am not clear in directing him, he will run up to me and give one single loud "WOOF!" It is a very clear "WHAT????" I get a kick out of it.

 

Speedy does this too, but to a much lesser extent. Dean is always trying to figure out what we might want him to do.

[DTrain]

Our dog Mac who is now six has always had the habit of looking straight in our eyes and tilting his head when we speak to him. He has been the most attentive dog I have ever seen. He was very easy to train although he is not really much of a stock dog but he caught onto things very quickly. After six years he seems to have things figured out and he understands much of what we say, at least he has been able to make associations. He has a routine that he sticks to and when he needs something he will come to us and sit and tilt his head. If his water dish is empty for instance he will come to us and tilt his head and if we do not respond quickly he will touch us with his paw. We always know that he needs something or something is not right in his world by this response. Many people have commented that Mac is a little scary because he looks you straight in the eye. I was giving a seminar one time and Mac was on stage with me. I did not notice but every time someone in the audience had a question or something to say Mac would move in their direction and stare at them. When I spoke he would look up at me. A gentleman stood up and asked the question, does your dog know what we are talking about. I explained that he probably does not but he knows certain words. The rest of the seminar was questions and comments about why Mac seemed so attentive when someone was speaking. It is an odd behavior and I am not sure why Mac does this but you would swear he knws was is going on and what is being said.

[JohnLloydJones]

The rest of the seminar was questions and comments about why Mac seemed so attentive when someone was speaking. It is an odd behavior and I am not sure why Mac does this but you would swear he knws was is going on and what is being said.

They do try to follow what is being said -- even if they can't grasp much, they most certainly do catch certain words. I have noticed that Senneca will react with a puzzled look if I use a word in a context that -- for her -- is inappropriate. Here's an example. We are driving to the dog park; Senneca, as usual, is riding shotgun. I casually talk to her and said something starting "Come on ..." and she gave me the "are you serious?" look -- how can I do that until you have stopped? Think of sitting with a group of people who are speaking some foreign language, where, occasionally, you manage to pick up a word you have learned.

[DTrain]

Mac seems to like to hear words in sentences, it really gets his attention. Sometimes if I use a single word he pays very little attention. For example, when we go out first thing in the morning he often does not want to come back in the house. I will say come and sometimes several times before he responds. I have gotten in the habit of making up and entire sentence and it works every time. Instead of just come I might say something like, lets go back in the house and make a fresh pot of coffee, come on. He will look at me, tilt his head and come straight in. I have no idea what that is all about but it works in almost every situation. When Mac was very young and we lived in the middle of nowhere, fishing lodge. I would often take him fishing with me with nobody around and I would talk to him like I was speaking to another person all day.

[sweet_ceana]

Poke is very attenative to words as well. Whenever there is a conversation he sits, and tilts his head as described above, trying very hard to figure out what the heck you mean. He will also use his paw to get your attention. He does a little tap on your leg... Poke's version of "excuse me." He also can place a few words together and understand their meaning. My favorite was the first time I told him" I am all done. Go play ball with Daddy." He picked up his ball right out of my lap and went into the other room and placed the ball in Chris's lap. LOL I am sure I look crazy, but I almost try and explain things to him. I try and use words that he knows. Ceana is only interested in the words that directly benefit her like cookie, or car ride. I swear Poke is trying to pick up the whole language. He is easy to train... once he understands what you want. That boy doesn't need a treat or a toy- he just needs to be shown what you want sometimes.

[bc4ever]

Border Collies really do understand what you're saying. Scooter has very intense, expressive eyes. That "What do you want?" works both ways around here! LOL! If he wants something, he'll stare at us to get our attention, then we say, "What do you want?" and he looks at whatever it is, then back at us, to see if we understood, then back again. He makes it very clear what he wants in a quiet, undemanding way. We're very well trained. LOL!! He will also tilt his head when we're talking to him, which still makes us laugh. I just can't stay in a lousy mood when I look at that beautiful face!

[martySQ]

"They do try to follow what is being said -- even if they can't grasp much, they most certainly do catch certain words. I have noticed that Senneca will react with a puzzled look if I use a word in a context that -- for her -- is inappropriate. Here's an example. We are driving to the dog park; Senneca, as usual, is riding shotgun. I casually talk to her and said something starting "Come on ..." and she gave me the "are you serious?" look -- how can I do that until you have stopped? Think of sitting with a group of people who are speaking some foreign language, where, occasionally, you manage to pick up a word you have learned. "

 

this is funny, made me laugh out loud at work...then had to explain...that was not funny.