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The Genius of the dog?


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I'm just starting to read a book about the genius of dogs.

 

But this idea is interesting. Dogs are one of the few animals out there that can read and understand human communications.

 

And that is certainly true of my dogs and all the other one's I work with. They actually understand what I am saying. Outside, Eat, lay down, go play, and on and on. And they understand a whole lot of stuff that I don't know they understand. I am constantly surprised by things that they do.

 

For instance, I was at the vet one day and we could hear cats in the back. So I said, Tay, where is the cat? And she went to the wall and pointed to the picture of a cat that was hanging there. I never dreamed that the dogs are aware of what is in the pictures around the house.

 

Even very tame wolves do not have this ability. Thus they can't really be trained. You can tame them but they just can't understand what we are trying to communicate to them.

 

So is that what is really happening with the OES that I take care of? She just never learns even the simplest stuff. And yet she isn't dumb.

 

 

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I've a lab who can learn anything I try to teach her in 5 minutes flat, and a terrier, who, well, can't. Guess who's more obedient, and knows more commands? The interaction-loving terrier. The lab does much better until the point that she decides she's bored. "Bedtime now, 'bye."

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I'm just starting to read a book about the genius of dogs.

 

But this idea is interesting. Dogs are one of the few animals out there that can read and understand human communications.

 

And that is certainly true of my dogs and all the other one's I work with. They actually understand what I am saying. Outside, Eat, lay down, go play, and on and on. And they understand a whole lot of stuff that I don't know they understand. I am constantly surprised by things that they do.

 

For instance, I was at the vet one day and we could hear cats in the back. So I said, Tay, where is the cat? And she went to the wall and pointed to the picture of a cat that was hanging there. I never dreamed that the dogs are aware of what is in the pictures around the house.

 

Even very tame wolves do not have this ability. Thus they can't really be trained. You can tame them but they just can't understand what we are trying to communicate to them.

 

So is that what is really happening with the OES that I take care of? She just never learns even the simplest stuff. And yet she isn't dumb.

 

 

 

She's probably taking it in but her internal timing is slower My greyhound will do a bunch of things on cue, and he learns what I want as long as I've lured it a few times, which he seems to find his most acceptable way of being taught. So he does:

spin, known to greyhounds as "walk in a circle" lol touch, target

place your paw in my lap, back up, speak, wait, stop, up, kennel up, etc., nothing earth-shattering. But here's the thing: when I ask him for something, there's a loooong silence between us while he considers how much of an effort is going to be needed, whether the request offends him right then, and how, exactly, he's going to execute, and then ta da he answers me back perfectly...usually...... So my theory is, different dog and breed, different processing speed. If you can figure out the OES's I'd be interested.

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Mika just never learns anything. Her owners have been trying to teach her "off" for 2 years. She gets excited and jumps up and she is too big to be doing that. At first I thought it was the owner who was just not communicating well with her. Now I don't think so.

 

She does know to come in and sit in front of the food cupboard and wait for her treat. If you don't have a treat for her she just gets up and leaves.

 

No treat and she loses interest in about 1 second and goes off and does her own thing.

 

I've never run into a dog quite like this one.

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