Talking to your dog

[D'Elle]

Have any of you had the experience of simply telling a dog what you want in plain English (or whatever your native language is), as if you were talking to a human being, and having a behavior change?

 

On two occasions I have had this happen with my little terrier mix, Digger. He used to jump up on me when I was getting out his food, scratching my legs if they were bare. I tried various standard training techniques to change this, to no avail. Then one day I just sat down on the floor, calmly showed him the scratches he had just made, and told him he was hurting me, and asked him not to do it any more. He never, even once, did it again, and that was over a year ago.

 

When I would ask all the dogs to go out to potty because I was leaving the house, he would sometimes come and sometimes not come. Again, I used various techniques with no success. I started just going to him and taking him gently by the collar and leading him to the door if he did not come. He would grumble-growl at me when I did that -- this is what he does if there is something he doesn't like. One time when he was grumbling, I sort of "heard" him in my head saying that he thought it was disrespectful of me to take him by the collar that way. So I sat down on the floor and said that I knew he thought it was disrespectful, but I thought it was disrespectful of him not to come when I called him. And I told him that if he respected me I would respect him. Since that day he has never failed to come when I ask the dogs to go out.

 

Although I now try this technique on the (rare) occasion when there is a problem with one of my dogs, I have not so far had this work with any other dog, including my border collies. But I bet some of you have. I don't know how this works. I am not one to anthropomorphize or get woo-woo about it. But sometimes I think that we can communicate directly somehow.

 

Has something like this happened between you and your dog?

[CMP]

Great story.

 

Works like a charm with the BC puppy and one of the older Berners.

 

Puppy is on restricted exercise and not-quite-but-close crate rest. Which means a leash. Which is alien to her in the way I am now using it (from crate to door) and she resisted it mightily - scrabbling along the floor in a way that made me wince for her injury.

 

Finally, near tears, I grabbed her by the chest and sat her down with me and explained that in order for her discomfort/pain/injury go away she needed to walk like a ballerina while in the house. That *I* needed her to do this or I would go insane with empathy and stress.

 

She walks with SUCH exaggerated care now that it is almost comical. She understand that this has made us both a lot happier and she does not need to be confined to a crate if I can trust that she will be still as much as possible and when she does move, she moves slowly and with care. So she does. I took the leash away and she walks right beside me from crate to door to whatever spot in the yard I lead her to and then back again.

 

It was not the sentences - it was some combination of the timing, the stress in my voice, the one or two words she did understand (slow, easy, careful) and the evidence before her that snapped it all together but it was sort of astounding to me nonetheless.

[simba]

I think they do know that you're trying to get something across to them, and it possibly gives them both that idea and a moment of quiet to put together what your behaviour is trying to get them to do. Hmmm.

[ourwully]

I really like to hear stories like this. I can't say that I have had as positive a result but I have tried, and I'd swear by the look in Juno's eyes that she is trying her best to understand everything I say. Sometimes I think that just the effort you make to communicate at their level is enough to make them give that little extra. It seems to me that the brighter the dog the more you have to respect them.

[JohnC]

Years ago I was jogging along a fire trail with my two dogs (Lab & GSD) who were off leash. I saw a large, black and white striped California Kingsnake in the middle of the trail and told them urgently “Don't Touch”. They listened and waited for me to catch up. We then observed the snake together from several feet away while I continued telling them “Don't touch” and explaining how dangerous snakes were (Though kingsnakes aren't venomous, I didn't know that at the time.)

 

So a couple of weeks later we were at some outdoor festival and suddenly the Lab started barking in a Very Serious Tone. I looked to see what he was barking at and it was a coil of black & white striped rope. Took me a minute to realize that he thought it was a snake. Clearly, he had gotten the message about snakes and was sounding an alarm. I'm confident the GSD got the message also, but suspect her snake identification skills were a little better.

[Maxi]

The stories you all tell are awesome. I've often thought that some of my dogs really understood it when I just sat down and talked to them, but I've got no good examples to give

 

Thanks for sharing, your tales inspire me to try it some more.

[Maralynn]

Communication is a two way street. The more you try, the more they try and actually do understand

[D'Elle]

So cool to read your responses and your stories. I hope that there are more of them coming.

[simba]

I know this sounds stupid but sometimes I think that the more you notice your dog's communication, the more they are capable of listening to yours.

 

This could be a false correlation based on the fact that people who are good at dog training are also good at reading dogs. But I have heard that for infants, it is important for their language development that people imitate the noises they make in order to teach them how they sound, and how to imitate sound. I wonder if dogs who understand that their owners can 'listen to' them are better at 'talking' back, they have more of the idea of a two-way communication.

 

Some owners just appear not to be capable of understanding what their dog is 'saying' or don't take it into account much in their responses, or make it clear to the dog that they do so. I know I have read people on here before saying that they have got their dogs to quiet down when barking by thanking them for barking, to let them know the problem's being dealt with.

[RemsMom]

I had a Miniature Schnauzer that died about a year and a half ago. She was almost 13 years old and had been ill for a while. A week before Christmas she was really ill and I was so worried about her. One night I was putting her to bed and I said, "Pepper, I love you and I know you are very sick but I need you to do one last thing for me. You need to live until after Christmas. We need you here. The little person (my youngest daughter) will be so sad on Christmas if you are not here. Will you please do this for me?"

 

I have photos of Pepper on Christmas day that year. She died a few days later.

[Laurelin]

Oh yeah. My younger papillon picks up on words like crazy. I remember her once as a puppy escaping the bath tub and I looked at her and said, 'Get back in the bath' very calmly and she turned around and did.

 

 

She does stuff like that all the time. I could tell story after story. I am not sure if she's just more perceptive of my body language and tone (she's a very sensitive dog with a lot of complex behaviors and emotions) or if she's grasping the language better than my other dogs. All of them have picked up on things to an extent, regardless of if I purposely sit down and teach it or not, but her ability to understand seems beyond the others.

 

I think people underestimate dogs.

[Donald McCaig]

Dear Doggers,

 

When asked, J.M. Wilson replied, "Madam, of course you should talk to your dog. But talk sense."

 

Donald McCaig

[Petes Mom]

When I was a kid, about 14, I think, I had a mixed breed dog as a pet. One day, I was working on my bicycle in the garage with a friend, and Ruffles, the dog, was hanging out with us. At one point, we were doing something in which both my friend and I were holding onto some bike parts, trying to put something or other back together. Our hands were full and we couldn't let go, but I needed a shop rag. There was one lying nearby, but not close enough for either of us to reach it without having to let go of our work in progress. Kidding, I said, "hey, Ruffles, can you bring me that rag?" Guess what? She did it. You could've knocked us both over with a feather!

 

Rachel

Pete, Annie & Jack

[teresaserrano]

A couple of months ago I went to visit my sister. At some point, Tess grabed a slipper from the bedroom and took it to the livingroom (she was 7 mo, still in the chewing phase). My sister said "Hey, girl, that doesn't belong there, that belongs in the bedroom!" So I, sitting in my chair, said, "Tess, grab that slipper, will you? Now take it to the bedroom, good girl! Drop it there, where it was, by the end of the bed. Thank you, sweetie."

 

I know that Tess reacted to "grab", "take", "drop", words she knows, plus my pointing finger to help. Also the context - she had just taken the slipper from the bedroom, she knew it belonged there. But to my sister, that never trained a dog, it was kind of magical. "How did she do that?"

[Cass C]

I accidently taught Lyka to go locate missing toys. It's a really cool trick, but was a total accident.

 

It started with me asking her "Where did *insert toy here* go?" I would then proceed to look for it. She caught into what I was asking because I named all of her toys, and when I found the toy I would get really excited. At first she had no idea what I wanted, but One day I was looking for a toy and out of nowhere Lyka started searching with me and found it first. She was very proud of herself.

 

I decide to test her skills up camping, as my mom's German Shepards had lost a couple toys in the same camping spot a few weeks ago. Imagine everyone's surprise as she took off, found all the toys and returned.

[ourwully]

I bought an igloo for Juno some time ago but she didn't really go in it very much so I trained her to go in it by saying "go to your house". Once she was in I would give her a treat and ask for her to lie down by saying, "relax". She learned this quite quickly. In all the advertisements I had seen for the igloo the dogs always had both their feet on the outside lip so one day she was lying inside the igloo and I said, " Juno put your feet up". The first time she put one foot up so I then said" Both feet" and she did that right away. Now when I ask for both feet up she is trained to do that but the first time she just seemed to know what I was asking.

I talk to Juno all the time. When I use words in her vocabulary she definitely knows what I'm saying but most of the time she just looks at me, with a look that says I am trying to understand. For a total beginner, this is one of the best parts of having a Border Collie.

Bill

[CMP]

For a total beginner, this is one of the best parts of having a Border Collie.

 

 

Bill,

 

I think that is one of the best parts for all of us.

[Riika]

I haven't really had anything like this happen-the closes I have come is this incident.

"We have two dogs. A 9-year-old lab, Sadie, and a 2-year-old Border Collie, Riikia. On Friday night, I gave Sadie a rawhide bone to chew on. She wasn't really interested in it, so I told her, "If you don't want it in the morning, I guess it can go to Riika."

The next morning, I was about to let Riika loose, when I heard a moan come from on the other side of the hay where Sadie is. She continued moaning, whimpering, and howling. I thought, "Wow! You know, she is getting old. Maybe she fell and got hurt or something." Just in case she actually WAS hurt, I left Riika where she was and went to check out Sadie. When I got there, Sadie greeted me with the bone in her mouth, a huge grin, and was wagging herself to pieces. I let her loose, and she went and buried her bone, then came back good as new. What I got out of it was that she knew Riika was gonna take her bone if I let her loose so she moaned so that I would come quickly without letting Riika loose. That was my laugh of the day."

 

 

 

My brother is friends with a horse trainer around here and told me this story the other day.

"Smith (not his real name) told us about his dog today. He's a border collie and they can't have chickens or other small animals because he kills them. Well one day, Mrs. Smith decided she wanted some ducks. So she ordered some ducks and when they came she called the dog over held his muzzle, looked him in the eyes, and said, " These here are my ducks. Don't you ever even think of touching them." The dog has never gone after the ducks and when they come by, he just looks up in the air, and basically twiddles his thumbs and whistles. "I can't even see them!"

[geonni banner]

I know a lot of folks won't believe this, but I'm telling it anyway. I was there. I know it happened.

 

Long time ago when I was in my twenties, I had two rough Collies. A male, Treve, 3 years old, and a female Melanie, 1 year old. I got an ultimatum from my landlord. One of the dogs had to go.

 

I thought about which one to place, and decided to place the three-year-old. His manners were impeccable, and he looked like Lassie. I felt he had a better chance of getting a stable, permanent home than my one-year old, who was not the sharpest spoon in the drawer, and a handful.

 

I sat down with Treve and explained the situation to him. He listened carefully to every word with his chin on my knee, and he never broke eye-contact. After I got to the part of choosing him to send to a new home, he sat down - still with his chin on my knee, and still making eye-contact. But then a really weird thing happened. A tear formed in each of his eyes and spilled down his muzzle.

 

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and I threw my arms around him and promised him that I would move - even if we had to sleep on the street - and I would keep them both.

 

I did find a place, and six months later my female was stolen from my back yard, which had an 8-foot, padlocked chain-link fence. I never recovered her. But Treve remained, and lived to a ripe old age.

[CMP]

^^

 

Wow.

[D'Elle]

^^

 

Wow.

 

I second the "wow".

And I love all of these stories.

 

And I like what Mr. McCaig posted, as well. I find it annoying when people exclusively talk "baby talk" to their dogs or other animals.

 

And what Simba said I think is also true. It only makes sense that communication, on whatever level it occurs, will improve with practice if you take it seriously.

[simba]

I actually love using baby talk. But it isn't my main, or only, form of communication. It's a good invitation to play or affection.

[Mom of Mya]

Yep Mya needs a nail trim and has been accidentally scratching me when we play. So yesterday I just said Mya those nails are sharp and hurt. Then she came over and licked my arm where I showed her. I swear after that she has been more careful. . Then outside with the cooler weather she has not been wanting to listen to her command to come. I walked over took her face in my hand and said girl don't ignore me. . Now when I say don't ignore me she actually looks up. . Amazing to me.

[Lizabeth]

I talk to my dogs all the time, Not sure what people may think about the conversations we have while out and about, but I don't worry about it lol. I talk to her tell her how well she is doing, what a good girl she is, I even tell her where we are going lol. I know that it is a good thing because I started saying things like curb, cross walk, proceed, right, left, and ya know she gets it! She totally understands me. So If its crazy to talk to your dogs then I guess I am happy to be crazy haha. My daughter says its not the talking to the dog that makes people look at me twice, its the fact that I have a parrot on my shoulder while walking the dog that makes peoples heads turn haha. Yes I talk to that silly bird too!

[CurlyQ]

These stories are so fun and heart-touching (in some cases) to read.

 

Maple is really good at picking up words I never directly "taught" her. She knows what Let's Go, Inside, C'Mon, and Leave It. She also tends to understand when I say things like "No, that's not our house/car" when she tries to investigate things off the property.

 

I do think dogs are a bit like toddlers in the fact that they pick up on more than we realize.

 

Perhaps Maple and I need to have a conversation about chasing cars .