And they say dogs don't know what we say, HA!

I hear ya Deb. 54 years here and life is still a mystery. My dogs always get me, though. :B

CA POPPY wrote:
Oh, yes, Deb. I've always said that to read minds, you need both a sender AND a receiver. This seems to be true whether we're talking humans or dogs.

AMEN to that! If I could only get Ed to be my "receiver"....

On second thought - maybe that's not a good idea ;-)

Oh, yes, Deb. I've always said that to read minds, you need both a sender AND a receiver. This seems to be true whether we're talking humans or dogs.

Rede2 wrote:
I wonder sometimes if dogs are getting smarted or if years ago we just didn't pay them the same type of attention.

I certainly believe that some are smarter than others (or more intuitive) - but I also think that when the kids are all grown and out of the house, we start interacting more with our dogs? Mine are lucky enough to go to work with me, so they are pretty much with me ALL the time.

But back to "smarter or more intuitive" - at the same time period that Ike was communicating with me (yes, he could read our minds), I also owned Jack the Cattle Dog. They are a pretty smart breed also; and Jack learned his obedience lessons well. But his ability to communicate was about zero. He'd sit and stare at me with his tail wagging, but never indicated what he wanted. And I felt like when I talked to him, it was in another language....

Very intelligent, but sometimes when Calvin's in my dream. He won't shut-up ...


like Frank



Pops

Dogs are way smarter than we give them credit for. We just lost a very special Sr. Boston back in Feb. and when you would put the others out for a potty break in the back yard he would duck under the table and stand there and bark at me as if to say Dad I don't need to go outside so just let me get back to my nap.:S God how I miss him talking back to me.

I am really enjoying this topic so I have to add some of my stories. There are the dogs that read your mind! I can be in the kitchen and decide to use the remote to start my car, before I reach for the key, Toby, our miniature poodle, can be in another room, with a wall between yet he will start to bark. With my Standard Poodle Charley I could just think about going for a walk, even at an odd time during the day and find him in front of the closet door where my walking shoes are kept. Oh and they tell time, especially bed time and nap time. One of our Havanese, Andy, goes and finds my husband and herds him to the couch for their afternoon nap. Mention or think bath, then play find the dogs. I couldn't begin to count how many words, gestures or sounds they understand. Andy loves my friend Elayne. We hadn't seen her for over four years as she doesn't live near us. One day she had planned a visit and about an hour before she arrived I made the mistake of telling him his Auntie Elayne was coming. He sat at the door and cried until she arrived. Another Standard Poodle I had several years ago figured out I didn't like the smell of lawn spray or paint. She usually walked ahead of me on a long retractable leash and would stop and look at me, like don't you want to turn around, if she noticed those odors in the air. I wonder sometimes if dogs are getting smarted or if years ago we just didn't pay them the same type of attention.

Oh, yes, dogs are (as our friend Susan says) "masters of inference." After all, they don't have much else to do other than study our every gesture and listen to our every word. (why can't human kids do that?) Our current pooch, Darcy, figures it out, even if we try to speak in code. This is now problematic as she is on a special kidney diet for life and can't have a bite of anything we eat. As Tennessee Ernie Ford used to say, "It's like trying to slip daylight past a rooster!"

Border Collies have been bred for 100+ years to try to figure out what shepherds want them to do. They are always "listening" but are we aware of what we are "telling" them.

Pawz4me wrote:
The dog who knows 1,000 words

Meh. Chaser is a Border Collie. They ALL know 1000 words ;-)