Ways dogs learn

[Leanne]

My dogs are quite good on the old commands thing (except recall occasionally if there is a really good scent) but one of my pups just seems a bit thick and just doesn't 'get' it. I have always trained by praising the dog for spontaneously doing something - for sit I hold a treat in a closed hand with fingers pointing upwards and thumb to my body. I stand there patiently until the dog works out what he can do to get the treat. I ignore all wrong actions and the instant he sits he gets the treat. For down I did the same thing but with my hand down and waited until they worked out they were to lie. Basically the dogs learn hand signals before they learn the word command - only when they know the hand signal do I introduce the command.

Well this has worked fantastically for 3 of my dogs - they are quick to learn and will actively try to work it out to please (well get the treat) but poor Enzo has got the nickname Dumb-Dumb as he doesn't seem to be able to work it out and has never learned the spoken command for anything other than 'sit'. 11 months on and he still tries to get the treat from your hand grrr! So I've been thinking "what can I do to dumb it down so he can understand?"

The answer hit me yesterday - he is part sight hound so I tried using his sight to teach him. I made up some flash cards with the words 'sit', 'down', and 'paw' and began. The little star picked it up instantly! On the second viewing of the words he had it sussed.

Now flash cards aren't particularly convenient so I will still use hand signals but it just amazed me that we had written the pup off as thick but it was just the language barrier...

My other 3 dogs now know 'sit', 'down' and 'paw' in 3 'languages' - sign, spoken and written - if only I could learn dog ;)

[Beat Bug]

Max, our Collie/German Shepherd cross can communicate quite well with us. He can also tell the time! Yes, he knows when it's time for his afternoon walk, and when we want to come home from his walk, we ask him if he wants to go home. If he does, he turns around and heads for home. If not, he looks ahead, the back at us, and just stays where he is!

He also knows when we're going away before we do. He starts getting 'clingy' and follows us everywhere. But he will only let us know when someone's at the door after they've knocked!