Working our Way to 1,000 Words (or maybe 10)

[Psalms]

Well, last night I fell into the youtube vortex and was intrigued with the dog that knows 1,000 words. I think it was an Australian Shepherd, owned by a scientist. The scientist has 1,000 dog toys, carefully labeled so the scientist knows what to call them, and the dog knows every one!

So I thought, "Hmmm... Sammy knows the names of some of his toys. Maybe we could do that, too." So today I got out his toy basket and emptied it, and filled it with first 3 toys, then 5. He can easily identify his Raggedy Toy, Orange Ball, Red Frisbee, Other Frisbee, and his Bone-Bone. Right away I see the problem. Each toy has to be clearly identified with a name that you always use. Red Frisbee and Other Frisbee aren't really that clear. One should be named Frisbee and the other one something else, I guess. Tonight I'll try again and throw in his Birdie to see how he does with that. That's the only other toy that has a name that we consistently use to identify it.

I thought it was so funny that the scientist had to write the name on the toy so he could remember what they were, but the dog knew them all without reading!! Hee hee!

This game was fun, so we'll keep going until we run out of doggy memory. Maybe Sammy will beat Scientist's dog. I told Sammy he's probably smarter than an Australian Shepherd. (Could have been a Border Collie, though...in which case the BC might win.) Janet

[goodword45]

That is funny! The scientist can't remember them all! I love it.

We are working on words with Buddy, too. He knows about 25 so far. I hear most dogs can learn up to 100 words. A 1000 seems a little ridiculous. Some of Buddy's new words are "stick" and "bring". He has a favorite stick which I throw outside and he fetches it and brings it back to me.

His favorite word is "outside". About every 10 minutes he wants to go "outside" supposedly to pee, but usually to play.

We love teaching him new words. I'm glad he can learn names, because he isn't an athlete. We have tried, but he is more interested in intellectual pursuits.

[Shelby's mom]

Hollie knew a lot of words. She knew the name of every toy and every person. There were many things we had to spell so she wouldn't know what we were saying.

Shelby on the other hand doesn't know many words nor is she interested in learning them. She does know supper, eat, hungry, dinner, shelby o's (her dog food), nana, pop pop and ball. And she knows when you spell them. Anything else forget it.

[Chris]

Ok, but does your dog know another language? Mine does

"irrel-squay"
"ookie-kay"
"eat-tray"
"easel-way"

[Psalms]

Sammy knows many many words, but I wanted to focus on his identifying toys and pulling out the ones I name.

This is fun. What is not fun is leash walking. He needs to learn the word "Loose" or "Stay With Me" or whatever other thing is the term of the day this crazy woman is using to try to get him to walk with her. How can a dog be so smart and so pig-headed at the same time?

Janet