How perceptive is your pup?

[windy]

JacqueZ mentioned how her dog seemed to be able to tell time. I think we all probably have known some dogs who, for instance, are able to determine that the National News is over now, so it's time for dinner. (My Blithe, and before that Max.) So much of it is determined by OUR habits.

I'm astonished that Blithe, who patiently naps by my feet while I'm on my desktop, instinctively knows that I am shutting down the computer. I don't make any moves that aren't consistent with the the previous 30 minutes or hour on the computer, but way before the screen goes dark he's at alert, ready to continue our day.

My previous dog, not a Sheltie, when he was in the car with me, could tell probably at least a mile or so, while on roads we often traveled, that we were on our way home, and would stand on 'his seat' and bark in my ear.

You just can't pull anything over on these guys, can you?

 

[Mignarda]

While Dickens has yet to show any signs of Einsteinian intelligence, he's as perceptive as anyone would expect a Sheltie to be. One thing that surprised me is that he appears to know his little Schipperke friend Callie by name, at least by the name I use for her. Her name is Callisto (why Callisto for a female, I don't know, but my daughter swears it's correct). She's nine months old and has known Dickens since she was four months. When she's visiting I always tease my daughter by referring to her as Callipegia, which is Greek for "beautiful behind." I've always said it with an exaggerated accent Calli-peeeeeeeee-gia. Last weekend my daughter was coming for a visit and I told Dickens that Calli-peeeeee-gia" was coming to play with him. When he heard me say it he immediately got excited and ran to the front door, where my daughter and Callie always make their entrance, and began sniffing all about, wagging his tail and giving that anticipatory look. I can only conclude that, since I use that word only when she's around, he's now firmly established a connection between it and his little friend.

Another thing he does that seems very perceptive involves the "hiding" game, where I take four or five stinky liver treats and fold them up over and again in his blanket. The first thing he does before tackling the problem is to stand over the blanket, where he appears to be evaluating the best approach to take. In the beginning this kept him busy; now, no matter how convoluted the wrapping he solves the problem in two or three minutes at the most.

 

[JacqueZ]

Honey is very clear on her friends names as well. One day last fall I told her we were going to go for a walk with Emma. Which means driving to the nearby park, and meeting them there. I told her in the morning and the walk was going to be in the afternoon. In the morning we ran to the drive thru to pick up milk (a 4 minute trip) and when we pulled into our driveway to get out Honey wouldn't budge!

"You said, walk and you said Emma, which means we drive to the park. We did not drive to the park, Emma is not here and I'm not getting out of the car until we go for real!"



She's extremely perceptive when we're trying to learn most tricks. (Although don't even ask how long we worked before she understood shake ) It almost seems like she wants entire sentences explaining what I want, rather than me breaking it into seperate commands, like pick up, carry and drop. I tell her that she looks at me all confused, I tell her "get the sock and put it in the basket" and she'll do the whole trick, even if the sock is downstairs and the laundry basket is upstairs. Actually half the time it seems if I show her the trick and work for a day, than leave her stewing on the problem with no work at all a month later she'll start doing it on her own!

That's how it worked with Sit Up, she's so wobbly I worked on it for a few days and than gave up. A year later she randomly started working on it herself when she wanted treats! She still has to use my hand for balance (such a wobbly puppy) but she's getting better and better every day.

 

[ortegah]

My guys know when dinner time is near regardless of our location at the time, so I know it's not about habits. We travel a lot for agility and they just know when it's time to eat. Trax knows when we're close to agility practice and he starts whining and wimpering