Ray! Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 There have been any number of studies about dogs and their relationship with humans, and some say that dogs aren't really all that smart and that we anthropomorphise and simply project on to them what we wish to see. Other studies suggest that dogs change our own behaviour towards them, to the dogs benefit (which I can somewhat believe) but, that said, I think there's a lot more between the ears of a dog than the wish to work out how to get more food in their belly. In our previous house, we had a kitchen that was about three time the size of the one in our new place and we'd established a line in the tiles which was 'in the kitchen and out of the kitchen' for our dogs; quite arbitrary and somewhat imaginary, but the dogs knew where it lay. Our two hounds are indoor dogs (if anyone hasn't noticed) and they grew up in our previous house until about six months ago and they are now nearly four years old. When we moved into our new digs in the country, one of the first things we did was set rules as to when and where the hounds could go in the new house. The kitchen was one of the first places that had a go/no-go zone and it literally took no time to establish where foot (or paw in this case) could be set that constituted the 'kitchen'. When their food was being dished out, the kitchen was a go zone, but when our food was being prepared and dished out, it was a definite no-go zone. I can honestly say that it took no more than two commands of 'Out of the kitchen' and pointing out the boundary, that both hounds learned the rules. And if they sometimes forget (or pretend to), it only takes a sotto voce to remind one or the other of the transgression (which doesn't happen often) and they back off sheepishly. That's just one example, but a pretty important one. It just reinforces to me that there's a lot more to dogs than what many give credence and while we may dote on them and they play on our emotions, there's a lot of smarts at work as well. People who have never owned dogs, just don't know. Cheers Ray Oldmate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldmate Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 i have just finished the tiling in our house. Since i was doing it myself and around work, i could only do it in bits at a time. So the problem is 2 dogs, wet tile glue. Well it didnt take much to teach the big one to not walk on the new tiles, so he would always walk around my work area. Good dog! Funny thing was as the work area got bigger and bigger, as more tiles were laid the poor bugger didn't know which were wet or dry, so he just stood there at the edge of the tiles and stared at me. LOL. But yes ray they are very very switched on, like humans, some more than others hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray! Posted July 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Absolutely, it's especially the new things that they seem to learn as well. Until we get our veranda roofed and with winter here, both need to have paws cleaned after they've ben outside. The funny thing is how quickly they've learned that paw cleaning has to happen before they can go inside and they'll stand outside even with the back door open, until both have had their paws wiped clean. It became a routine in no time whatsoever and it seems that they really do know why they have to wait, not just because we tell them to do so. That's not saying they're always the perfect dogs, but I've seen kids (even ones that are 4 x 7 or so dog years old) that could take a lot of lessons from a few hound dogs. Cheers Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldmate Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Hahahaha i would have 20 dogs over 2 crying sooking kids. lol. We walk our dogs with a harness not collars. With charlie (Staffie cross) he knows to sit, then you put harness around his head then he automatically will lift his right leg for you to feed it through the harness loop. gold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray! Posted July 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Our dogs are south paws. We also use a harness and they lift the their left paw, same when I ask them to give me five. Cheers Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacket_1985 Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 i have just finished the tiling in our house. Since i was doing it myself and around work, i could only do it in bits at a time. So the problem is 2 dogs, wet tile glue. Well it didnt take much to teach the big one to not walk on the new tiles, so he would always walk around my work area. Good dog! Funny thing was as the work area got bigger and bigger, as more tiles were laid the poor bugger didn't know which were wet or dry, so he just stood there at the edge of the tiles and stared at me. LOL. But yes ray they are very very switched on, like humans, some more than others hahaha my dog( ) comes everywhere with me. even if i go to Melbourne for a day shopping he comes. he comes with me to Sydney, and works every day that i do. as his environment is constantly changing he needs to learn new boundaries very quickly. downside is the poor coot thinks his name is 'back', haha. im working in an old folks home atm renovating bathrooms. he just hangs around, scabs food off the other tradies, and sits in a spot where i put him when i need him to stay. i took him to work 2nd day i had him. he only ever gets a bit rebellious if he hasn't been exercised enough. Oldmate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glort Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 I'd certainly NEVER say dogs are Dumb just on what I have seen my own mutts do. Some owners are so stupid they ought to be shot without hesitation though. My Rotty is nick named " Captain Kangaroo". maybe Houdini would be a better name. That dog will get out of a yard short of anything along the lines of a prison compound. Thankfully she has road sense and has been seen going to the corner and sitting there till someone came along to cross and then walking back up the street opposite to where she was and returning the same way. There are a load of other things she has done and warned us of that go well beyond co-incidence. Things owners do however defies imagination. IF there is one thing that Chits me no ind is seeing dogs on the back of table top trucks and utes with no restraint. I don't care how clever the dog is, the laws of physics outweigh everything else in that situation and how people can neglect the safety of an animal like that ie entirely beyond my. It's also one thing in the country, another in the uncertainty of city traffic which is just a ludicrous proposition. On saturday Night, my wife found a Maltese tampon thing running down the middle of the 4 lane main road we live on. I put a sign on the letter box straight away, Dog found in case anyone was driving or walking the streets looking for it. On Sunday morning we took the thing to the local vet and had the chip scanned. Came home and looked it up and the thing comes from about 40 Km away. We have been trying to call the 3 nummbers listed including the backup number since sunday morning and can't get on to anyone nor have had messages returned. We have checked with the pounds both in our area and where the dog comes from and nothing there either. I don't think the thing has been on the run long as it still smells shampooed and is clipped but it's damned annoying that the owners can't be contacted. Someone must have lost it, you think thay would have contacted the pounds looking for it at least even if they are minding the thing for the owners. Meanwhile the thing has settled in famously with our rottie who thinks it's great to have a playmate. The 40 odd KG Rottie dosen't worry the tampon a bit, Most of the cats don't either but my cat has the thing positively terrified! MY daughter had it on the lounge with her last night and the cat jumped up on the other end and was looking at it and it was shaking like a leaf. Mind you, the rottie also gives this one a wide birth. I'm wondering if the tampons owners awe away for school holidays and we are going to be boarding the thing for a week. it's 12 yo so my wife dosen't want to take it to the vet for fear of it being too scared and put down if the owners don't show up. Hopefully they will and be people who love the thing and it can get back to normality. If not, i can see another new addition to the zoo. There is no name on the registration but it will definately be called "Puddles" if it stays with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray! Posted July 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 For some reason, floor mops are the only type of dog ours don't like. I don't know why, but they seem to really hate them. Cheers Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldmate Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 On your note glort about dogs getting out. I do alot of maintenance work at one of the boarding kennels here. I have had to in the past go around and put chicken wire on the top of the 10ft fences where all the corners are (to form a triangle). As some of the dogs will climb up the corner of the fences and jump over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray! Posted July 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 (edited) Today, I thought my dogs were dumb. We took them for a run at a local park and while they were running about, a chicken came out of no where and proceeded to come towards us near our car. I tried to get the fowl beast to piss off, but it seemed as dumb as anything and kept on a coming. At that point, our two hounds spotted the chickadee and the chase was on. To give it credit, the chook gave a good chase and after a few laps on the field, shot under the car and to the river nearby. Our two hounds were zeroing in and went straight into the river. The river bank was nothing but slippery mud and several metres below ground level to the river, so I had to squelch down in the mud embankment to reach the two hounds trying to scramble back on to dry land. I had to reach down and haul each one up by the collar, as there was no way they were going to make it on their own. To make matters worse, they headed straight back to the Patrol and into the back, where they were dripping wet and thought it was a good place to shake dry. Aaaargh! Had to forcibly drag them back out, as they didn't want to move, and then best efforts to dry them out with some manky towels and back home. My trousers and shoes were covered in mud, the back of the Patrol was wet and stinky and the hounds weren't much better. For the rest of the day they wondered why we were angry. I don't know what happened to the chicken, but there was a rather strangled sounding squark after it went into the river. Cheers Ray Edited July 11, 2012 by Ray! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GU3Tray Posted July 11, 2012 Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 Quick vid to show how intellegent they really are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray! Posted July 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 Tell me he's not having a shit load of fun. I wish I could be half as good. Cheers Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glort Posted July 11, 2012 Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 To make matters worse, they headed straight back to the Patrol and into the back, where they were dripping wet and thought it was a good place to shake dry. Aaaargh! I can see such a clear mental picture of that I'm cracking up. And here I was a few weeks back thinking some wood in the back may upset the interior condition! Have you managed to get the mud out of the roof lining or you just going to take the easy way out and replace it?? I'm still ringing the furballs owners with no success at all. Meanwhile the damn thing has somehow acquired two little " Jumpers" and a collar. I keep telling the Mrs it isn't ours and I don't want it but she's coming back with arguments it's cold etc. It never leaves the air-conditioned house for more than 2 min at a time, HTF can it be cold?? Just to cement it's place in the new digs, the thing has established it's bed on my sons and is now growling whenever the cats or the rottie gets up there. The other dog will be ok but if the thing looks at my cat the wrong way, there is going to fur from one end of the house to the other and none of it will belong to the cat. The cat has grown up from a tiny kitten with 3 Rotties and kept them in check, it aint going to take any crap from some fur ball it can actually look straight in the eye without having to stand on a chair first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray! Posted July 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 The back of the Patrol looked like shit. I towelled off what I could and had the back doors open for a few hours to try and get the interior dry. Damn I wish it was summer. I'm going to have to keep an eye on everything to make sure that I don't get mould growing inside. Cheers Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutta Posted July 11, 2012 Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 We had an old terrier which was pretty cool. We took him to work everyday in the ute, on arriving home one day we found he had jumped out somewhere, we figured he'd leapt out thinking we pulled up on a job site so we backtracked and there he was sitting at the intersection waiting for us, he was pretty switched on. If dogs could talk i reckon theyd be smarter than most bloody people! Glort 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glort Posted July 11, 2012 Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 If dogs could talk i reckon theyd be smarter than most bloody people! Especially a lot of the owners that let them roam free and put the dogs at risk and make nuisances of themselves. Had that with the moron neighbors over the road. The dog catcher threatened to have the dog put down. I told him, the dog is a nice dog, it's the Fing owners that need a bullet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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