How much do they understand?

[Faron]

Dogs, that is.  Monday we wormed and vaccinated a cow herd.  One escaped, so we had to catch the whole bunch yesterday to get her.  Naturally the escapee, and the whole herd were most uncooperative about going in the corral. We made a couple of attempts to get them in, and failed.
I went and got my old partner Kate, a blue heeler.  She is  getting old, and isn't able to work as long as she used to.  She will nip heels a while, and just quit when she gets too tired. 
As we started to try corraling the beasts again, I held a conversation with Kate.  "Now, Kate, we need to get these cows in.  You don't need to bite any of them.  Just bark, and I think they'll move along."  I kind of told her that on a whim.  Kate acted like she was very pleased, and her attitude seemed to be "Can do, boss!"  It is funny, because I have never heard her bark so much while working cattle.  When one lagged behind, she would walk over behind her and bark, moving the herd ahead.  We got them in that try.  I am firmly convinced that old dog understood my instructions, and liked helping without so much exertion on her part.  I have been told dogs can't understand normal conversation, only learned commands, but I don't believe it. 

[IMERC]

dogs know what yur thinking before you do...

they understand...

[thecfarm]

I like a blue heeler. Looks like a good farm dog. I only have a mut,but I really feel he would die protecting my wife.Now me,he could really care less about my life.   ;D   My dog is very clever too.  He'll lay on the front steps for hours and than when I come up the road,he'll jump up and start barking,than wait for me to come up the driveway,than run out in the woods and ask like he's been protecting the place all day.But that is a learned command and plays out just about everyday that I come home from work.

[Roxie]

Blue Heeler's understand.  You'll never convince me that they don't.  Smartest dog's in the world. 

[zopi]

Nahh...Border Collie is the smartest dog in the world...but heelers are a close second! :D

[redpowerd]

i concur on the border collie. i have one and my FIL is sold on heelers.

[IMERC]

Blue Heeler's understand.  You'll never convince me that they don't.  Smartest dog's in the world. 

I have healer, aussie and borders...

not the smartest but they are free thinkers and cunning...

[Magicman]

Reminds me of my Dad and his Border Collie, "Tip" .  He would just point to the one that he wanted, and Tip would cut it out of the herd.  They were a good team......I miss them both.  Thanks for the reminder......

[iffy]

Have a buddy who had a border collie. Brad would speak in complete sentences to Bandit (Bandit being the dog) and Bandit seemed to understand. One day I was in Brad's shop when a couple of young ladies walked in. Brad called to Bandit and Bandit came over and set looking up at Brad waiting for instructions. Brad said "Bandit, why don't you go over and shake hands with those nice young ladies" which Bandit, of course, did.
Although I doubt that Bandit could understand anything more than familiar words, such as "shake hands", I would guess that he used a thought process to assimilate the familiar words with the fact that there were 2 strangers that just walked in, and/or maybe Brad's body language to assume what Brad wanted him to do. At any rate, I think there was definitely a thought process involved.

[redpowerd]

my border collie will understand what i want just by looking at her...she loves to go for rides on the flatbed or any other truck for that matter. when the diesel fires up she will materialize next to the driver side window, and with a stern look, she will recede and know to stay, or with a quick nod she will bounce right into the back. a toot to the horn will have her on the roof of the truck, and another honk will have her on the hood, at any speed, waiting for me to slow down enough to become a guided projectile shooting tword anything that moves.

her favorite pastime is in the back of the flatbed, driving along cornfileds snapping and pulling as many plants into the back as possible. she would fill that bed if i drove long enough. she will also climb anything just by tapping your hand on an item.

gotta watch her around equipment though, i always say she would jump in front of a train to catch a mouse. very determined.

[sawguy21]

We are always amazed at our toy poodle, words like walk, ball, park, and beach get her undivided attention. She also knows when activity in the house includes her and when it doesn't. She pays attention when we put coat and shoes on but only gets excited when she knows she is coming with us, just watches if we are going to work. Now if we could just get her to calm down and pay attention when she is told.

[SPIKER]

we have a husky lab mix at the moment, so far 2 years old, he is very good, (digs every now and again though) punishment dont seem to work to get him to stop it is a breed thing digging that is.   Try & spank him it is like hitting wet 70 lb sponge with the husky fur & all...

I had back surgery last year, he was pretty young still then and i spent 4 months flat on my back for most part on air mattress on floor. Normally he is not aloud on furniture but he got to sleep next to me there, (on floor most of the time but would occasionally sneak up to snuggle and check on me then back down.)   This is when we found out how smart he is, he will pick up and bring me anything tell him, drop a pill bottle and he will usually pick it up and hand it to ya without even asking. tell him to grab the remote up it comes, and no I have not said "This is a REMOTE" or trained him, for this.  I hand him something tell him to take it to mommy, and off he goes with it.. :D (as you can imagine this has been fun) same with phone, he  hears one of us on the phone, (I call home and mommy picks up the phone he can hear me and will grumble (not a barker but pretty vocal with happy growling/grumbling not mean sound but very expressionist.)    Then I can say GET MOMMY over the phone and he is all over her HEHEEH (ya I think that way.)    He is a big love bug but is also very protective...    He is one to watch just about every move ya make and acts like he is figuring out and comprehending what is going on usually...   

His worst trait is he cant make a short trip in the car (should have named him RALPH) :x
put him in the back of the pickup and you could go cross country I think.  lol

sure got pretty lucky with this one, but I have always picked out great dogs.   Rarely have I had to resort to any kind of HEAVY training, never had one who would go indoors either, (unless there was no stopping it, as I'm sure we have pretty much all had that.)

Shaming him is best way to train him and many of my other dogs....   

Mark

[zopi]

Have a buddy who had a border collie. Brad would speak in complete sentences to Bandit (Bandit being the dog) and Bandit seemed to understand. One day I was in Brad's shop when a couple of young ladies walked in. Brad called to Bandit and Bandit came over and set looking up at Brad waiting for instructions. Brad said "Bandit, why don't you go over and shake hands with those nice young ladies" which Bandit, of course, did.
Although I doubt that Bandit could understand anything more than familiar words, such as "shake hands", I would guess that he used a thought process to assimilate the familiar words with the fact that there were 2 strangers that just walked in, and/or maybe Brad's body language to assume what Brad wanted him to do. At any rate, I think there was definitely a thought process involved.

Hmm...never thought herding the girls in with one...that would have been great when I was younger..;D

[Chris Burchfield]

I had a red female and blue male, both Heelers. They were sole mates. I could throw a ball, tell Tuff to fetch. He wouldn't go after it till told. Freckles thought it was her job to keep him from bringing the ball back to me. I swear she moved about him as through she were herding him. I know both had never seen a cow or bull. Both were very smart and affectionate. Freckles died during a winter several years ago in my heated shop where they slept. Tuff died about three months later.

[pineywoods]

I concur on the border collies. MY son decided he wanted an aussie, found a kenel that had some pups and sent the daughter-in-law to get one. She came home with a border collie pup. Smartest dog I have ever seen, with a personality to match. Loves to ride on the golf cart. He even knows which pedal to put his paw on to make the cart go. Herding instinct is very strong. Son has 2 cats in the house. The dog has finally given up trying to herd the cats  ;D

[Bro. Noble]

My dogs have all been stoopider than my cows :(  Excelpt for that old black dog I used to have ;)

Never could get one to work cattle.  The closest I've ever come to being attacked by a cow was when one dumb mutt was aggrivating a cow and she finally had enough and started chasing the dog.  The dog ran behind me for protection and the cow about ran me over to get to the dog.

Sounds like your dog might be a bit smarter.  There's no doubt that some dogs sure like to please their human friends.  My old black dog was that way.

[jim king]

If only we were smart enough to understand what they understand the world would probably be a better place.

[IMERC]

given up trying to herd the cats  ;D

that's smart dog...
mine still tries to herd the geese...

[ErikC]

  I think border collies and aussies are more tuned in to please than heelers. They may be smarter also, but the attitude thay have about wanting to do what you want is what makes them seem like mind readers. We have sold dozens of aussies and get emails and phone calls every couple days from people telling similar stories to the ones above. Makes you feel good to hear them.

[pigman]

I had a dog several years ago that was given to me. He was mostly shepard and very friendly. I just know that dog was smarter than me. After trying for over a year to get the dog to obey a simple command I renamed the him Stoopid. He didn't seem to mind since he never understood a word I said.

[Larry]

All our dogs are really smart...even our cats are smart.  Or maybe they are just smarter than me. They trained us to feed em, open the door when they want to go out, and make sure they have comfy beds.

[Texas Ranger]

My wife and my dog share the ability to totally ignore me.  Until it's time to go out.  Or to feed them.  or,,,,, well, never mind.

[red oaks lumber]

i don't think my dog is so smart( min. weiner dog) he's still trying to hump my turkeys, but whats worse the tukeys let him!

[Texas Ranger]

Hnn, a four legged fur covered turkey that barks. 

[ErikC]

i don't think my dog is so smart( min. weiner dog) he's still trying to hump my turkeys, but whats worse the tukeys let him!

Reminds me of my uncle's pet tortoise and his Rubbermaid garbage can lid. Of course the lid and the tortoise look a bit alike and the lid wasn't going to say a lot about it. Good thing those lids are tough the tortoise weighs over 100 lbs.  

[gemniii]

I've a border collie that lives with us.
Smart dog, after about 1 year she had trained my daughter, then another year she had my wife trained.  Now my wife is fairly stubborn and doesn't take well to training but the dog got it done in 1 year what took me several.
Her understanding of English is fairly limited.
Most words spoke monotonic with no inflections are not recognized, but with some inflection and body language she's quick.

[WH_Conley]

Who, the wife or the dog. :D

[thecfarm]

Forgot to mention.All my dog does is go to the door and whine and we let him out,barks when he's outside and we let him in.Now who has who trained?

[jamesamd]

If only we were smart enough to understand what they understand the world would probably be a better place.

Amen to that Brother!

[IMERC]

Hnn, a four legged fur covered turkey that barks. 

four legs instead of two...

                   !!!!DRUM STICKS!!!!

[SPIKER]

Hnn, a four legged fur covered turkey that barks. 

four legs instead of two...

                   !!!!DRUM STICKS!!!!

they would need to be Feather covered to be DRUM STICKS :D   but I like your way of thinking ...  wonder if they would lay eggs or have litters?   build a nest with sticks & twigs or pull your best blanket down to have the puppies/chicks (puplets?) on?
:

Mark

[IMERC]

litters of eggs???

and the blanket would be a sure bet to cover all those sticks....

but the two extra drum sticks wins...

[DanG]

Reminds me of the story about a farmer who raised some 3-legged chickens.  Other fellow asked him how they taste and he says, "Don't know.  Ain't been able to catch one yet." ;D

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

I Want to Tell You All About Molly

About 9 years ago,  I saw a add in the paper ~ Border Collie's (BC) for Sale, From Good Stock Dogs, etc. .

I grew up on our family farm and we had all kinds of dogs but never a B. C. . I wanted one for my son.. that was 10 at the time. I went to the farm and met the ole farmer that had them. He said that I could see the male but he'd bite me if I went too close him. The farmer said, that he send him for the cows (big dairy herd) and he bring them in from anywhere on the farm. The female was a good dog too and was her first bunch of pups. The were kept in a empty corn crib and were seven or eight or so. All of the pups were jumping up on my legs when I went into the corn crib but one. The one pup was setting back from the rest of them and looking right into my eyes.  I said, to the farmer, that dog is looking right into my eyes, what do you think about this one. I picked the pup up and saw she was a female, like female's over male's. The farmer said,  I think she picked you out... instead of you picking her out.  I think your right, she's seem's like.. their's something special about this dog . The ole farmer said, that this dog would be his pick but your the one that's picking, then, I said, well maybe.. but she picked me first.

I named her Molly on the way home and she huged up against me in the pick up as we went home.  My Son (10) was a little too young to fully handle a young pup but it was the right time to have & grow up with a good dog.

However, Molly stayed around me all the time and she became my dog or should I say my very best friend. She was never needed a collar and never needed trained, she just knew what to do and just a word or two or hand motion or nothing at all.. just think what I wanted or she was already in motion (no joke).

She went trucking with me in my old Maron Truck  pulling a low boy over 48 states. She'd ride shot gun, and place her right paw on the window ledge and set on her rump like a person. She'd look out the window and at  me as we went down the road and smile.  I say.. Smile because of her markings around her face, it was like a clown's face outline and her tonque would slip out along the side when she was at the max. happy point.  She'd make me laugh and laugh and she knew it.. hard to explain in print but some of you know what I mean.

When I'd get in a bind with wide loads and run into road construction which was not on my route.. I get up tight and she come over and lick my right ear and neck & settle me down. When we parked at night she'd stay in her seat and and watch out all night long and watched in the mirrors too. I'd try to get her to come back to the bunk and be with me. She'd come back for a few minutes and get loved up then  right back up to her  seat and watch all night long. When day break came, she came back to the bunk and laid on the floor by the bed.


See 2nd part.


       

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

Thing's about Molly....

Like her father ..  Molly would bite (nip) you in a heart beat. Later on, I found out that she was an excellent judge of folks and bit the bad folks and only barked at good ones.

I found out that Molly... weren't No Dog, she was more Real People than a dog. She'd check me out for Bo Bo's from head to toe on a daily basis. Molly looked for the signal to lick or don't lick... if the skin was'nt broke from being cut, I say go ahead and she'd lick me up till her tongue got tired. Toward the end, it was like she was in slow motion and I say that's enough fixing. We'd look at each other eye to eye and it was always a special look.. no words to explain. When she was at home... she'd lay at the end of the bed and come up to lay in the bed with me around 3 AM and it was within within 5 minutes or so of 3 AM. She'd lay down next to me and I usally sleep on my side. She'd curl into me and would lick my back too. She'd usually homeed into the spot  where it would hurt from spasms on my right shoulder blade. Also, she'd smell me (my hurt's or bruised areas) and look at me as Dr. Molly.. I forgot to mention this... No joke.

When I was working on truck's or equipment, she'd take up a spot in the shop so she have me in her sight.  She'd move her spot if I moved to another spot underneath the truck . Molly, would come underneath the truck and check me out about every 1/2 hour, if I was on the creeper, she'd come in close and look me right in the eyes. Sometimes, she'd give me a coupe licks and go back and lay down (on watch) with that B. C. Eye on me.       

It's my believe that I was the Alpha Male and She was the Alpha Female.. sound's nuts but I saw this on TV (relationship with dog & man or woman).

See last Part # 3

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

Last Part # 3 about Molly

Molly died on  17 Sept., 2006.  It was a freak accident and should have never happened. I was using a cutting torch and she would bite anything that sparked or had fire coming out of it (like a torch). She'd pull the elec. cord out of outlet when I'd use the 14 inch chop saw. She was old mother hen or would try to bite the sparks. Molly was a little crazy and matched up to me 100%. I put her (17 Sep.)  in my Ford van to keep her safe while I was working on the hitch on IHC 300 tracto. However, I did not know that my friend's son was riding his 4 wheeler back & forth next to the van. Molly was running back & forth inside the van and became over heated & overwhelmed (heatstroke).

I went to let her out and found her passed out. I cooled down with a garden house and took her to the vet. It was 5 PM and he was getting ready to leave for the day. He said, that he could not do anything and went home.  I took her home and put her in my bath tub.  I kept her head up and cooled her down in the tub. She knew me and wimpered for me to help her.  After about 1 hour, I moved her to my bed and put her on a lot of towels.  I had the AC on full blast and directed the air flow to her mouth and held her mouth open. She was holding her own and then started to slip away about 3 hours later. Her eyes started back in her head and breathing was more rapid ( I knew I was losing her).

I was was reading on the internet while I was working with her. The vet could have given her Oxy. and med's too.. but did nothing. She died in my arms and had a seizure at the end. I was completely wrecked by this and it brought back so many memory's  of trying to save someone's life and was unable to so.  It took me over 6 months to turn the corner on her passing.

This article took my mind off my Dad's (Jack Baker) recent passing on the 12th of this month. We All.. Will Turn the Corner of Sorrow from the Loss of a Loved One and is Always Hard.

I'm making it Ok,  Jack's birthday is the 31st and I don't know how I'll feel about this day.. yet.  Thank's all for your prayer's & good word's of support while my Dad was sick  and  Passing away.,

100%... I Understand that Animal's (Dog's) are Not All Created Equall.  It seem's .. they come (My Molly and your _____ best friend) into our life by the one's or two's ... if that ! !

Have a Great Xmass and Happy New Year... take care of man's/ woman's  best freind's  too !

Avery

[DanG]

Great story about Molly, Hawk!  Sometimes you just get a special one, eh?

I know your heart is heavy after losing Jack, but try to remember the reason we celebrate today, and know that Jack is having the best Christmas yet. ;)

[crtreedude]

Our dog, Silky, who is a English Cocker Spaniel is one of the smartest dogs I have ever seen. He learns really fast and is an incredible judge of character, if he doesn't get along with a worker, I can pretty much be assured there is something up.

He loves to play and of course, explore but never wants to be more than 30 yards or so away from me. Loves to ride in cars too, and if I am not driving, figures the best seat is in my lap, with his head out the window.

He would make a good sheep dog, but he is way too fast. And licking his chops when he is around the sheep doesn't make them very comfortable with him either.  :D

[Faron]

Mid September we became the proud? : owners of a 1 year old female Great Pyrenees dog.  Town and inside raised.  I don't think she is stupid, but man, is she ever hard headed.  Her job is to guard the goats.  I have now gotten her to the point where she doesn't chase the goats or cattle.  I don't know if she would defend her charges, but she will bark.  Bark when I open the back door.  Bark at passing cars, jets, satellites, and the occasional UFO.  The biggest problem is if she gets out of her pasture, she is GONE!  No calling her back.  I don't think she is one of my better deals, but time will tell.  I will say she has come further than some Pyrenees owners figured she would ever do.
Few weeks back, I filled up my wood stove just after daylight.  Harris Pilton, Kate's daughter and heavy lifter, ran by barking at the fencerow north of the house.  A coyote ran out and took off.  Harris wasn't satisfied, though, and continued watching and barking at the fence row.  In a few moments, two large coyotes came out and came directly at the dog.  By then, Kate backed her up, and the two advanced , barking,on the coyotes, as the coyotes continued boring in.  The four got within 15 feet, and then the coyotes turned and ran. I guess they didn't like even odds.  I wonder if the coyotes thought they would take down the dog, or if they thought they would just bluff her out.  They didn't know it, but I had a poker in my hand, and if there was a fight, there would have been 5 dogs in it. :D  I suspect close encounters with coyotes is not unusual for these dogs.  They bark at howling coyotes almost every night.

[moonhill]

We have had GPs for 18 years.  The first passed on at age 13, a female.  Our second, a female as well, came as a puppy to take the next ruling administration.   We had always heard they worked best in a pair, so we attained another, a male.  We gave the male lots of chances and now have to keep him tied on a run line.  The female keep to home within her boundary, which she has set to around 200 yards from the yard.  The exception is she will wander with the male if he is not restrained.  If left unattended he will go in less than 10 minutes. 

I have heard either the male or female will roam, it is my guess the female stays to do her job, as she is the boss of the two, and knows her job.  She was the first and I assume took the role.  Our first female was the same way, a home body.  Have a good collar and ID tag with a phone number.  We have found ours on the neighbors porch looking all proud and just at home after receiving a call, 3-5 miles away. 

We do not have any animals at this point but did in the past.  The dogs were a two part guard animal, first for the kids who were born at home and raised with the dogs( not goat kids, we did have goats too), and second for the livestock.  As you have noticed GPs do bark a lot, it will grow on you, they have a very hardy bark not a yappy noise.  They love to bark and will find any excuse to do so, I hope most of the time it is doing something.

Once we found the pair of them having a chicken licking contest, they had trapped a young chicken and was in the process of licking the feathers off its back, the chicken survived, the dogs got a wicked scolding and it didn't happen again.  They knew it was wrong. 

As an example of the dogs keeping animals at bay I will use our honey bees, we have kept bees for 6 years now and never once have we had a bear tear them up.  But we have had rented hives for the blueberries messed with, just outside the 200 yard radius, but never with in.  One animal the dogs don't deal with is porcupine, the female got into one once and only once, she now lets them get into the apple trees right outside the door of the house.  I take care of the porcupine.

They are protective and gentle at the same time, they can be babies and aggressive.  I find them hard headed too, not stupid.  Food is a great motivator which can be switched out for a kind pat on the head as the reward.  Dogs as well as all other animals people included all have different personalities, like snow flakes same but different, so the inner workings need attention something that may not apply to the breed as a whole. 

Ours stay outside 100% of the time.  We tried keeping them with the fenced in animals but that didn't work well, they were very uncomfortable and the goats treated them with caution, even as a puppy.  I think the kid goats and puppy would/should be raised together to have it work ideally. 

I think they are a great dog. 

Faron, Does yours jump on people or chase sticks?

As a side, has anyone else watched "The Story of the Weeping Camel" , it could almost be a Christmas story. 

Tim