Dear Kate and others quite familiar with dogs, do you think this is true?
While we’ve all met dogs who are clearly smarter than say … trolls on SDA … I still am not convinced that “Stella” is able to “talk” as is portrayed in the story.
h/t Marc from Calgary
The border collie was the real deal, but nothing in the video suggests the dog knows it’s doing more than hitting buttons.
Most dogs are smarter and more trustworthy than most people.
I hear that sentiment frequently. I’m pretty cynical about human nature but I’m really glad my life experience has not lead me to such a pathetic conclusion. But, hey, its your life and you’re welcome to it.
I’m a Watcher fan … but I heartily agree with you Mr. Swift … the amount of human loathing and replacement animals to comfort them, still strikes me as odd. Yeah, there are a lot of shitty people in the world, but in my experience … most people are really wonderful, once you get to know them.
And people are SO much more COMPLEX than our pets. Lot more going on in our lives than eating, shitting, and laying around in warm window sills like my housecat. Oh wait! I just described all the homeless people on the streets of San Francisco. Maybe I could “adopt” a homeless vagrant in SF … and take him on flights as my “Comfort Dude”? Excuse me, Stewardess … but my “comfort dude” would like a White Russian
My sister has a Scottish Terrier. He constantly “talks” with us as in “are you going to eat that?” “that ball is not going to throw itself!”. He also knows the words “squirrel” and “cat”. Cats under cars are his nemesi.
Rabbits under the car. Our dog goes zombie. Which technically proves that dogs don’ t talk.
Ye, I think dogs can learn quite a few words.
Mine will go hide if he hears: Bath – Treadmill…lol
and perks up instantly on hearing: Walk – Ride – Ball – Treat – Camping – Trailer
When he’s in the truck with me and needs to pee, he comes and put his paws on the console and with his left foot, will paw me one or more times. Thats the signal. I Stop somewhere reasonably safe and let him out…goes n does his business and oes right back to the truck.
The word BEER definitely Perks him up..!
11 yrs old…
Bentley
Complete bullshit. And if you have to even ask you must be a liberal.
dougy, and you are as stupid as they come, there are lots of animals that show cognitive abilities, this is only one example
When the pup solves the Riemann hypothesis we’ll know it’s smart but until then I’m a skeptic.
My dog talks to me every day. Just the other day we were on a walk. He had a giant crap and turned around, heading back to the house. Ok, I answered, walk finished.
I’m going to open a door now, the dog is indicating that he wants to go out in the back yard.
If you say to your dog, “outside” and he waits at the door,
could it push the button that says, “outside” and then wait at the door?
If you say to your dog, “dinner” and he waits at the bowl,
could it push the button that says, “dinner” and then wait at the bowl?
I’d indicated to Robert that I’m certain the dog has this (at least a few) words figured out.
I’m biased of course. I WANT to talk to dogs and have them “talk back” even with a machine that mimics voice commands.
All smarter than truedoodoo.
Stella was taught that she’ll get a cookie if she presses buttons, so she presses buttons. On the other hand she appears to be better housebroken than UnMe, so there is that.
Not only that. They know what you’re thinking. My genius Lab/Shep cross ‘Wally’ who monitored my every move for seventeen+ years was exceptional in that regard.
Many a time after my mulling over a particularly difficult situation he would look pointedly at me and say “you stupid bastard”, but that was of course how we communicated.
I miss Wally…
My sister’s border collie mix had a huge receptive vocabulary. e.g. I’d often go over and bring my own lunch. Once I fed her some of my sushi, and she knew & responded to ‘sushi’ the rest of her life. When sister was in the kitchen chopping veggies and dropped a bit, she said ‘shit’. The sound of that word sent doggie bolting from the upstairs to the kitchen. Noun/verb combos were easy too. Starting a REALLY smart dog young and pairing button pushing as an output behavior…I’d say not totally impossible given a trained professional and a highly controlled environment. imo only Two and three word phrases I don’t believe.
We had a Doberman that knew at least thirty words, smiled when happy ,looked stupid when he did something wrong and played with the horses as in he would chase them, then, all would turn around and they would chase the dog. They would do it till they got tired then stop. Hated violence of any kind, even playful, and protected our property when we were away but was a lovable dog when we were home. Miss him dearly as he had a character like a human. His name was Arawak.
Just about every animal is smarter than we give them credit for and just about every human on average is stupider than belief. And then there is UnMe.
I wouldn’t say my dog has a large vocabulary, but when she has something to say, she has her ways of saying it.
And she never lies to me.
I taught my Bernese Mtn. dog, Josie, to collect my morning newspaper (not natural retrievers) off the end of the driveway, and she would SPRINT the paper to the breakfast table, drop it, and wait for her treat. Amazing … the powers of POSITIVE reinforcement. Oh, and she understood lots of words and actions, such as … “D’ya wanna go for a walk?” Her ears would pick up … and if I walked toward her leash … she’d piss herself with excitement, tail wagging, wriggling like a worm. I miss sweet Josie.
Also, not barkers or speakers by nature … but I could get her really excited and she would bark-speak her mutual excitement … even some low growls … that were only in jest
My border collie could talk. she used vocal and body language to talk to me. eyes, ears, head and posture were a wonderful combination. I miss Heidi so very much.
Dog is my co-pilot!
It’s undeniable that dogs can communicate. In fact, they are very good at it, given how well trained their owners become.
“Talk”, though, is a different kettle of fish. We have to very careful not to fall into the “Clever Hans” effect, where the dog is taking cues from the owner without the owner realizing it.