Do Dogs Know that They're Dogs?

RJM62

RJM62

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Geek on the Hill
There's a dog who occasionally comes around and spends the day with me, even sometimes to the point of riding along when I have errands to run. She has a collar, but no tag; so I don't know whose dog she is nor what her name is.

When I want to call her for whatever reason, however, I address her as "Dog," and she responds. I've actually found this to be true of a lot of dogs I've met in my life. If you don't know their name, "Dog" often works just fine.

I wonder whether dogs know that "dogs" is how people refer to them as a group, or whether they just make a connection from people around them using the word "dog" with reference to them ("Good dog," "What a beautiful dog," "Where's the dog?" and so forth).

-Rich
 
Rich, my guess is the latter not the former. They hear that word a lot.

My three dogs probably think they're "dammits". :wink2:
 
Have you tried calling one "cat"? Maybe they are just responding to your voice. :dunno:
 
The cute little buggers have been very successful at keying off humans. I'd guess tone and where you are looking more then a specific word.
 
My dog howard was half human. He was a black lab. Howard ( named after Howard Hughes) liked to ride in my Cessna 140 but was not considerate about getting nose marks all over the windows. When I asked if he'd like to go for a ride, he immed ran and stood beside the airplane or car. He also liked T.V and watched it quite a bit. Also very big on pop corn, got very excited when I popped some. Miss him.
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I doubt very much any dog knows the English word 'dog' refers to them. You could try writing it down neat and large on a piece of paper, showing it to them and seeing if the dog responds.

My guess is its tone they pick up on.
 
I suspect they hear the noise and detect some body language indicating you mean them.
 
Easy answer. Play the word " dog " from a text to speech smartphone. They will completely ignore it.

It's the interaction. Not the word. Words do get associated with certain things in their heads but it takes effort to get it into long term memory.
 
Captain said:
I doubt very much any dog knows the English word 'dog' refers to them. You could try writing it down neat and large on a piece of paper, showing it to them and seeing if the dog responds.

My guess is its tone they pick up on.
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I'd have to disagree. Each of my three dogs knows its name and the others' names.

I'll take them all out to play fetch. Put them in a down stay. Then say "it's Buddy's turn". Buddy jumps up. The other two immediately look at Buddy but stay.

Also all three will look at me when I address them collectively as "dogs".

I think they're a lot smarter than you give them credit...bet you don't have one to understand that.
 
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Dogs are pack animals. They like us because we feed them, and they like to belong to a "tribe". The relationship man has with dogs is pretty special, but it still is very basic. We tend to put a lot of miss directed energy into trying to figure them out, and that they "love" us. Like horse people think horses love them or that they have feelings for humans.... they don't.

I love our dogs, but they are loyal to anyone with food. Kinda like voters. :rofl: :rolleyes:
 
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You can teach dogs to respond to their name. It's easy for puppies -- so easy that I can't see any reason that a second person couldn't teach it to respond to a second name.
 
To dogs I'm convinced that we are just other dogs.
 
One thing I've found is that big, aggressive dogs can often be reduced to wiggling, tail-wagging clowns by calling them "puppy" with a soothing, happy tone.
 
Dogs know that they're dogs. It's the owners that don't know that they're dogs. :frown2:
 
denverpilot said:
Reminds me of the Stephen Wright joke. "I named my dog, Stay. Now he just looks up at me from his typewriter."
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Love Stephen Wright's humor. And the joke, "I accidently spilled spot remover on my dog. Now he's invisible."
 
<<<<<Haley is a diva...older now at 12, she moseys around at her pace...I estimate her vocabulary at a legitimate 40 or so words...

I would not describe her as "smart" as much as "completely in tune" with me...she KNOWS the deal...her ability to read me isuncanny...so much so that others who do not know us comment on it...

She goes to the office every day, is instrument current and has about 100-102 hours in the plane...

To answer Rich's question...she knows she is a dog but that doesn't change much...
 
I think it depends on the dog, the golden I had growing up was a four legged person in his mind.

And the defiantly learn words. Our house isn't the best home for obedience, we concentrated on manners (don't steal my food, don't eat the sofa, don't poop in the house) and yet they still know their names, each other's names, my name, Angie's name, "out," "hungry," "car" and "ride," "walk" as well as the basic sit/stay/come stuff.

A typical exchange is one of them coming up and making a fuss
"Are you hungry?"
No response
"Do you have to poop?"
360 spin and run to the door
 
timwinters said:
Rich, my guess is the latter not the former. They hear that word a lot.

My three dogs probably think they're "dammits". :wink2:
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Ours respond to "bastards" and "*******"

Charlotte responds to singular "*****"

Emmy responds to "hoe bag" (she's the love-slut) but will come running no matter who you call just to avoid being left out

Jack knows "old man" means him (as well as "ya horse", "big-un" or just about any other size related name)
 
Henning said:
Dogs will read your thoughts...
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I think there's a lot of truth to that. Animals and babies are pretty tuned in to pheromones, but humans lose a lot of that ability early in life. We still give off scents, but we become less adept at interpreting them.

Animals in general seem to "like" me, by which I mean animals that usually are and should be scared of humans tend to pal around with me. I also got along with clients' dogs -- even mean ones that I was warned were not at all friendly -- when I was doing onsite computer repairs. I used to let them sniff my hand, and then talk to them in a normal tone of voice, explaining who I was and why I was there, and they would basically nod and say, "Oh, okay. That's cool," in their own way.

One of these dogs was a very protective German Shepherd who belonged to a very wealthy man with deep pockets. The dog had bitten two people, so he was already on borrowed time; and the owner, of course, had to muzzle him every time anyone came around to do any sort of work, to protect both himself and the dog.

Right from day one, the dog roamed the mansion with me, sitting at my feet as I worked on the computers, and accompanying me as I moved between them. His posture and mannerisms were not at all threatening, but not submissive, either.

At some point the dog started rubbing the muzzle against my hand, obviously asking me to remove it. I took a chance and did so, and the dog was my friend from that day forward. He still couldn't stand other visitors and workers (except for children, whom he immediately accepted), but he accepted me and continued to escort me through the mansion whenever I came to work.

I could talk for hours about unusual dog experiences, lol. But I haven't actually "owned" a dog since I was a kid. I've boarded a few; I've fostered a few who wandered up to me when they were lost, until their owners could be found; and I've had many who just decide to stop by on occasion to say hello and stay the day.

What got me thinking about this last night was actually a thread I started on another forum. A mouse (or some other small creature) crawled up into my car and died, and I was asking for likely places to start looking besides the obvious ones. It's easier than taking the whole body apart, piece by piece.

At some point it occurred to me that if "Dog" comes around, maybe I can get her to understand that I'm trying to find the dead mouse, and she can help point me toward it. I wonder if I explain to her, in words (with whatever pheromones accompany them), what I am trying to do, whether she can figure it out. Something like, "Hey Dog, do you smell that faint odor of a dead mouse?" [Sniff here for emphasis a couple of times, then continue.] "Dog, I'd like you to use your gifted nose to find its carcass for me so I can get it out of my car."

But the weather has been rotten lately, and Dog hasn't been around for a couple of days; so the experiment will have to wait.

-Rich
 
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timwinters said:
I'd have to disagree. Each of my three dogs knows its name and the others' names.

I'll take them all out to play fetch. Put them in a down stay. Then say "it's Buddy's turn". Buddy jumps up. The other two immediately look at Buddy but stay.

Also all three will look at me when I address them collectively as "dogs".

I think they're a lot smarter than you give them credit...bet you don't have one to understand that.
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You lose that bet...twice.

Since we are betting, I also bet there are cues you are giving that you may not even realize that enables the right dog to come. Try it behind a partition and ill be somewhat more impressed.
 
Captain said:
You lose that bet...twice.

Since we are betting, I also bet there are cues you are giving that you may not even realize that enables the right dog to come. Try it behind a partition and ill be somewhat more impressed.
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Okay I lose.

I guess you just don't pay enough attention to them---spend enough time with them---to get in tune with them.

I didn't when I was younger, was building my career and was self centered. Now that I've mellowed, the dogs get far more time and are far smarter. Except it's not really the dogs who are smarter.

Geico266 said:
We tend to put a lot of miss directed energy into trying to figure them (dogs) out, and that they "love" us. Like horse people think horses love them or that they have feelings for humans.... they don't.

I love our dogs, but they are loyal to anyone with food. Kinda like voters. :rofl: :rolleyes:
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We used to have a female shepherd and male lab who were bestest buddies. They cared for each other and hung with each other for over 10 years. When the shepherd passed the lab mourned for weeks. He would go lay by her grave for hours each day. I believe that those who say dogs don't have feelings really don't know dogs.

I can't vouch for horses...I don't know horses.

BTW, Rich, the dead mouse thing...

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but every time I've had a mouse die in a vehicle they've been in the heat/AC ducts and a real PITA to get out. We have a few too many vehicles these days and a few are always parked in the barn and they'll sit for weeks without being driven. In the barn...sitting for weeks...not a good combination for keeping mice out of them. I've had three dead mice experiences as a result.
 
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Internet_dog.jpg
 
Good one, Ron!

Someone here used to have a signature tag line...I think it was here...

never trust a man who won't pet your dog

My dad had a very similar saying when I was growing up.

Also, I've found that some of my dogs over the years have been a better judge of character than I am.
 
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Ours knows the usual words. One word he understands right in the middle of our normal conversation - where he is seemingly unconscious on his pillow - is "bath". Now he only gets a bath at irregular intervals, so there is no way he can anticipate it.
So it might go at breakfast, "and after I finish greasing the tractors I'll shower and give him a bath" and I go on about other stuff we need to do for the day. When I stand up to go outside he is normally right at my heels to go out with me. But if the word bath occurred in the conversation he is gone, silently vanished.
Experience tells us that he will be under our bed as close to the wall as he can get. And he will not come out for love nor treats. We have to spell b a t h if we want it to go over his head.
 
All our yellow lab knows is that this is her house and we are her uninvited guests. She knows that the Cat is evil, and that the two rats (grandson's) look delish.
 
Certainly, some dogs are smarter than others. Our Havinese can tell the different between 4 toys. We would tell her which toy we wanted and she would go get that specific toy. She would also shut doors, play dead, all kinds of tricks..... As long as there are treats involved.
 
My dog has moments of brilliance in long stretches of stupidity. But he knows what the evil word "bath" is. How is it that a dog that runs and jumps into the closest body of water (puddles included) that he can find, then hides when you want to wash him?
 
timwinters said:
Good one, Ron!

Someone here used to have a signature tag line...I think it was here...

never trust a man who won't pet your dog

My dad had a very similar saying when I was growing up.

Also, I've found that some of my dogs over the years have been a better judge of character than I am.
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Lol, my ex wife decided to go out with me because her chow, Breezy, liked me, "and that dog doesn't like anyone."
 
Red and Ellie are my son's two dogs. Ellie is old, moves slow, and is deaf. When my son opens the door to let them out, Red hears the door open, hops up and heads for the door. But if Ellie doesn't follow, he goes back and brushes past her and then makes a head nod toward the door so she will follow.

Also, on the steps going down from the deck. Red will go half way down, wait patiently for Ellie to catch up, and then go on down.

I do believe that dogs are as intelligent as many people claim they are.

Probably the dogs most disillusional are Jack Russell Terriers. Not only do they think they are human, but they they think they are six feet tall and can fight, and win, against anything on two or four legs.
 
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That hasn't changed much has it??????

Sorry man, you laid it on the rim.
 
tmyers said:
All our yellow lab knows is that this is her house and we are her uninvited guests. She knows that the Cat is evil, and that the two rats (grandson's) look delish.
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Mine keeps me around because he can't hold the pen to write the checks to pay for stuff.
 
If not for the lack of opposing thumbs we wouldn't be needed at all.
 
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