Do Dogs Know that They're Dogs?

If it hangs with you, comes when you call, rides with you, I think you have yourself a dog.

A few years ago a cat, very beautiful long hair black cat, was hanging around my yard and my own cat, soon it was joining my cat for dinner. It had a really ugly rhinestone collar, so one day I tied a note to it asking if anyone owned it, and gave them my phone number.

I got a call a few days later from a woman who lives about a block from me telling me she and her daughter had picked it up at a rescue shelter and they had him for about a year or so. She said he refused to stay in the house.

I took this cat home about ten or so times, and finaly gave up. Now that cat hangs at my house all the time, runs to greet me when I come home, and only sleeps in my house when the weather is just too cold and wet, (a rare event in San Diego) to be outdoors. I think he visits the people who rescued him from time to time, but I am convinced that he has adopted me.

The problem with all of this is that I do not know who is going to pay the veterinary bills should they ever be needed. I've been doing the flea thing on him when I do my cat once a month. I tossed the ugly collar a few years ago.

The daughter thinks that I stole her cat, so I am reluctant to call them about this issue.

Rich, try the note on the collar, see what happens.

-John
 
timwinters said:
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.
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So I post that my view is dogs are animals and don't have any psychic skills outside understanding inflection of their masters voice and body language and you first assume I haven't got a dog. Finding out I have two you double down and assume I must not spend enough time with my dogs.

Here's another guess of mine; you don't know me or my dogs. You have zero idea how much time I spend with them or what our relationship is. I could be fattening them up for holiday soup, or play in the park every day with them, or anywhere in between. The fact that I think they are animals doesn't help position me on the scale.

By you consistently pegging me towards the worst possible light despite having no evidence shows your intention and bias. Calling yourself self entered in the context of relating to me is just rude, and again, void of evidence.
 
Quite the overly sensitive soul aren't we? You don't understand dogs for whatever reason and it's my fault?

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Geico266 said:
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.
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Our dog trainer has all of his dogs doing this. He calls it rainy-day play. Gives the dogs something to do when they can't go outside. Great for high-energy smart breeds.

We normally don't give our guy plush toys since he just destroys them, pet PetSmart threw one in for free for the holiday so here's Dino getting a Christmas present early...

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He'll have the stuffing out of it in about 20 minutes or so. LOL
 
I'm not sensitive about it at all. But if you're going to spew nonsense about me it's fair I get to point it out and highlight why it's tripe.
 
One of our dogs loves squeeky toys. The other could not care less. The one that loves 'em has the squeaker dead and/or out in minutes.

It is a total waste of money, but, boy oh boy, does it bring her so much joy.
 
If you have a Kohls around you, they sell stuffed animals for $5 each at the check-out. Best dog toys available.
 
garyb said:
Dogs know that they're dogs. It's the owners that don't know that they're dogs. :frown2:
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Ain't it the truth. Dogs are amazingly tuned into the energies of their alphas, far more than most people know. They are far more immediate creatures than us.
 
denverpilot said:
Our dog trainer has all of his dogs doing this. He calls it rainy-day play. Gives the dogs something to do when they can't go outside. Great for high-energy smart breeds.

We normally don't give our guy plush toys since he just destroys them, pet PetSmart threw one in for free for the holiday so here's Dino getting a Christmas present early...

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He'll have the stuffing out of it in about 20 minutes or so. LOL
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Dino grown up. Dino big dog now!
 
steingar said:
Ain't it the truth. Dogs are amazingly tuned into the energies of their alphas, far more than most people know. They are far more immediate creatures than us.
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I've had numerous trainers/vets/whatever tell me that dogs have very little long term memory. All I know is that come mid-June, my dog would run to the front door any time there was a noise. Dad would spend the summer with me to get out of the Phoenix heat and he was the dog's favorite toy. During the rest of the year, dog didn't care about the front door but seemed to know that his best friend would be arriving sometime in the summer.

Tell me that's not long-term memory.
 
My dog understands the third-person concept. When he hears the word "he" or "dog" in a conversation, he perks up and looks at you. As far as to whether or not he thinks he's a dog, I think he does. In fact, I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a dog, too.
 
murphey said:
Dino grown up. Dino big dog now!
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Yeah. He was malnourished , had guardia, and looking for someone to adopt him just a little less than a year ago. 67 lbs.

We had a hard time figuring out breeds at first because he was so skinny.

He weighed in at 77.8 a week ago and he's filled in as an almost 2 year old and it's real obvious he's German Shorthaired Pointer mixed with Great Dane. He has a Dane's temperament and additional size, with the bursts of energy of a Pointer pup.

Every once in a while the Pointer energy becomes too much he turns into an 80 lb missile running in circles around the basement great room and vaulting the couch. Yeah. Over the couch. Ha.

He wore himself out killing his Christmas Present.

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Here's him about halfway through doing "surgery" to find and rip out the squeaky inside the toy.

http://youtu.be/EUfdIsRNXdk
 
Our dogs are pretty sure they won first prize in the Doggie Lottery! :D They understand they are dogs, my wife thinks they are short furry kids that stay up late barking at squirrels. They certainly understand a few words, or at least make us think they do. Prize, car ride, let's go, and a few others get a happy response. Seeing my wife with a piece of luggage will cause her dog to either go outside by the car, or pout in the closet. :yes:
 
On YouTube there's a Nova special called "Dogs Decoded".

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Fascinating on many levels.

Most relevant here is a portion on a particular dog that learned I think over 300 different objects by name.

Worth a watch for that, among other things.
 
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FastEddieB said:
On YouTube there's a Nova special called "Dogs Decoded".

Fascinating on many levels.

Most relevant here is a portion on a particular dog that learned I think almost 100 different objects by name.

Worth a watch for that, among other things.
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Not only knew 100 toys by name, but when asked to find a toy it had never seen before with a name it had never heard before, successfully picked it out of its pile of known toys.
 
Pilawt said:
Does a German shepherd know he's a hund? Do a Russian wolfhound's ears perk up when he hears "собака"? :D

Whatever ... Merry Christmas to all. :)
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Even better, "Why does my friend Beverly's dog react to her when she's a deaf mute and never says anything?"
 
murphey said:
I've had numerous trainers/vets/whatever tell me that dogs have very little long term memory.
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When I was young and foolish I had a pet ferret named Guido. I showed up to a friend's house with the thing, and the family beagle would not stop barking at it.

Fast forward about 5 years, I meet up with the family again in Southern California, sans ferret. The beagle recognized me (you could hear the wheels turning in its head) and would not stop barking.

Trainers know lots of things.
 
Dino's spots and coat remind me of Oreo, the dog we took to Leadville a few weeks ago.
 

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Good lookin' dog, Mike!

We had a rescue Dalmatian years ago and my lovely bride, being the medical professional that she is, came up with "Rorschach" for his name. I thought that was hilarious...and, of course appropriate. I'd never heard of a dog named Rorschach before, nor since. A pretty unique one it was.
 
My lab is surprisingly good at English. The words he responds to are the words he responds to and you can say words that rhyme very closely to trick him, and even in moments of excitement, he doesn't fall for them. He waits for precisely the right word.

He could also careless who is telling him those words. He really has no preference as to what people he is around as long as they're people.
 
Nice looking gang...
 
Geico266 said:
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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I have to push back on you a little on this.

I had a dog when I was a kid who would follow me to the movies on my bicycle, wait outside for me, sometimes for hours because I would stay for a double feature, and absolutely would not go with anyone else no matter how hard they tried to persuade him away.

Then there was that dog they made a movie about with Richard Gere that waited outside a train station for years for his master, who had left one day on the train, had a heart attack at work, and never returned. They erected a statue to that dog. :)
 
Norman said:
Can he parse words or a sentence?
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It sure seems like it sometimes but its likely just a combination of habit and body language more than complete interpretation of the words/phrase.
 
jesse said:
It sure seems like it sometimes but its likely just a combination of habit and body language more than complete interpretation of the words/phrase.
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I'm sure he can, Jesse. Mine know:

"Go to the road" that's the command when we start our walk. Our drive is 1/2 mile long and we walk to the county road and back twice a day.

They differentiate that from:

"Go to the house" which is the command as we get to the road. When they hear this (usually from a distance and while not looking at me) they immediately turn around and head back towards the house.

They differentiate that from:

"Get on the road". Which really means "come back to the drive". They hear this when they're wandering too far off the drive into the fields and immediately come back to the drive when told to do so...

...well except for our lab. His ears and nose seldom operate simultaneously.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
 
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Do Dogs Know that They're Dogs?

Not mine:dunno:
 

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txflyer said:
I have to push back on you a little on this.

I had a dog when I was a kid who would follow me to the movies on my bicycle, wait outside for me, sometimes for hours because I would stay for a double feature, and absolutely would not go with anyone else no matter how hard they tried to persuade him away.

Then there was that dog they made a movie about with Richard Gere that waited outside a train station for years for his master, who had left one day on the train, had a heart attack at work, and never returned. They erected a statue to that dog. :)
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Are you referring to this?
 
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