Dog Breed Matters If You Want To Communicate

Scientific Blogging ^ | July 24th 2009 | News Staff

[decimon]

Researchers who make generalizations about the effects of domestication and dog-wolf differences in the utilization of human visual signals, take note; a new study says dog breeds selected to work in visual contact with humans, such as sheep dogs and gun dogs, are better able to comprehend a pointing gesture than those breeds that usually work without direct supervision.

In a series of tests, Márta Gácsi from Eötvös University, Hungary worked with a team of researchers to examine the performance of different breeds of dogs in making sense of the human pointing gesture.

[allmendream]

Yes, but dogs were selectively bred for different traits, intelligence not always being one of them.

Humans are all very similar genetically, nor is there reason to assume that any gene that had an unambiguous positive effect upon intelligence wouldn't have rapidly reached near 100% penetrance in the human population.

[dmz]

My golden, when out on the trails hiking, would run like hell up to the next fork in the trail, and wait. I would simply point the direction I wanted him to go, and off he went.

I’d call him a golden retriever, but more accurately he would be called a golden retrie.

You know, swim like crazy to get the stick, and bring it back just far enough out of reach in the water that I couldn’t get it. God I loved that dog. Only made to 5 before cancer got him.

[allmendream]

Have a BullMastiff, also quite bright and VERY eager to please (the best I have EVER seen in a dog).

The Chinese say “When the finger points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger”.

Looks like your Bella is no fool! ;)

[pikachu]

Jack recommends the squeaky bass toy from BassPro as a good chew toy. Also a 99 cent 12" kids plastic ball from WalMart or Target is very entertaining.

[meandog]

I speak “dog” fluently and have found that, no matter the breed, female K-9s actually “listen” and “obey” when spoken to...of course, you’ll get exactly the opposite effect in humankind and with cats—no matter the sex!

[CholeraJoe]

My Chocolate Lab can retrieve, sit, stay and return with hand signals. My black Lab thinks he’s above all that. If he had opposable thumbs he’d be more capable than most kindergartners.

[Judith Anne]

I have one of those dry-mouth American Mastiffs that Flying W Farms developed, smartest dog I ever owned. Click on my screen name to see a photo of him 2-3 years ago. He’s much larger now, still slim though, for a mastiff. 225 pounds of slim.

He took to hand gestures right away, seldom any need to speak to him, although he does try to “talk” when he wants something. He’ll toss his head toward what he wants—leash walk, treat, supper, outside in the back yard, whatever. I follow, he indicates. We trained each other.

One person dog, though. Won’t eat when I’m not there, or even drink water. After I got out of the hospital once, I had to feed him with a spoon to get him started up again.

[DieHard the Hunter]

> We are getting two German shep. puppies on Sunday; sisters — 11 weeks old, 21 lbs. They were scheduled to be euthanized. The person who had them didn’t want them and some kind person saved them.

If I may offer some unsolicited advice:

Begin training immediately. Always treat them with kindness, never shout at them or show anger. Never hit them ever. Have both dogs spayed unless you are a proper breeder: they will be much easier to handle — when they are in heat GSD females can be a real pain, and so can the male dogs from two miles around, swarming all over your place. Spay them and you will all be happier!

To begin with, reward with food and lavish hand-praise with each thing that they do right. Over time, make the hand praise and food praise random, but always the verbal praise when they do right. Keep your mood and voice always upbeat, and always talk to your dogs like you would a 5-7 year old child (ie not babytalk). Treat them like the intelligent dogs they are: over time they will understand the English language as it is spoken — not just your commands.

Feed only with Eukanuba and lots of clean cold water. Nothing but the very best dog food.

If you follow this advice your two German Shepherd dogs will delight you all of their lives, and they will reward you with more love than any other dog you may have owned. You could not ask for a more loyal or intelligent breed.

Congratulations on your choice, and thankyou for saving these two German Shepherd pups!

*DieHard*

[Deb]

What an amazing quote. I love that!

[allmendream]

The Chinese have some good ones.

They also say “The nail that stands out gets pounded down”.

[Deb]

Oh, no! It’s incredible how powerful losing a dog is. You just never get over it.

[SamiGirl]

I LOVE your pups!!! Thanks so much for your offer to contact you via FReemail.

[meandog]

I love everything about beagles and hounds except the cacophonous noise they bellow when they get wind of a quarry. It is a great song in the woods but dang painful on the ear pans around the house!

[ozarkgirl]

1. The bark all the f*&$ing time.

2. The bark all the f*&$ing time.

3. The bark all the f*&$ing time.

4. The bark all the f*&$ing time.

5. The bark all the f*&$ing time.

I'm still laughing at your response. My first thought when I read her comment was "they howl".

Great dogs though.

[thefactor]

i have a 75% beagle, 25% bassett. he's almost 6 years old. he's fixed. he, my girl, and i live in a manhattan apartment...with neighbors very close obviously.

he does not bark all that much. when we leave, he cries. kinda loud but we have never had complaints. when we get home, he freaks out and cries some more.

he is VERY good with other dogs, UNLESS they are male dogs who have not been fixed. if he sees a male dog with testicles intact, my dog goes NUTS!

very good with kids. he loves to eat. i mean loves it! he's fat. he's very smart. he tells us when he wants to go for a walk because he needs to 'go'. he tells us when he wants water by moving his water dish with his nose.

when we go for a walk, we go very slow because he needs to smell EVERYTHING ON THE PLANET for a long time!!! it's annoying.

when we go to the dog park, he jumps up on the bench, sits next to us, and watches the other dogs run around.

he sleeps forever. lights out. i love him, but if he's unhappy about anything you will know about it. i wish there was a place i could take him to hunt some rabbits with other beagles.

[Arrowhead1952]

21 lbs at 11 weeks? Those are big already! We just got an English Sheep Dog pup. She hit 15 lbs at 10 weeks and is gaining about 1 - 1 1/2 lbs per week. She is a handful for the wife, but I haven't had any problems.

Good for you to get rescued puppies. Wife took our pup for a obedience training lesson so she can teach her to behave. The lady teaching the class had two puppies that were also scheduled to be euthanized within 24 hours.

[SamiGirl]

Hi DieHard,

I’ve been thinking about you and was going to send you a “How Are You” email.

Thanks for the advice. Great points.

I am really looking forward to getting the girls.

Hope all is well with you and your family.

[Steve Van Doorn]

gun dogs? What the heck is a "gun Dog"

some dog in some district of Japan or something?

Anything but "gun" "Gun" can not be right.

[DieHard the Hunter]

Hi SamiGirl

The family and I are well, thanks. I know you’ll enjoy these two pups: German Shepherds are so much fun! Thanks for rescuing them.

If I can help in any way, drop me a note and I’d be happy to.

Cheers
*DieHard*

[SamiGirl]

Yes, they are really big girls. I’m wondering how big they’ll really get.

We also have a Black Lab. Got him as a puppy and took him to obedience training. He didn’t do well. The only dog in the class that flunked, but he’s just so loving; goofy, but loving.