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Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#141

Post by maxerickson »

pilaf wrote: post #138
cj wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Shiba has learned the days of the week. I have a family member that visits every Thursday, and he sits by the door waiting for them (only on Thursdays). And god forbid I work a weekend or do something off schedule, he gets stressed out thinking something is wrong. I often joke he would be a more normal dog if he had a lobotomy. Sometimes I wish he were a bit dumber :)

That's amazing. Have you looked up whether this ability has been observed in other dogs? Do you think your Shiba is counting the days, or maybe there is something different about Thursdays (besides your family member visiting) that's giving him a hint?

Can maybe be something like a garbage truck.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#142

Post by buescher »

br3d wrote: post #79

I think what's way more interesting is that dogs can master class inclusion: they can understand that this toy is "Mr Shakey" and this toy is "Elephant" but they can also understand that there is a superordinate category of "toys" that includes both Mr Shakey and Elephant, and when asked "Go and get me a toy" can choose either. This is mind-blowing, as children normally have to reach 7 or 8 before they have a solid g…

I don't know if it's a solid grasp of abstract class inclusion so much as the concrete difference between "let's play (with a toy)" and "go get this specific toy (which will prompt play)" but yes, it's still impressive.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#143

Post by draculero »

legohead wrote: post #88
bongodongobob wrote: post #24

I adopted an Australian Shepherd from a friend a year ago and I'm absolutely blown away by how smart he is. He even knows the neighbor dogs' names. I can say "go get spot!" and he'll run after the right dog. He knows all my family members names. He knows that "you've arrived" on Google maps means we are there. He knows that "power on" coming from my Bluetooth headphones means we are going for a walk. He gets the conc…

I had a dumb labrador that was hard to train. Now I have a kokoni who knows 20 commands & words, and she is super easy to train. We haven't tried to test the limit of her abilities, we just ran out of things to teach her (that we cared about, at least). She never cared for toys though. I noticed while teaching her to "speak" that she would sneeze a lot, I guess it's kind of a reflex for her when she tries to speak. S…

I had a dog that yawned to say "no".

I don't know if she trained us or I trained her, but she associated stopping doing something with a yawn.

Don't like petting? yawn and the human will stop.

Don't like that food? yawn and we will change it.

Don't like going to the veterinary? yawn - but that never worked.

I loved that dog.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#144

Post by technothrasher »

AlbertCory wrote: post #89

While Ernie is certainly smart, I've found one gap in his IQ: He has some favorite houses because the person who lives there gives him treats. Several times, we'll see that person on the street and then pass their house, and Ernie still gets excited. I tell him, "Ernie, we just saw Jan. She can't possibly be in the house." He never listens.

Yeah, my pup gets very excited when my wife comes home and can even tell the sound of her car before she sees it. But... I can tell her, "mom's home!" and she'll get very excited and start running between the front and the back door, when "mom" is actually sitting right next to me in full view.

On the other end of the intelligence scale, I've got a buddy with a pup who I once told to get a stick, which he dutifully did and when I said, "no, not that stick, the one by the ball" he quickly dropped it and went and got the one by the ball. You can also tell him which color ball to get and he will.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#145

Post by eyelidlessness »

br3d wrote: post #79

I think what's way more interesting is that dogs can master class inclusion: they can understand that this toy is "Mr Shakey" and this toy is "Elephant" but they can also understand that there is a superordinate category of "toys" that includes both Mr Shakey and Elephant, and when asked "Go and get me a toy" can choose either. This is mind-blowing, as children normally have to reach 7 or 8 before they have a solid g…

They can also be taught certain distinctions within a class after having recognized the class itself.

For instance my pup picked up pretty early on that it’s big fun to chase birds. Where we lived at the time there were few crows (I honestly don’t recall seeing any), and when we moved to Seattle where crows are many she of course wanted to chase them too. But since I know that it’s better not to make crow enemies, I taught her not to chase them specifically. She now recognizes (usually) that crows are off limits, but still understands that other birds are generally fair game. (I don’t know if she’s also picked up on the fact that the crows recognize her too, but they definitely do.)

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#146

Post by cjtrowbridge »

legohead wrote: post #88
bongodongobob wrote: post #24

I adopted an Australian Shepherd from a friend a year ago and I'm absolutely blown away by how smart he is. He even knows the neighbor dogs' names. I can say "go get spot!" and he'll run after the right dog. He knows all my family members names. He knows that "you've arrived" on Google maps means we are there. He knows that "power on" coming from my Bluetooth headphones means we are going for a walk. He gets the conc…

I had a dumb labrador that was hard to train. Now I have a kokoni who knows 20 commands & words, and she is super easy to train. We haven't tried to test the limit of her abilities, we just ran out of things to teach her (that we cared about, at least). She never cared for toys though. I noticed while teaching her to "speak" that she would sneeze a lot, I guess it's kind of a reflex for her when she tries to speak. S…

I also have a Kokoni. He has a doll that looks just like him since he was born. Sometimes he will pose it to be doing things you tell him to do that he doesn't want to do. So wild to see.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#147

Post by teruakohatu »

cjtrowbridge wrote: post #146
legohead wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a dumb labrador that was hard to train. Now I have a kokoni who knows 20 commands & words, and she is super easy to train. We haven't tried to test the limit of her abilities, we just ran out of things to teach her (that we cared about, at least). She never cared for toys though. I noticed while teaching her to "speak" that she would sneeze a lot, I guess it's kind of a reflex for her when she tries to speak. S…

I also have a Kokoni. He has a doll that looks just like him since he was born. Sometimes he will pose it to be doing things you tell him to do that he doesn't want to do. So wild to see.

Do you have photos of your dog doing that?

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#149

Post by cj »

maxerickson wrote: post #141
pilaf wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's amazing. Have you looked up whether this ability has been observed in other dogs? Do you think your Shiba is counting the days, or maybe there is something different about Thursdays (besides your family member visiting) that's giving him a hint?

Can maybe be something like a garbage truck.

Lucky guess! I take the garbage out on Thursdays :)

I doubt the dog is actually keeping track of the days. Definitely picks up cues from my own behavior based on the day/schedule, like taking the garbage out.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#150

Post by Auracle »

sokoloff wrote: post #110
bongodongobob wrote: post #24

I adopted an Australian Shepherd from a friend a year ago and I'm absolutely blown away by how smart he is. He even knows the neighbor dogs' names. I can say "go get spot!" and he'll run after the right dog. He knows all my family members names. He knows that "you've arrived" on Google maps means we are there. He knows that "power on" coming from my Bluetooth headphones means we are going for a walk. He gets the conc…

We got our 3/4 poodle mix during Covid and remote work. To this day, he strongly associates me putting on jeans with "we're about to go for a walk" (which isn't entirely wrong, for sure).

I had a toy poodle growing up that would often know what I was going to do before I did.

He also growled at my girlfriend for the only time around when she started cheating on me. Maybe coincidental, but it was the only time I ever recall him growling at anyone and he had known her for 2 years.

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