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Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

theguardian.com

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Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#91

Post by bitexploder »

switch007 wrote: post #55
jumploops wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all dogs are motivated by food. Our high energy, water-loving, labradoodle is only motivated by one thing: frisbee.

IME all are... Labradoodles are loopy, like most of the bred-for-instagram breeds. Got to expect the abnormal

Well, I have a lab that is not. She is however motivated by fetch. She is not very smart as labs go, but she would move a mountain for you if it means one more toss of a toy. If you have a toy food does not exist. She will still do things for treats, but will also just decide not to if it suits her :)

Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#92

Post by rkagerer »

sva_ wrote: post #86
dr_kretyn wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have limited experience. Mine couldn't care less about food if a ball was near it. We also missed her feeding a few times and she never begged or reminded about the food. I usually carry a bag of treats (her favourite) but sometimes she refuses to eat them.

Wolves naturally don't usually eat everyday either, we just make dogs do it because we do it.

My dog must have missed the memo. He'll come over at EXACTLY 6 o'clock (to the minute) to remind you about dinner if it hasn't yet been served. He used to do the same in the morning but eventually we reached a truce on the concept of sleeping in from time to time.

Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#93

Post by SuperHeavy256 »

jasoneckert wrote: post #13
nanna wrote: post #3

My parents dog tends to not eat his food unless they start pretending that his friend poppy, who died years ago and who used to love eating his food, is at the door. He panics and eats up his bowl, lifting his head up anxiously to look at the door every few mouthfuls.

My dog (who recently passed away at the age of 13) used to do something similar. When she was a puppy, she spilled her food bowl and I swept it up with a broom. And since then, whenever we wanted her to eat her food, we'd just bring out the broom and start sweeping the kitchen floor - she'd immediately start eating her food, watching the broom nervously, because she's seen it eat her food before.

"because she's seen it eat her food before" adorable!

Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#94

Post by elawler24 »

mikestew wrote: post #53
switch007 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never understood people who say dogs are hard to train. They are SO motivated by food

Most dogs are, yes. I train dogs at an animal shelter, and I can tell you that not all dogs are motivated by food. Some will just turn their nose up at even the tastiest of treats. Some of those dogs might rather have a pet on the head or some praise. A rare few don’t seem motivated by much of anything. But for the 80% case, yeah, grab some string cheese and a clicker.[0] [0] https://www.rover.com/blog/clicker-traini…

My dog is far more motivated by human attention than food. There’s only one food that he’ll do anything for - freeze dried chicken hearts.

Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#95

Post by nyjah »

I have a German shepherd. She’s 10. I’ve been buying the same toy for her for the last 10 years, jolly ball soccer ball in blue.

Probably average about 2 a year. My dog understands when it’s time for the new one. She’s ultra excited and all the sudden the old ball we have kicked and fetched every single day for 6 months, is non existent as we are on to the new one. I always get a kick out of it. She’s too funny about it.

Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#96

Post by hombre_fatal »

iancmceachern wrote: post #47
thro2309 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they should not be trusted on public and around kids.

This is absolutely not true You and the top level parent commenter are confusing dogs with wolves Saying a dog isn't good in human soceity is like Saying wheat or cattle aren't good for eating. They've been specifically bred to be so over thousands of years by us, specifically for these purposes. Dog is truly man's best friend If a dog doesn't trust a person I been believe the dog, if a person doesn't like dogs, I do…

I can’t read the original comment that started this thread, but being bred to be consumed is not the standard of evidence needed to know whether that thing promotes positive or negative health outcomes.

Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#97

Post by Dylan16807 »

denkmoon wrote: post #70
kazinator wrote: post #62

I don't believe it. Dogs' brain matter is a different shade of gray, which only remembers for six weeks.

That’s a clearly absurd proposition. My family’s dogs remember me when i haven’t been around for 6 months, let alone 6 weeks.

> That’s a clearly absurd proposition.

Yes, that is the joke.

Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#98

Post by pxc »

SkyPuncher wrote: post #67
switch007 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never understood people who say dogs are hard to train. They are SO motivated by food

Depends on the dog. I’ve trained two puppies this year. The first one was stupid easy to train. Food motivated and could be refocused in every situation with food. Picked up commands quickly. Would do training basically any time of day. Second dog just stares at me if she doesn’t want to be trained or feels the task is too hard. When she gets distracted, it doesn’t matter how high of a reward I give, she won’t take i…

One trick that is popular in my family is to rest a treat on the tip of a dog's nose, tell them to wait, count silently for a few seconds, and then give them permission to eat it. (My sister's dog does it every day after his breakfast, and I recently had the pleasure of asking him to perform this trick for me when they visited. :)

Anyhow, my favorite of the dogs from my childhood was generally uninterested in what certain people wanted from her. She was more motivated by praise and the sheer joy of teamwork with her favorite people than by food.

So one day my mom (not one of this dog's favorites, through no fault of her own) sets her up to do the trick: she asks the dog to sit and places a treat on the dog's nose. The dog slowly decides she'd actually rather do something else. She tilts her head down towards the ground, the treat slides off her nose, and she leisurely walks away.

Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#99

Post by Waterluvian »

quectophoton wrote: post #46
petepete wrote: post #10

I've had my Labrador for 12 years, she was about 1 when we rescued her. In the first week I was walking her and passed a bus stop mainly used by school kids. There's a small wall behind it and she dashed around and emerged with half a sausage roll hanging out of her mouth. To this day, every time we pass that spot she enthusiastically pulls and goes round to inspect.

If you search "magic pie bush" you can find other similar stories :)

That felt like a dangerous Web query but I did it anyways and that little story and the others people shared in comments sections are great. Dogs are so wonderfully complexly simple.

Re: Dogs can remember names of toys years after not seeing them, study shows

#100

Post by smogcutter »

082349872349872 wrote: post #75
smogcutter wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the case of animal farm, it’s not so much that the dogs are more intelligent than the other animals as that Napoleon takes advantage of their disposition to unshakeable loyalty and need for a master. Likewise, unfortunately, in life. If you have to rank the animals by intelligence, second (or first, even?) is certainly Benjamin the donkey.

Looking through Rao's prism (in which disposition to unshakeable loyalty is a "clueless" trait), Benjamin is a clear "sociopath" candidate: he's (a) laconic, and (b) underperforming. [In the 80s, Rabinovich was allowed a tour of Europe. He sent telegrams from everywhere: "Greetings from free Bulgaria. Rabinovich" "Greetings from free Romania. Rabinovich" "Greetings from free Hungary. Rabinovich" "Greetings from Austr…

In Rao’s model, the sociopaths and losers share an understanding that the organization exists for the benefit of the sociopaths, they just respond to it differently. It’s only the clueless who are bamboozled.

So idk if it’s a great lens for AF, where all the proletarian animals are more or less equally taken in.

But anyway, Benjamin is definitely a loser, not a sociopath! He comes closest to understanding what’s happening, and his response is to put his head down, so his job, and seek meaning outside the political game. A Ryan-type sociopath candidate would ditch work to make a political play. Benjamin is Stanley.

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