Are dogs clever or stupid?

My Sister had two small dogs (Scottie and Westie) . She had a kitchen clock which played a different tune on each hour. The dogs got fed at 5pm and new exactly which tune that was - at which point they became very excited. They more or less ignored all the rest (although sometimes would raise their heads and listen briefly before going back to sleep).

Edit: "heads" was "head" .... didn't want to create any misunderstanding.

Edited By Bandersnatch on 18/04/2016 22:52:59

I like having a dog, it gets you out and about and you can meet people who become lifelong friends.

Unfortunately, dog owners, like car owners, and cyclists, can be dangerous, stupid, unsociable and annoying too.

c'est la vie

It can tell the difference between a dog barking on the radio and a dog barking in real life but it's still funny to watch him chase his own tail.

They aren't daft but they'll give the impression they are just to look innocent, alot of people let their dogs off too easy, hence why some of them are badly behaved/ anti-social.

Sometimes this isn't their fault, like if they live out in the sticks and the only people they're used to is their owner.

Michael W

Edited By Michael Walters on 19/04/2016 06:38:56

I know the difference too

One I can turn off

One animal trainer here in NZ taught a dog to drive a car, that wasn't enough, he has now taught a dog to fly an aeroplane.

One night after I had locked up the workshop, and settled down watching TV, the workshop intercom beeped, so I went out to see what was happening, opened the door and just about got bowled over as the neighbours cat came flying out.

Ian S C

Just had some pics. from Houston where my Son lives and currently cut off by flooding, The cat is, 'Bobby' and seems quite cute and clever.

Edited By Clive Hartland on 19/04/2016 13:41:52

An old aircraft joke (when automated flight became practical) -

On looking in to the cockpit of an airline, there was the captain in the pilot's seat and a dog in the co-pilot's.

"What is the dog doing here"?

"To bite the pilot if he touches anything".

"So why have a pilot"?

"To feed the dog".

JA

Edited By JA on 19/04/2016 14:02:08

Edited By JA on 19/04/2016 14:03:09

Good one JA, the dog I mentioned was flying a Cessna 172, G-GEHL. It did have another pilot in the RH seat, but hands off for the filming. The dog trainers late father was a well known airline pilot with NAC, and Air New Zealand, so that may have been the aviation link. The flight was done in England, and the dog was chosen from a group of about a dozen dogs.

Ian S C

Edited By Ian S C on 20/04/2016 14:36:15

We've had 3 dogs. All have had their own personalities.

The first one was a Labrador from the rspca. Taken there by the previous owner as it loved to chew things. Wasn't too bad initially and if taken back they get put down. Then one night she ripped up a carpet. I collected the bits and that evening without her noticing I filled her food bowl with it and put it down. She took one look and started snapping and snarling so I fended her off with a broom until she went quiet, then tied lots of pieces of carpet round her collar. She wasn't too keen on that but just went into a corner. This more or less cured her except for chewing the edge of her dog basket. Some time later we took her on holiday in a posh holiday home. Woke up one morning and found teeth marks all round the toilet seat.

Next one was a rescue german shepherd. Too much for the owner. She would only eat certain food so 1 day battle to get her to stop by the food bowel glaring at me sort of saying up yours. She didn't eat for 2 days and then was ok. A few days later we went out for a while and came back to find the fridge empty. She'd taken everything out, bit it and eaten it if she liked it so we had to fit a simple plastic child lock. For some reason if my wife was wearing a green dressing gown and went too near me she would start growling and barking at her, never bit her or anything like that. If my wife was wearing anything else all was fine so the dressing gown had to go. Like most shepards she knew what she shouldn't do but if we weren't watching her she might,

Puppy German Shepherd next. Biggest one in the litter by a large margin. I have a feeling some one had bought her before and taken her back. The dealer told us he wouldn't cash the cheque for 2 months. Not much trouble toilet training her but some how or the other she had learned where the bedroom was and how to hide under the bed refusing to come out. Wont have that so broom again. She likes opening cupboard doors and may eat what she finds inside. Not sure how she chooses or why. So we put a drop down chain across the doors. If we go out and leave it off she opens all the doors and grins at us when we come back. She's only eaten one thing out of the cupboard in 9 years. That time she skulked about when we came back. She gets biscuits lunch time and after some one has given her some she pretends she hasn't had any when only some one else is in view. She knows when her latest possible food time is in the evening - sits to attention and stares at me. We often watch a film in the evening. She knows it's time for bed when the music comes on at the end. If she sees a cool box she knows we are off to Wales and gets very excited. If I put my shoes on and the wife is out she immediately goes to her mat. She has lots of habits like that. She know she can take liberties with my wife but not me or my son, especially my son. She tends to stop be me all day and watch what ever I am doing and if she wants a fuss jumps on my lap.

John

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My wife and I have a mk1 black and white cat called cheeky and he lives up to his name particularly where food is concerned, when I turn the tv off to go to bed he sits up because he knows its feeding time, he climbs in my van and enjoys a ride around the village, when I come home from work he has climbed on the roof and stands there till ive backed up and parked.

If I walk to the end of the close he walks with me waits at a mates house and walks back when I come out, our neighbours had a young boxer dog who got into our garden and started harassing my wife, who is an invalid and unstable on her feet, she shouted at the dog to go away when our cat appeared and threw himself at the dog with all his knives drawn causing the dog to leg it back the way he came, never known a cat be so protective of his owner.

Martin P

got 2 dogs, one pure border collie ( excitable, fast and thick ),others a lab /collie cross ( loyal, friendly but lethal to rabbits etc , etc and loves herding cows!)

Local farmer(s) delighted at having cows retrieved if necessary and reduction in rabbit population.

Don't know how but about 5 minutes before I get home they know and wait at gate. Doesn't matter whether I'm late or early they go to gate 5 mins before I get home. There is no way they can detect the car that early ( I'm on A1M !) but wife swears it's uncanny.

Effective guard dogs as well, very friendly whilst we're about, but had a hire car collected once and keys were in "safe place". Unfortunately I was out so got a call asking were keys behind gate as dog's were out . One guarded gate whilst other patrolled perimeter in case the collection men tried to get around! Don't know why they hate red post vans, other colours no issues but a red van and all hell breaks loose.

They get me out and about and wouldn't be without them.

De tente exists between them and our 2 cats. They chase others but leave ours alone so you have the bizarre site of a ginger cat and 2 dogs coming down the drive to greet you. Dogs have even been known to chase off a neighbors' cat that attacked one of ours and deter their dogs.

Greetings to you all, I have had 4 dogs, all smart, the last two rescue "Westies" from the charity "Westie Rescue", and both loved riding 71/4 trains.

here is Rosie inspecting a new loco on our garden railway, however she hated electric locos, perhaps because of the noise, and tipped them off the track.

regards

Brian

Two westies one head? A sort of negative Cerebus.

When I was a young teenager we went on a family holiday camping in Mid Wales.

My youngest brother somehow got a hole bunch of wasps in his hair and was totally freaked out. My mum told me and my other brother to get away from the tent while she got the youngest to sit down and tried to get the wasps out.

Our dachshund came over and bit the wasps out of his hair one by one. He got stung plenty but finished the job. My mum always said she never saw anything remotely like it.

Neil

Cleverness, we were out on a shoot and we were walking the Kale and the dogs were put in and all you could see was Kale wobbling about as they pushed through. Suddenly up goes my Airedale, 'Stotting ' like a bambi, this must be his way of seeing where he was going. in seconds we had all sorts of dogs stotting all over the Kale as we all fell about laughing. A great day.

Clive

Bob

1) I think you need to re-assess the food that you are giving to your dogs - there does to seem to be a large amount of farting going on! (...and our Staffie never farts)

2) I'm only qualified to comment on :-

1) Staffies : Cuddle, eat, check out garden for cats, cuddle, make cackling noise, greet Postie, lick a few ears, progress destruction of indestructible dog toy, go bananas when a walk is suggested, cuddle, sleep - repeat.

2) Whippets : Whizz about at the speed of light, flop down to regain strength, whizz around etc. - repeat

Dogs - I can't imagine a life without them - a faithful companion and constant source of amusement.

Norman

Edited By NJH on 21/04/2016 14:32:02

Dogs are, much like "Artificial Intelligence" software, complementary to our minds' way of processing. I do enjoy watching them problem solve.

I read fairly recently, where it was posited that (at least here in North America) dogs/wolves domesticated us, not the other way around - we had the height to see and could climb - useful attributes for pack hunting.

Something to think about...

John.

Never mind dogs, I.m still trying to stop crows getting in and stealing the hen eggs. 6 ft high wire fence, ribbons and streamers all over, looks like a fairground. Collecting eggs every hour is best at the moment but tiring. I think they know that I have no longer got a shotgun