still going inside

[Sarah]

Good Post Newbear, however, I disagree whole heartily that a dog does not think, nor understand the language, of whatever country the dog lives in.

If you treat a dog as a dog that is all you are going to get. The same way with a child, if you treat a child as a child all their life, that is all you are going to expect is child behaviour. However, if you allow a child and a dog [or any animal] to grow and expand their knowledge [through their owner] you get a well balanced dog who loves, respects and will do anything that their owner/child's parent asks of them. Dogs feel otherwise they wouldn't "get depressed" if their buddy passes on, they feel the energy of their owner which is something a child has to learn to do.

They may not speak English but they sure understand it. a child doesn't understand language either until it is taught to. Instead of restricting dogs because they are dogs, allow them to grow to their fullest potential and you might be surprised.

Animals are not a commodity, they were created to be a companion to the two leggeds...

[mia]

Oh Yes Sarah be very generous this winter, Please don't send that -50 down. How do you exist in that? My sister lives in Phoenix AZ, where it get +115 or higher. I don't know how she handles that also.

[Baily3410]

Help!!! I thought my dog was potty trained... I guess not. She is usually in the kitchen gated off so she can't potty in the whole house. She has not peed in th house/ kitchen for four weeks. Bu then I took her upstairs to get a bath and right before her bath I took her out and she peed. And then I tell her that she's bad and take her in the hall to take her down stairs. And then she pees again. She was doing so so good! What should I do?!!

[Sarah]

dogs make mistakes baily, be patient with her.

[newbear]

Don't get me wrong, Sarah. I don't treat my dog as a dog. I treat my dog as my child and best friend. The reason why I think that dogs don't understand human language is because although we can treat a dog like our child or best friend, they are still dogs. They will not think like humans even if we thought they do. You may think that dogs understand what we say is because they can do tricks when we ask them to and they understand when we say we are bringing them out for a walk (once they heard that we are bringing them out for a walk, their ears prick up and they rush to the door).
I think there are three reasons that make us think that dogs understand human language. First, pets like dogs have a very strong sixth-sense. For example, I have always talk to my dog using english. I always ask her to come with me to the bedroom to have a nap with me in the afternoons. However, one day, I told my mum that I am going to have a nap and I speak in chinese. If dogs understand what we tell them, she should not respond as I did not speak in english like how I always speak to her and I weren't speaking to my dog, I were speaking to my mum. However, my dog responded as her ears prick up and follow me into the bedroom like how she does when I always tell her to have a nap with me. Another example is about 2 weeks ago, I received an email to confirm that my dog is going film a drama on tv. But as her name in the show is Juju, I will have to practice with her using the name so that she will respond to the name. Hence, I try to practice the name with her. The amazing thing is, the first time I called her Juju instead of xiao xiao, my dog responded to me immediately by looking at me like how I always called her. If she have understood human language or her name, she should not have responded as that isn't her name. Hence, I think that she have a strong sixth-sense to know that I am calling her.
Second, dogs are very sensitive to human body language and visual cues. Dogs can sit when we ask them to is because we display a hand signal or a unique body language whether it is intentionally or unintentionally (sometimes, we are not even aware of our own body language when we communicate with our dogs), every time we ask them to sit. Have you ever tried asking your dog to sit but he does other tricks instead of sit? This is partly because you gave your dog the wrong body language. Have you ever encounter any dog who can do maths? The trainer may ask the dog, what is 5 - 3 and the dog will bark twice. You may not see any hand signals from the owners and you will think that the dog knows how to do maths. Actually, the dog does not know how to do maths. It is the owner that does the maths and knows the answer. The owner may use some very small and not easily noticeable cues for the dog so that the audience would not notice the cues. We will use the question, what is 5-3? The dog was asked this question by the audience and to cue the dog to start barking, the owner may tap her fingers on her lap or give a little yawn to cue the dog to start barking. Once the dog finish his second bark, the owner may quickly blink her eyes to cue the dog to stop barking. This may lead to the result that everyone thought that the dog could really understand human language and can do maths. You can search Google about "Clever Hans" to understand how this pony is able to do maths.
Third, dogs are also very sensitive to our tone when we talked. I tried to play a little game with my dog when we are out for walks. It is the first time I play this game with my dog. I choose two words that my dog never heard of, which is slow and fast. I let her off lead and she walk in front of me. She was walking quite fast so I said, "slow" in a low-pitch and slow tone of voice. She immediately slowed down. however, when I praise her "good girl" in an exciting tone of voice but never release her by saying "okay", she started to walk fast again. It is the same as "fast". When my dog walk too slowly, I would say "fast" in an exciting and high-pitched tone of voice. She would then walk very fast but when I released her to walk her normal speed by saying "okay", she continue to walk so fast and not return to her normal speed.
Therefore, in my opinion, dogs do not understand human language. They act accordingly to their sixth-sense, our body language and visual cues and our tone of voice.

[Lady'sMum]

Some really good advice and tips in above messages.
I will be trying a few on Lady tomorrow.
Please keep your reaklly cold weather and do not send it my way.lol

[Sarah]

LOL Lady's Mum about the weather.

[Sarah]

Different ways of thinking and training newbear, neither right nor wrong.