Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Puppy Smarts or Coincidences ??

So Bob is odd.. very odd and I can't figure out if his little odd actions are him being really really smart or him just appearing to be really smart... hmmmm.

Ok so by now you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about right? Well here is what I'm talking about...

For two days in a row now I have the feeling like Bob is just humoring me when I ask him to go busy right before he gets lunch. He knows when he gets out of the kennel that he's going to get lunch.. he knows his schedule haha. Anyways, when I take him out to go to the bathroom before lunch he doesn't want to go - he just tries so hard to get back inside and straight to the spot where he gets his food.. Well I make him stay outside and tell him to Go Busy so he'll give up walk like 1 step and do a tiny little squat and gets out what tinkle he can and then runs over to the door again... Is he humoring me just so he can get to lunch earlier?

Another thing is today while I had him on tie-down next to the couch while I did some homework and Bob picked up something off the ground - laundry linty stuff I think because he got it from right next to the laundry basket. Anyways, I saw him chewing out of the corner of my eye but when I actually looked at him he looked up and stopped immediately.... I thought he had swallowed whatever it was so I looked away.. but as soon as I did he started chewing again.. so I got him and got the little paper thing out and let him go... So, my question about his brains - did he stop chewing because I looked at him and he knew that I would take it away or did he just happen to stop chewing for the exact length of time that I was watching him? Hmmmm we'll have to see what he does next time this happens...

Any other funny stories like this?

This is a picture of Bob laying on a brown and white striped dog bed. He's laying on his back and trying to either bite his back feet or his tail so his mouth is wide open and he looks kind of crazy.

13 comments:

Ro said...

Can you relieve him after he eats? That's what I've learned from GDB, relieving after food and water. He might just not have to go yet. Dunno?

And yes, I think he knew you were watching. They are smart, these dogs. And in my lecture cd, they said the dogs are very visual too, and will pick up on our physical cues. They said not to reach for the treats while clicking for instance, because they see that motion towards the treat pouch. So I bet he know you were looking. :)

Beth and Alfie said...

I'm pretty sure he knew you were watching! Puppies are very clever, especially where their interests are involved! :-)

Maddie, Betsy, Jorinda, and Petuina said...

Gabrina and Betsy both did/do the same thing if they are chewing on something they aren't allowed to. They would stop chewing until I look away again. I taught both of them "spit it out". And now when they are chewing on something they aren't and I look at them they immediately spit it out so they can get the praise.

Infrequent Flyers said...

Ha ha! Cabana does the same thing when she's chewing something and thinks I'll take it away. She stops and tries to look innocent, like, "Huh? No, I don't have any rocks in my mouth." Bob sounds like a definite smartie. It's really hard to be smarter than our dogs!! That's the challenge I run up against all the time!

Carrie and Waffle said...

Yeah he's got your number. That is pure puppy. Truffle does the same thing with her garbage mouthing. She gets a collar correction when she picks up stuff she is not supposed to. When she see me going for her lead she tries to spit it out, but often paper gets stuck to her lips! it is hilarious as she tries to spit it out b4 I get to her.

as for the Pee thing- yeah I call that the courtesy squat, they squat but nothing happens. In certain situations I'm ok with that, I figure she at least gave me that, I've puppy sat pups that do that because they figure what you want is a squat. You have to watch it, mainly bc your dog doesn't know how long until the next potty break. We know that it will be 2-4 hours but they don't and they are like kids who would rather play than pee, they don't have a pee-pee dance and leakage happens. You might try re-arranging his schedule- take him out earlier than normal and put him back in. ect...mix it up to keep him guessing

Natalie said...

Haha yeah, he goes right before and after breakfast/lunch/dinner so yeah, I might start taking him out halfway or something or just eliminate the one before.. except for breakfast he needs the one before that haha.

Oh and how do you teach to spit out? Is that the same as drop it or is it different? That would be awesome to teach lol. He's not terrible at picking up things on walks - its just around the house or when he's outside busying.

Erin said...

You wanna know something weird...Pompei sometimes pees laying down. He'll go stretch out in the grass and go. Or he'll be sitting their and realize he has to pee and just let it go. I'm going...uh-oh this could be a problem.

Natalie said...

Wow, that is pretty awkward haha... poor boy, maybe you should get those belly band things - like boy dog panties haha.

Carrie and Waffle said...

I actually use the leave it command depending on your school it might be the same command. if you school allows collar corrections, when she has something in her mouth I give her a little pop and pull it out and verbal "leave it". I sometimes leave things onthe floor that I know she loves and every time she passes it by I praise. If she grabs for it, a quick collar corrections and a verbal "leave it" . BC dogs should learn self decipline I mix up the verbal command and physcial corrections. sometimes one or the other or both. But everytime she does something I like I make sure to praise her to reinforce the habit.

let me know what you do. it is interesting to see how the different schools opperate.

Natalie said...

Pretty much the same thing - but if they have already picked something up we use drop it. So we have leave it and drop it. I like hearing about other schools too, it's interesting to see all the different things we all do.

Maddie, Betsy, Jorinda, and Petuina said...

For me it's the same as drop it. Except at GDB we use that's enough when we want them to stop playing with their toys, ect. And I only use spit it out when they have something they shouldn't. For me, drop it could apply to toys.
Every time Betsy had something in her mouth she shouldn't I would say Betsy spit it out and then give her a collar correction at the same time. The first few times I had to take it out of her mouth, correct her, and say spit it out at the same time! They catch on pretty quick though!

Anonymous said...

puppyraisingescapades.blogspot.com; You saved my day again.

Anonymous said...

Hello everyone
Do not miss your chance to get a free ipad. Visit http://bit.ly/cmmVr7