Comments on: Dogs Able To Interpret Human Gestures

By: agility1

agility1 — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 01:47:38 +0000

This is really of no surprise to me . I train two of my Jack Russell Terriers in agility, and body language and posturing are an important part of our training. Hand signals have been used for centuries in dog training. My dogs also know hand signals for all of their tricks and commands, ie.. sit, stay, come, lie down, heel, jump etc.

By: furmom

furmom — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 23:15:53 +0000

How deaf dogs cope is fascinating. My dog had a pal at the dog park who was totally deaf. My dog had a “listening”problem when called to come from playing at the dog park. But when the two were together, and I called, the deaf dog came to me right away, my guy took a little longer to “hear” me.I should add that I think the deaf dog was coming because he read the body language of my dog who heard me, but was refusing to come.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 22:45:45 +0000

A girlfriend of mine is deaf. Years ago she trained her 3 dogs to understand a fair amount of the American Sign Language. This is especially handy now, years later, because two of the dogs are deaf themselves.

By: mzcelie

mzcelie — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:49:59 +0000

No surprise 2 me .. I had a standard poodle who became deaf when she became an OLD DOG ( yes, they CAN learn new tricks!! ) She was so intelligent …I taught her a number of signs in ASL (American Sign Language ) that deaf people use. She had no trouble understanding me for 3 years. Moreover, a “handy” friend made her a homemade wooden dog biscuit dispenser. She had to put her paw on a lever and step on it in order to dispense the “cookies”..Only problem was we had to take it away from her & hide it, or she’d empty the container !!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:00:16 +0000

“dogs can understand human gestures and behavior, have learning strategies, and can even interpret a pointing finger.”

More than can be said of the FDA et al…….

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:42:22 +0000

“Her team is showing that dogs may even be more clever than monkeys.”

and monkeys may be more clever than researchers

By: furmom

furmom — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:39:16 +0000

Haha, oh so clever scientists have finally proven what dogs have known for thousands of years, dogs read people like a book. They don’t just follow our pointing finger, I know my dog follows my gaze, and even reads my breathing for goodness sake. They know what we are thinking, feeling, how to train us, and when their attempts to control us are working or not. I’ve seen him switch strategies many times to get me to do what he wants. One dog could tell whether I was actually watching him for misbehavior (taking off) or momentarily distracted and not watching (that’s just when he took off). He could tell that I couldn’t see him in the dark, but could in the dusk (he was black), so he cold escape. We humans aren’t very clever by dog standards and they know it.

By: Lynne

Lynne — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:07:55 +0000

I’ve long believed dogs also communicate in ways we don’t understand. I’ve watched two of my schnauzers stand and stare at each other, then turn and go do something together. Were they “talking” to each other? They both stare at me as if trying to communicate also. This will sound far out, but I’ve thought pictures to them (the treat box) and they perk up and head for the treat box. As Mark Twain once remarked, animals seem dumb to man because of man’s dull perceptions.

By: kaefamily

kaefamily — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:56:45 +0000

Well, our lit’ guy thinks WE need to learn to better interpret HIS gestures and body language :-(

By: Trudy Jackson

Trudy Jackson — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:20:16 +0000

Catmom5, HAHA, I know just what you mean.
But when My Springer went deaf, I used hand signals and He knew just what I meant.

By: catmom5

catmom5 — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:53:53 +0000

My cats weren’t all that impressed when I read them the article. Said something about they could do all that and more ~ but they had better things to do (like power naps) and besides they had trained staff to do those things for them!

By: nora

nora — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:20:08 +0000

I agree that dogs recognize these signals and body language. My Aussie follows my pointing finger with his gaze, and knows when I look up and say “Look Rufus” that the canadian geese are flying overhead. When we are driving in the car and other dogs are being walked down the sidewalk and I point and say “puppies”, he whips his head around to check out whomever is strolling down the walkway, ears perked and focused. When the “Ultimate Dog Challenge” is showing on the Animal Planet on Sunday mornings and the Frisbee Championships are on, “we watch together and he REALLY WATCHES these doggies flying through the air with great interest. He also likes to watch some of the Agility Meets and Flyball!