For a dog making connections, words matter
Dear Cathy,
I’m in my 80s, so I have had many pets, especially while raising three boys. We always had dogs, cats, rabbits, gerbils, hamsters and even a goat. I was raised in Southeast San Antonio, which was very “country” back then. We had dogs, cats, chickens and two horses. My daddy put me on a horse when I was 4 years old. (What was he thinking?)
Dogs are so intelligent and fun if you interact with them and make them part of your life. I have Mitzi, a terrierpoodle I adopted from the Animal Defense League 10 years ago. I adopted Snuggles, a poodle-cocker spaniel, sometime later. She and Mitzi love each other so much. Since I have been widowed for several years, they have become my dear companions. They comfort me, although they can act up and be little “she-devils.”
Here’s my question. My dogs have several stuffed toys. When I tell Snuggles, “Get your pink stuffie,” she goes to the box and brings it to me. Mitzi’s favorite is a Snoopy toy; when it’s playtime, she brings it to me but won’t let me have it.
How do they know their favorites if they are colorblind? Is it by smell? I’m just curious about how my doggies know their toys by name.
Dear Irene,
Dogs are colorblind, and while their toys likely have distinct odors they can detect, Snuggles is not going after the “pink” toy because of its color but because you have named the toy she retrieves “pink stuffie.” After many times of you asking for the toy and rewarding her verbally (or with a treat) when
she brings the right toy to you, she has made the connection between the name you give it and the toy.
Dogs are intelligent and capable of making connections between language and the world around them. That’s why they are so easy to train. When we teach dogs to “sit,” the treat we give them at the
moment they sit helps them connect the word and their action. The more you teach your dog how to make those connections, the more words your dog can learn. In fact, the average dog can learn about 100 words if a pet parent trains them to make those connections.
If you want to see this amazing canine skill in action, go online and search for “Chaser, the dog who knows more than 1,000 words.”
There are several videos, but I recommend the clip with Neil Degrasse Tyson interviewing Chaser’s owner on PBS. Just like Snuggles, Chaser learned to identify his toys by name. I think you will be blown away at how intelligent dogs can be when we take the time to work with them.
Send your pet questions, tips and stories to cathy@petpundit.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @cathymrosenthal.