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Can dogs read?
by Arthur Webster Just plain honesty
Arthur Webster 
Just plain honesty
Over the past few days I have had ample time to watch my dogs in action.
Walks which used to take half an hour have been taking over two hours, giving me lots of time to observe my friends in action.
They may not be able to read in the conventional sense but one thing is for sure - they have a reading skill that I would live to share.
They can read the world about them.
Scamp, who sits beside me in my photograph, has been under the weather, herself, for the past week or so. It has been absolutely fascinating watching her sniff through her own pharmacopia selecting those plants that will help make her better often calling Chap to share the bounty. (She seems to realise that Chap's previous life did not include the freedom to roam in open countryside - he is learning a lot from her).
Certainly both dogs seem able to sense (I think, by smell) when I am particularly ill and they both act in a much more subdued manner towards me at those times - though my wife has had none of the same courtesy.
Sniffing the leavings of other dogs, my dogs seem able to predict which dogs will be friendly and which leavings indicate an unknown quantity. A circus visited CoÃn a couple of weeks ago and the lion and tiger droppings were piled onto some waste ground where we often walked - both dogs steered well clear of that area.
It is also clear that they can detect illnesses in other creatures and will stay away from anything that might be contageous.
An aspect that I have not yet worked out is how my dogs decide where to go when roaming free. They seem to know that I cannot go into areas that their four wheel drive make easily accessible to them and will not expect me to join them in their exploration but will return to me on a safer track.
I would love to know what they can detect when they stand and growl at nothing with their hackles raised - but maybe I am not supposed to know. I would also like to know what is so fascinating when they stand and stare, in great concentration, at a point in the distance (or closer).
I wish I could read as well as my dogs can.
Dec 10th 2007 13:56
Just plain honestyOver the past few days I have had ample time to watch my dogs in action.
Walks which used to take half an hour have been taking over two hours, giving me lots of time to observe my friends in action.
They may not be able to read in the conventional sense but one thing is for sure - they have a reading skill that I would live to share.
They can read the world about them.
Scamp, who sits beside me in my photograph, has been under the weather, herself, for the past week or so. It has been absolutely fascinating watching her sniff through her own pharmacopia selecting those plants that will help make her better often calling Chap to share the bounty. (She seems to realise that Chap's previous life did not include the freedom to roam in open countryside - he is learning a lot from her).
Certainly both dogs seem able to sense (I think, by smell) when I am particularly ill and they both act in a much more subdued manner towards me at those times - though my wife has had none of the same courtesy.
Sniffing the leavings of other dogs, my dogs seem able to predict which dogs will be friendly and which leavings indicate an unknown quantity. A circus visited CoÃn a couple of weeks ago and the lion and tiger droppings were piled onto some waste ground where we often walked - both dogs steered well clear of that area.
It is also clear that they can detect illnesses in other creatures and will stay away from anything that might be contageous.
An aspect that I have not yet worked out is how my dogs decide where to go when roaming free. They seem to know that I cannot go into areas that their four wheel drive make easily accessible to them and will not expect me to join them in their exploration but will return to me on a safer track.
I would love to know what they can detect when they stand and growl at nothing with their hackles raised - but maybe I am not supposed to know. I would also like to know what is so fascinating when they stand and stare, in great concentration, at a point in the distance (or closer).
I wish I could read as well as my dogs can.
Dec 10th 2007 13:56
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Comments
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Jean DAndrea
RetiredThat's really interesting, Arthur. I don't have a dog, so haven't had the opportunity to observe their actions on a walk. Do see my cat checking out the garden where other cats have been, and the different behaviour when she sniffs droppings. Sometimes she covers them with an expression I'd swear is disgust. ;-) Dec 10th 2007 15:06 |
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David Schupbach
I have been a 'dog person' all my life Arthur, plus I was born in 1958, year of the dog by the chinese astrological calender. So I have an affinity for our canine friends. Their sense of smell, and their hearing are many, many, times more acute than ours. Seems like I read 15-20 times more! They have their own non-verbal language in addition to various barks, whines, and growls by which they communicate. What seems to be a dog's greatest advantage over humans though, is the lack of a predominating 'intellect', or should I say 'concious mind' which verbalizes everything to the point where we can be unaware of our surroundings. Dogs are completely in tune with everything around them, to the point where they amaze us at times. Dec 11th 2007 02:30 |
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Robert A, Falace
 Hi Arthur, I am a big animal lover have been since I was a child. We have 4 dogs and 2 cats. Our dogs are amazing to me. They speak to us with there eyes, their body language and they understand what we are saying to them. One day our daughter and I went for a walk down our drive to get the mail. Rob spoke very softly to our Pack Leader Max and told him to go with us and protect us (We live in the country). Max walk right beside our daughter and watched both side of our sandy road and was ready to attack if need be, now we never trained Max for that. Thanks for sharing about your dogs and I hope Scamp is feeling better. Jo-Ann Dec 12th 2007 17:22 |
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Mike Hunt
 Dog`s truly are mans (and womans) best friend, I have 6 large Bull Arabs and see exactly what you describe every day to Cootz. One of the older pups I sold earlier this year (I had 13 dogs at one stage : \ ... he could actually talk, he started doing it himself so naturally I encouraged it. I always greet them all with a big hello and this is what Monstaa started "saying" ... it really blew me out how clear he did it to, while not precise, it certainly was clear he was saying hello to me. I take my Dogs out in the bush regularly, they love to hunt as that is their nature, Bull Arabs especially, they were bred originally to bring down Water Buffalo, no mean feat. All my dogs know when a snake is near and they warn me, all have specific barks for specific things, I know when a visitor is coming before I can see their car, I know when there is a kangaroo or goanna close by and of course ... the snakes. Dogs have an acute awareness of those people you shouldn`t trust to, many times my oldest Dog (Budd) has "warned" me, and has been correct everytime. Now how do I go about letting him loose online I wonder ... : ) Christopher J. Dec 13th 2007 11:27 |
Dog's dog have an uncanny ability to interact with the world around them. My dogs are rather interesting also. I have a female a neutered male and an intact male. My intact male has an unbelievable ability to track down where the female has urinated. He will then urinate on top of it to mask her odor but he ignores where the neutered male goes.
Dec 10th 2007 14:18