Go ahead, talk to your dogs

[dArKeR]

WASHINGTON - As many a dog owner will attest, our furry friends are listening. Now, for the doubters, there is scientific proof they understand much of what they hear.

German researchers have found a border collie named Rico who understands more than 200 words and can learn new ones as quickly as many children.

Patti Strand, an American Kennel Club board member, called the report “good news for those of us who talk to our dogs.”

“Like parents of toddlers, we learned long ago the importance of spelling key words like bath, pill or vet when speaking in front of our dogs,” Strand said. “Thanks to the researchers who’ve proven that people who talk to their dogs are cutting-edge communicators, not just a bunch of eccentrics.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5180799/

[Richardo]

1. I used to spell "walk" and "out" in front of our dogs...

...otherwise they go into a barking hyperfrenzy until I can get the leashes on.

Then they learned the sounds of O-U-T and knew that meant 'out'. So then I had to intentionally MISspell it ("O-W-T").

Who is training whom? :D

[wtmusic]

2. Border collies are one of the most intelligent breeds

n/t

[flakey_foont]

3. Some can read

my dog saw a sign that said WET PAINT...and..........

(gee, that is a new one, innit?)

[happyslug]

6. That is as bad as My father's Taking Horse joke

He was feeding his Horses and ask Old Bossy if he wanted some Oats and he raised his tail and said "A Few".

[hlthe2b]

4. Long term dog owners have known this..... It's good to show the rest

of the world that we aren't crazy. I've never had a dog I didn't speak to. Each had their own unique vocabulary, but they all learned, even without change in voice or inflection. Like others here, there were certain words I had to whisper and could not even "mouth" in front of her (so I guess that means she could read lips too!).

With my current Aussie Mix, "Peanut Butter" is just one of those. I was once going through the grocery list with my sister in the car, driving to the store, and once I (unwittingly) got to that item, her ears perked up, head over my shoulder, licking wildly.
My sister could not believe among "paper towels, dishwashing detergent, ground cinnamon, coffee filters, and salad dressing," that she could detect those words, with no change in my tone or inflection. She'd also do that with certain people's (Chad) or dog's names (Henry) that she particularly liked and when she was regularly going to one doggie day care that she particularly liked, but stopped responding months later when we I started using another and the term "doggie day care" would come up in conversation.

[SoCalDem]

5. Our lab learned to spell...

so we could not even spell "walk" or "outside"..:)

[NNadir]

7. My neighbor had a dog that could type (although she did make typos).

Actually the dog was sort of bitter and sullen. She used to type out long manifestos protesting the political and and quasi-military oppressive, exploitative rule of the imperialist reactionary system of "pets" and "owners", and called for the immediate overthrow of the old order of "speciesists" in order to advance the rights and interests of dogs and other oppressed and downtrodden species.

She was always reading Karl Markiesje and going on strike and demanded better working conditions. I think I would have enjoyed her more if she had simply, like Rico in the orignal article, merely played with toys. "Fetchers Unite" indeed.