Corgi Recognition
Lately I have been frightened by how much our corgi Loki can understand of human speech. Just toying around, I found out he knows what we call his toys, and can retrieve the ones you tell him to. If you ask him where a toy is, and ask him to 'lead you to it' he will also bring you to it (works well for stuff that gets stuck like his beachball ((he loves herding it around, very vocal about it))). I find it kind of ridiculous how much he has picked up without being trained to do so explicitly.
Does your corgi do this?
Does your corgi do this?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Susan Stanton on
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Isn't it wild? My guys know quite a few words too, and I don't quite know how they figured it all out. If I ask Bertie about squirrels, he runs to the nearest tree, and bites the bark. If I tell him frog, he runs around the yard, nose to the grass, hunting frogs. Bunnies? He runs to the back where every spring we have baby bunnies. He knows all his friends' names too -- Congo means a car ride to play, so he runs to the cellar door, but Scout means wait by the back door, she's coming over here to play. And "puppy park" -- well, he jumps in the car and actually starts singing. They really are geniuses.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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National news within the past coupla years: Bordie collie carefully documented recognition vocabulary of well over 200 words. The animal had been suspected of deafness as a puppy, so got a lot of extra verbal attention.
I've noticed that the corgwyn suddenly get very quiet and attentive whenever I'm talking to my stock broker.
But I'll be hanged if they can understand "Come!"
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Don't you think it's not so much "understanding" as "choosing" to come or not? I mean, Corgis with their own investment portfolios can pretty much do as they please, I should think....;-)
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I remember the study with that Border Collie. As I recall, they would put out three objects whose names he knew, and he always brought the correct one.
Then to test for reasoning ability, they would put out two objects he knew, and one that he had never seen. They would ask for the new object without first telling the dog its name. He would look at the two he knew, say "Well, they didn't ask for Red Ball or Blue Bone, so I know it's not those" and bring the new one, every time.
Now that's clever.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Oh yes, during obedience classes Sparty started following the instructor's commands before I said them. I had to start waiting before doing what she asked the class to do. He was just trying to eliminate the middle-man! I think they read minds.
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Permalink Reply by Kyle, Megan and Loki on
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obedience is not something Loki si good at, I train him nightly, however I cannot get to classes due to both finances and I don't drive (mostly the second one) and he listens better every night but having to do it without as much distraction it takes longer. Come is still a highly optional command.
The lack of obedience is not a knowledge issue however, it is him being a stubborn mule
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Permalink Reply by Nancy Geddes on
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After many years, I was taught by Bear, Tasha and Linus that the preferred word was "here". They are so smart that there seem to be several words which they refuse to connect. I found alternatives and use them successfully. Yep, they are super smart.....
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It's probably a little late for Loki, but we picked up a wonderful training tip from the breeder of my parents' Chessie.
The easiest time to teach "come" is when you first bring a new puppy home. A tiny puppy will nearly always run to you when you crouch down and clap your hands. So, you crouch down, clap your hands, and AFTER puppy starts running your way, you say "come come come come come" the whole while she runs towards you. Then you clap and cheer and say what a gooood puppy she is!
This way, instead of the association being a relatively weak one of the word "come" meaning "head towards Mom or Dad," you have a very strong association with the excited phrase "come come come come come" and dashing madly towards you, full of puppy joy.
I won't say Jack is 100% reliable on come, but if I say it with enough enthusiasm I normally get him. And he always gets a treat.
Our pup's breeder would call out "baby baby baby" in a high pitched voice when she was calling in the litter (presumably because if she yelled "Come" the entire pack would show up, and not just the pups), and I guess they must have got a big reward. We'd had Jack for a couple months and he was roaming in the yard and started to go off the property. I yelled "come come come" but he ignored me. In desperation I did my very best impersonation of the breeder and started yelling, in my highest squeakiest voice, "Baby baby baby!" and boy did he come flying, with the biggest grin on his face! I think the reinforcement of having the whole darned litter (and his was a big litter) come tumbling in must have seared itself into his little puppy pea-brain.
I guess the moral is this: make your "come" command a repeated thing, not a stern one word, and associate it with whatever Loki finds fun and wonderful. Does he come running for his dinner? If so, as he's heading for you say "come come come come." Is it a treat? A special play-time? Make your voice happy, as if something wonderful and exciting is about to happen, and make the dog associate "come come come" or whatever your command is with that.
And never call your dog using "come" for something bad, like punishing him or ending a play session.
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Permalink Reply by Chloe's parent Liz on
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We have names for all Chloe's toys and she knows their names. If I say go to Daddy she looks at my husband. It is amazing on what she knows.
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Permalink Reply by Lou Ann Lemaster on
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Duncan knows the names of his favorite toys. He has a "Nellie" which is an latex elephant; his "Raff" which is a stuff giraffe and his "Rilla" which is a stuff gorilla. He also knows his Kong, and will get it for you to put peanut butter in it for him. He has to carry his Kong to the kitchen to get the treat, also.
My husband has him trained to find his shoes. He has a habit of kicking them off anywhere and forgets. So, he taught Duncan to look for them for him when he wants to go out. Plus, when I had foot surgery and was in bed (for about forever it seemed), the first time I needed my husband and he couldn't hear me, I got Duncan to go get him. I never tried it before, but I told Duncan to go get daddy and he took off running, barking the whole way. Ran to my husband, back to the bedroom and then back to my husband. I wish you could have seen the look on my husband's face when he came into the room and asked if I sent Duncan for him.
Yepper, they are way to smart......scary like you said.
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