My cats know the sound of their food box being shaken. They’ll come running at the smallest noise of it.
My roomate’s dog knows a lot of words and phrases. You can tell him to “Go to bed” no matter where he is in the apartement and he’ll go jump into the bed. He also knows the typical dog tricks of “sit”, “lay down”, and “shake”. He also, if he knows he’ll recieve a treat for it, will turn around in circles if you make circles with your hand. And if one grabs a plastic bag or the scooper, he’ll know he’ll be going out and go run to the door and wait by it. This happens almost every time one grabs a plastic bag, even if the intention is not to take him out.
So what do your pets understand? Feel free to tell stories.
My understands “NO!” & “Bad Kitty!” when she does something she isn’t supposed to do.
When it’s time for her to eat, I’ll say “Come on” and she runs to the bathroom where her food bowl is kept.
If I ball up a piece of paper, her eyes will widen and she drop into an attack position because she knows I’ll be flicking the paper ball towards her to catch. There’s paper balls all over the freakin’ place. She’ll either bat them down or catch them.
When Auggie, The Cutest Dog on the Planet ™,was still in his destructive phase (which, thankfully, didn’t last long), we used to put him in the family room when he was going to be alone in the house. All I had to do was shake my car keys, and he’d go into his room.
He knows the names of some of his toys- he knows cowie, piggie, gator, and 'dillo (short for armadillo). He has a bunch of toys, but those are the ones he knows.
He knows where I keep the brush and flea stuff and everytime I open that cabinet he runs upstairs and hides.
Oddly enough, when I'm reading the paper and I have to shake it to get it turned to where I want it, he barks at me. He also barks at me when I close my laptop. Doesn't matter where I am, or how far away he is. If he hears it, he barks.
Our dog Boomer heads for the door every time hubby puts his cap on or picks up his car keys.
He responds to the standard doggie orders, and when he’s been naughty, he knows where his corner is and he goes there. He’s never naughty though – we only tell him “in the corner” when we’re having company for dinner, so he won’t sit and stare at us while we’re eating.
He also knows “blankie”, “go lay down”, “treat”, and “go out” and “go o-u-t”.
When we catch Mick the Cat scratching the furniture, she rolls over and shows us her big fat belly.
Both cats respond to the sound of food in their dishes, and to the sound of water running in the bathroom sinks. It tastes so much better than the water in their bowls.
They both know what the shaking of the food bin means. This is the extent of the girl cat’s knowledge. Everything else I do is a mystery to her.
Rex knows his name. He also knows what the tuna cans and cat treat cans are. He has been known to climb up on the shelf where they are kept and push some off onto the floor in order to let us know that he wants one.
When I tell my black longhair kitty “bedtime” she gets up from wherever she is, trots down the hallway and sits in front of the bedroom door until I open it so she can go inside. She’s also very aware of the jingle made by the laser pointer keychain when I get it out of the drawer, draws her like a magnet.
My little brown torti-tabby has to get a pill every day but she actually likes it because I hide the medicine inside a kitty treat. When it’s about that time I head towards the bathroom and she will bound in front of me, race into the room and jump up on the vanity to await her treat. Sometimes she’ll leave a few crumbs then I’ll tap my index finger on the counter next to them and she’ll lick them right up. A few times this has even worked when it was the pill that fell out. (Easiest cat I’ve ever had to give medicine to.)
Now, the orange tabby, an absolute glutton, knows that when the tv set goes on in the morning it means I’m finally awake and should be filling his food bowl, darn it! The other tabby guy loves to be combed and I sort of accidentally established a routine with him. I go to brush my teeth and it’s his cue to sit on the vanity, facing away from me, for his nightly grooming session.
Finally, all of them understand the essential words such as “no” and “down”, and each will respond when I call their name. A couple even come.
The Gryff (he’s a cat) knows a few words – he will “go get his string,” the string being one of his favorite toys, and it’s a special string, not any old random string. He also knows “nap time!” and will trot into the bedroom, but on that one I have to point out that I say it as I am doing the things we do to get ready for bed, like putting the chain on the door and turning out the lights, so I think he knows the routine more than the actual words.
When we are getting ready to leave on a trip, he knows something’s up when we get the suitcases out. It’s funny because about 50% of the time we leave him at home with someone coming over to feed him, 25% he goes and stays with friends, and 25% we take him with us. When the suitcases come out, he becomes very agitated and vocal. It’s like his little cat brain can’t agree on the right action. I should hide under the bed! No, I should run around in circles! No, I should sit by the door and meow a lot! No, I should go back under the bed! I think part of it is that while he knows the suitcases mean we’re leaving, he’s not sure whether he’s in for a car trip, or going to be left by his lonesome.
I’ve read that if you point at something, dogs (and I assume cats) don’t understand the point of the pointing (ha ha) because they look at your hand, not what you are pointing at. We’ve got the Gryff about 1/2 way there on the pointing. I usually only point at bugs, which he loves to chase, so now he thinks that pointing is a hand signal for him to start looking around. He doesn’t look where I’m pointing, but he does start looking and sniffing around for the bug, and eventually finds it.
Oh, and an opposite – something where the Gryff has trained me. When he wants to be picked up, he’ll get in front of me and sort of bob his head up. He never wants to be picked up for companionship, this is another bug thing. There’s a bug that’s up high somewhere that he can’t reach. I’ve got to be fast on this one, if I reach for him, he’ll climb me like a tree (ouch, claws) if I don’t lift him quickly enough.
Josie mutt came to us knowing “get out of the kitchen”, which is quite handy - even when camping she’ll get out from underfoot.
Several things cue her to a walk: picking up the iPod, filling my camelbak, grabbing a jacket I only wear for hiking. By the time I get to “want to GO for a RIDE/ WALK/ HIKE”, she’s doing the doggie dance. We have to be careful of how we use the words “go” or “ready”. If we tell her “You’re going to stay in the house”, we get the full on lowered head & tail sulk.
We taught her to “go pee” by accident, but it’s convenient. Also, “bedtime”. If we don’t go to bed on time, she grumbles at us and sometimes puts herself to bed.
She also knows the names of some of her toys & treats - the heifer, the hedgie, a chip (rawhide).
How much fun is it getting them wound up with actions, tones of voice & words they know? Fuzz therapy, I tell ya, it’s the greatest.
Space the dawg knows the standards, come, sit, down, stay, no, out, but she doesn’t mind really well unless food is involved. She’s opinionated and didn’t get any training for the first year and a half before I got her. Seems to know via telepathy when a walk is coming and tears around the back yard whining and jumping up at the kitchen window. Knows that “hold up” means she’s a bit too far ahead on the path and she needs to stop and wait for the human to catch up. Knows “go get the kitty!” means find Pratchett for us–they really love to play together and it’s much easier for her to locate him, she has the nose for it.
Both cats know “yum yums!” and will come when called, Stiggs responds to a tongue click (sort of a tch tch sound) and his name, this will bring him in from wherever he is outside. Pratchett totally knows his name and comes to finger snaps. Both cats understand “NO,” “get down” and “headache!” which is what we say right before giving them a good finger thump on the head for grabbing something they aren’t supposed to have, like my necklace or somebody’s ankle. Pratchett also understands the spray bottle and it makes him squinch his eyes very small–he gets really affectionate at night and wakes me up purring and licking my face so he gets the squirt bottle a lot. I can aim and nail him in the dark in my sleep, so I guess I’m even more trained than he is…
My cat Emma knows: “No” “Emma” “Lie down” “Off the bed/couch” “Treat” and “Food”. She also knows the kissy noise and hand or head gestures mean “come here”.
My rats, Bettina, Lola and Cookie, know: “No” “Bettina” “Lola” “Cookie” “In the cage” “Do you want your cage cleaned?” “Are you ready?” and “Treat”. Cage cleaning is something they look forward to as a newly laid out cage means new things to play with, so whenever I mention it they hop around like little kangaroos. “Are you ready?” means that I’m about to transfer them back into the clean cage, so the kangaroo action intensifies. “Treat” is a loaded word that you don’t utter around them unless it’s followed with a treat, otherwise there is much noise and flinging of bedding.
My dog knows most of the usual words and phrases, but has a few additional skills. If someone, man or woman, puts on a bathing suit, he knows somebody is going swimming. He also assumes, often incorrectly, that this means HE is going swimming. How he can tell between a clean bathing suit and boxers/underwear I don’t know ( maybe some residual chlorine scent?), but he clearly knows the difference.
Also, out of my 50 or so different pairs of shoes, boots, sandals, etc., if I put on my hiking boots he believes that something special, at least in dog terms, is about to happen. And in dog terms, he’s usually right.
Ki the wonder dog (who is half border collie) understands walk, howl, treat, as well as a host of others - we estimated about 50 words. He understands several of them spelled out. He also knows that my putting on my shoes in the evening means it is time for a walk. He has learned to tap on the glass door to be let out. When he was little, we made him sit before crossing a street, to try to slow him down if he ever got out. He quickly used sitting as a request to cross the street when he wanted to.
He likes to run in the field of a school about 7 blocks from us. There are several ways of getting there, and when we haven’t wanted to take him he has shown he wanted to go each of them.
And most embarassingly, he smell whenever we are interested in messing around, and shows us he knows by humping his bed. :eek:
Kassie, the smartest dog ('cuz she went to obedience school) knows lots of words and signals: down, turn around, wave, wash your face (she wipes the side of her nose with a front paw), gimme five, high five, and stay…along with hand signals for all those.
Stubby (second dog) knows one special trick…“shake.” We’re trying to teach her “speak” but so far no luck. Oh, and she knows “down” but you have to point at the floor in front of her.
Tera (third dog) knows one trick…“play dead.” We got her from my sister when she was 3 (the dog, not my sister) and we didn’t know she knew how to play dead until my sister was visiting with my 9 yr old neice. My niece would say, “Tera, play dead” and the little mutt would drop and roll onto her back. My sister and I looked at each other amazed because neither of us knew my niece had taught her that.
All three dogs know cookie, dinner, outside, bedtime, sit, off (as in off the furniture or off the guest), come, move, back, out of the kitchen, and wait. Hubby has them trained that when his cell phone alarm goes off they know it’s “dinner” and go nuts.
Mina (cat) knows that “hungry baby?” means I’m going out to feed her. That’s it for her. Mostly she gets me to do tricks for her. She meows and I get her a treat or pet her or get out of bed to feed her. I’m well trained.
The cats know “no” “down” “go out” “go to/see___”+ point a finger (at least they go to the correct person more often than not), “hungry?” and “water”. Everything else we tell them they consistantly ignore - although I’m pretty sure the one that howls constantly is figuring out what “squirtgun!” means since that quiets him better than shut up or no howling.
But I’m not convinced they know their own names. One of them, however, had learned how to knock to be let in. No idea how he put that together, but it’s effective.
What I didn’t realize was unusual until I was an adult is that most people don’t “train” their cats to come to them when they whistle or snap their fingers. It’s easy for them to learn, given that every cat I’ve ever owned since the age of ten has been able to grasp the concepts, and I taught a friend’s kitten to come to finger snapping. On the other hand, most people don’t train their dogs to never lick them, either…
I honestly have no idea how much my dog Lu knows. If you call her, she’ll come about 60% of the time. I’m pretty sure the other 40% of the time, she knows she’s supposed to come but doesn’t feel like it. My sister and I have discovered that she’ll come if you call her pretty much anything, as long as you use the right tone of voice.
She knows when people are getting ready to leave the house. She gets antsy, and when my parents had a futon by the window, she would jump up to the top of the futon and watch everyone look for keys and jackets in a state of anxiety. (She’s part chihuahua, so she spends a lot of time in a state of anxiety.)
She knows she is allowed to be on the couch except when there is food on it. If you bring a plate of food into the living room and then return to the kitchen to get a drink, your food is safe on the couch. If you leave it on the floor, it’s fair game.
The one thing that Lu knows best of all is the sound of someone opening a package of string cheese. She looooooves string cheese and will come running from anywhere in the house to beg for some.
It’s possible my dog isn’t exactly the best trained dog in the world, but she weighs 6 lbs and her hobby is sleeping, so meh. Not a big deal.
Aside from the standard “sit” commands, and the like, my dog:
-can hear a piece of cheese being unwrapped from 50 meters and will come running as if he hadn’t eaten in three days
-knows that when I scowl and point, he is to leave the room (he can actually follow non-verbal cues very well, despite never being trained to do so)
-has a Pavlovian-like reaction to the sound of his leash coming off the hook in the hallway by the door
-reacts to my alarm in the morning faster than I do, by pushing his cold, wet nose into my face to make sure I’m up (and ready to take him for a walk)
Our newest addition, a Pekinese, can hear anything that sounds like a bread wrapper from anywhere in the house and comes running. He knows the usual things like “outside?” and “Suppertime?” A lot of it, of course, is the tone of voice and the inflection.
My cats respond to their names, if they feel like it. Sara can be made to stop scratching the furniture if I threated to cuddle her.
The real genius was our late and dearly missed tuxedo-cat, Rocky. My husband would say casually, “Hey, would you make me a tuna fish sandwich?” and Rocky would be in the kitchen begging for tuna leftovers before I was.
We also used to have dogs in front of whom you had to spell things like “out,” and “walk.” Even if you said “I’m going out to the store,” the dogs would get agitated in anticipation. We used a lot of synonyms.
I have a Border Collie. I know it’s not fair - he’s smarter than some of my relatives.
For example, he knows the commands or visual cues to:
Spin to the left
Spin to the right
Go to each child’s bedroom door on command for the morning wake-up routine
Jump through my arms
Jump into my arms
Jump over me if I’m on my hands and knees
Jump on top of my back and lie down if I’m on my hands and knees, making a pyramid
Shut the kitchen cabinets with his nose
Turn on the lights by hitting the switch with his paw
Alert me that my husband is bringing me a cup of coffee
Assist in taking the trashcan down to the street
