# Why must we perpetually ask dogs who's a good boy/girl? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2020, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288 "2020-05-22T14:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/21 "2020-05-22T19:46:37Z")
duplicate post ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/22 "2020-05-22T22:18:30Z")
My boy is an all black greyhound. I love having the opportunity (which I take frequently) to tell him either: “Hello, tall dark and handsome!” Or: “You know, a gypsy once told me I’d fall in love with someone tall, dark and handsome. And here you are!” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/23 "2020-05-22T22:29:23Z")
I don’t ask Pluto if he’s a good boy. I tell him he’s a good dog, with the hope that by constant encouragement and reinforcement, one day he _will_ be a good dog. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/24 "2020-05-22T23:17:51Z")
At least someone out there is also [interrogating their cats](https://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/cn-news-investigative-report-whos-a-good-boy/) as to their goodness ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/25 "2020-05-23T00:45:03Z")
I always took it as a call and response situation. You ask who is a good boy, he acts in a way that calls attention to himself, implying “Me, me!” And then we affirm that he is correct, praising him not only for being good, but smart enough to know it, too. It just seems like it would be a lot more affirming than just hearing “Good boy!” And, yes, I am anthropomorphizing and am aware that dogs don’t actually understand it that way. But we’re discussing our behavior, not theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/26 "2020-05-23T02:08:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Did you ask your dog who’s a good boy today? Scientists say you should do it more often](https://www.technology.org/2018/03/08/did-you-ask-your-dog-whos-a-good-boy-today-scientists-say-you-should-do-it-more-often/) > [@](#): > > It seems like dog’s attention span is greater when the person uses dog-directed speech containing phrases such as ‘you’re a good dog’, and ‘shall we go for a walk?’ and so on. Dogs generally listen to people more and want to interact physically when they hear such language. Scientists found that it is both high-pitched voice and contents of these words that dogs are interested in. Alex Benjamin, one of the leaders of the study, said: “When we mixed-up the two types of speech and content, the dogs showed no preference for one speaker over the other. This suggests that adult dogs need to hear dog-relevant words spoken in a high-pitched emotional voice in order to find it relevant”. > > Not only it is interesting to know this, but this is useful for pet owners and professional vets. In order to connect with a dog better one has to use “dog speech”, which dogs seem to enjoy so much. It soothes them and makes them want to interact with person more. So if you have a dog, just go and ask him who’s a good boy, do it now. Funny. This reminds me of a friend who was a psychologist specializing in family counseling with troubled kids. He said the most effective thing he did was identify when the kid did something good, and then praise them like crazy. That seemed rare in those families, and seemed to work better than anything else. He once said that he came home at night and said the same things to his dog that he’d been saying in counseling sessions all day long. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/27 "2020-05-23T03:08:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Did you ask your dog who’s a good boy today? Scientists say you should do it more often](https://www.technology.org/2018/03/08/did-you-ask-your-dog-whos-a-good-boy-today-scientists-say-you-should-do-it-more-often/) My ex-wife used to chide me for using baby-talk with my dog. Turns out that I was instinctively using the tone and language that apparently dogs respond to best. He was a highly intelligent Bernese Mountain Dog (most working dogs are bred for intelligence as well as specific capabilities) who had quite an extensive vocabulary of words he understood – not just the obvious like “would you like to go for a walk?” but more abstract concepts like “later”, meaning he would get what he wanted, but not right now. He was smart enough to outsmart a health care worker who came to look after my elderly mother when she lived with us. He loved to jump up and try to play with her, sometimes bringing his squeaky-toy to encourage this, but in an effort to get some work done, she opened the patio door and went out on the deck. He naturally followed her out, whereupon she jumped back in and closed the glass door. Next week she came by he once more wanted to play, so she once more walked out to the deck. I have this fond memory of Bernie going out to the edge of the door sill with that beautiful Bernese smile on his face, expressing the sentiment “I know this game. I choose to sit here inside the house and smile at you, out there on the deck like a naive idiot. Your move. What are you going to do now?” 🙂 ETA: Forgot to mention this beautiful quote from Aaron Katcher (abbreviated version): “A dog is like a child who never grows old – always there to love and be loved.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/28 "2020-05-23T05:28:57Z")
In Spain we tell them “well done”, "“pretty doggie”, “good doggie” when they follow orders correctly or anticipate the order, but the question “who’s a good doggieeeee?” is something I only see done in Spanish when it’s in a movie translated from English. I’m sure there are people who do it, but well, they’re likely to be the same ones who think you need to speak to your dog in English. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/29 "2020-05-23T07:04:34Z")
Dolphins are supposed to be quite smart, so the thing to ask them is “Who’s a smart dolphin?” When I was doing some dolphin training some years ago (and yes, we were doing a research project that had to do with how smart they might be), I gave them my college textbook on differential equations. Then each day, I would ask them “Who’s a smart dolphin?”, and they would tell me what problems they solved the previous evening, including showing all their work (which of course I carefully transcribed). And that’s how I got though my Differential Equations class that year. We were doing a study of [language acquisition in dolphins](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0010027784900039). I don’t think Douglas Adams (of HGTTG fame) knew of our project at the time, because when our dolphins warned us that the Vogons were coming, we understood them immediately. ETA: And furthermore, there’s a stub of a website, ironically named “Doggie”, with a picture of those dolphins, [here](http://doggie.freeshell.org/pictures/dolphin.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/30 "2020-05-23T08:20:26Z")
I’ve always done this with babies too. Who’s the best little baby ever, yes, you are! They - babies and dogs make me feel happy, and that makes them the best, for that moment. You generally only get positive feedback from this behaviour, so it perpetuates. > [@wolfpup](#): > > ETA: Forgot to mention this beautiful quote from Aaron Katcher (abbreviated version): “A dog is like a child who never grows old – always there to love and be loved.” There was a scene in Scrubs, a show I never watched often but I saw this one, where two of the characters are thinking about having a baby, and the woman says that it’ll be like having a dog, but it grows and learns to talk. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/31 "2020-05-23T11:30:58Z")
I’ll stop when they answer. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/32 "2020-05-23T12:29:04Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > This is absolutely true. You don’t want to dwell on what’s happening in a cat’s brain. I don’t think cat’s are evil, they are (compared to dogs) equivalent to sociopaths where the morality of good/bad simply doesn’t figure into their motivations. As William Munny says to Little Bill, “Deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.” As Terry Pratchett put it: > [@](#): > > If cats looked like frogs we’d realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are. Style. That’s what people remember. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/33 "2020-05-23T15:26:55Z")
Why must we perpetually ask dogs who’s a good boy/girl? Because deep down we don’t really know. And we don’t trust anyone else but dogs to tell us the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/34 "2020-05-23T15:30:18Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I’m sure there are people who do it, but well, they’re likely to be the same ones who think you need to speak to your dog in English. It was, I think, Charles V who pointed out that horses speak German and God speaks Spanish. In my experience, parrots speak Spanish or French depending. Cats… well nobody really knows. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/35 "2020-05-23T15:43:43Z")
Because it makes them happy and excited and makes them want to please you all the more. In my experience, praise reinforces good behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/36 "2020-05-23T15:58:53Z")
This meme was going around a while back: [When your dog eats your philosophy homework.](https://pics.me.me/when-your-dog-eats-your-philosophy-homework-7-05-pm-35969382.png) I’m sure he’s pondering the eternal question, “Who’s a good boy?”😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/37 "2020-05-23T16:05:08Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > I love Mr. Peanutbutter on Bojack Horseman for the same reason. Also, he has a more dog-like personality than Brian Griffin. Mr. Peanutbutter is enthusiastic about everything, and loves everybody. Except the mail man. And that other dog in the mirror. I like the fact that he has a panic room that’s called the “thunder room.” ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/38 "2020-05-23T17:32:06Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Why must we perpetually ask dogs who’s a good boy/girl? > > Because deep down we don’t really know. And we don’t trust anyone else but dogs to tell us the truth. Most dogs will sell you out for a hamburger. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/39 "2020-05-23T18:58:18Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > This meme was going around a while back: [When your dog eats your philosophy homework.](https://pics.me.me/when-your-dog-eats-your-philosophy-homework-7-05-pm-35969382.png) > > I’m sure he’s pondering the eternal question, “Who’s a good boy?”😃 Knowing my dogs, they’d get hung up over, “What exactly _is_ good?” ---
**Author:** ![Bonnie14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bonnie14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonnie14)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288/40 "2020-05-24T03:47:00Z")
I don’t ask my rescue dog “who’s a good girl” I tell her she’s a “good girl”. I think she needed to hear it. She had some bad habits when I got her. Positive reinforcement with praise helped out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-must-we-perpetually-ask-dogs-whos-a-good-boy-girl/854288.md?page=3)