Dog photos only

Our terrasse overlooking the Lot has been off limits since last September when the maçons arrived to save our tumbling garden walls and covered everything in scaffolding and later fallen chaux. The scaffolding has now gone, the work is nearly finished and for the past two afternoons I’ve been trying to uncover the travertine paving that lies beneath the soil from the field above and the chaux that the maçons have dropped.

Finally terrasse is clean and after my Karchering had ceased, Gigi appeared and started barking loudly at a drain. Couldn’t see why, but then my wife said, “Gigi’s never wrong, there must be a ball in the drain.” Sure enough down in the drain below the chaux and the dirt and the leaves, there was one of her old balls from last year. She’s been playing with it ever since.

Dog photos only?

Gigi earlier today relaxing in a local bar after a very stressful two hour poodle parlour session.

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Your dog may understand what you’re saying but choose not to act.”

I don’t argue with people who have the knowledge to investigate and test such things but I think the above is one of the most sensible things they said.

Dogs do have a will, and a sense of priority, priority to them that is. Also I don’t believe dogs understand nouns as such, they learn sounds and connections.

Jules, my Beauceron proves this. He is extremely obedient, if it suits him, in other words he chooses to obey or ignore. Food is very high on a dog’s priority, Jules is no different, but, even when a bowl of food is put 2 feet in front of him he will sit and wait for the command to eat. The command is ‘bon appetit’ and he won’t move till he hears it, if he can see my face and read when I am about to say the words he will very occasionally start to jump the gun, but will sit back down if I bark very sharply at him ‘ack’ or ‘attam’ (the way many people round here pronounce ‘attend’). Even when under great strain today, when he knows that another dog, Shanna, is in the room and doesn’t know that I am holding her collar, he will still sit and wait. He trusts me enough to know that I will never ever deny him once in this position. That was yesterday, the first common meal day, today, holding Shanna in one hand and her pre-prepared bowl in the other, I advanced from behind him to her feeding station, only a metre away from him. He trembled but did not move. I gave him the signal to eat at the same moment as I told Shanna to sit, and simultaneously put her bowl down and gave her the same command. Of course she would not have waited if I wasn’t holding her but I will be disappointed if I have to hold her a week from now. One final test I have done with Jules in the past is to walk behind him out of his sight and even into another room before shouting the command, and still he waited.

But, but, there is a reason why he, alone amongst all the dogs I have ever owned, will never be off the lead outside of the garden. His recall is excellent, to voice or whistle, if it suits him. The scents on the ground, and his nose is always down there, especially away from the familiar, and there is often not a flicker of a sign that he has heard me, and I know he has excellent hearing, trump my recall. Even more demoralising is on the occasions when I am more interesting than some day old smell and he turns on an instant at the call to race back towards me in a most satifactory fashion, he quite often, without even stopping, swerves at right angles to the track to race off after an odeur that has caught his attention. Without the long line, he can easily follow that scent for several kms, and he has done so 3 times now when my guard or over confidence has let me down and I have lost hold of the line.

Sounds, choices and priorities are what governs dogs’ behaviour. And they are all different to a degree. I can’t wait to test Shanna’s. At the moment she is promising, especially as I know she loves splashing about in water, and came back from an inticing river twice to day when I called her. :joy:

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I agree with you that dogs react to us, or not, by their own choice. Your Jules clearly is a boy wth his own mind.

The thing I think is interesting to learn is if dogs can distinguish between words when they are spoken out of context. My Agnes, clearly the cleverer of my two, is very good with “leave it”, “no” and the like but I generally only using the commands at appropriate moments. I shall try saying “biscuit” at an unusual moment and see if she gets excited.

I read something by a man who only had to say the word “squirrel” to have his dog go barking mad. Might be quite useful for exciting a tense moment. “Excuse me officer, did you say squirrel?”

That would not be a good moment with Jules, it is impossible to hold a conversation from within to without the car. He howls to wake the dead. I can’t shut him up, he just loves everybody and every animal, even when we are driving along. I am hoping that he might calm a bit with Shanna by his side, but am not confident.

So, another instance when he chooses, or simply can’t help but be disobedient. I have in the past covered his cage with a blanket, that shuts him up while travelling, but not when he senses somebody standing at the door for a chat. If I see my friend Eddie walking his dog Milly 100m ahead of us I see Eddie put his hands over his ears long before we reach him. I am wondering if I could hire Jules out to the Pompiers, his racket is better than any siren. :rofl:

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Here’s a fun video of a labby in US who listens only when he wants to

But like in our home, and with students, a male voice seems to command more obedience :joy:

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Or a very deep female one said with force and authority - I’ve had a lot of practice. :slight_smile:

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It is true, about the voice, in addition to the whistle my recall command is ‘viemme’ in a very deep rasping growl. Of course it doesn’t always work with Jules but, I am happy to report that it does with Shanna, she passed with flying colours this afternoon, 100%, every time.

But having her in the pond with me I would like, but because of her hips and the slippery slope of the pond (I use an old cargo strap to pull myself out) she would not get out without assistance. I made a ‘ladder’ (an old piece of carpet) for the snakes when they flee to the wrong part of the banks on seeing me, so maybe I could make something for her. That would make swimming so much more fun, and the vet said today it would be very good exercise for her hips. :joy:

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Wasn’t your dog in Nitro? Cool he’s let his hair grey naturally.

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Extreme dog owners! :slight_smile:

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What a great link Sue, if only I had the space. Love the Greyhounds and the Rotties, I think I even saw a Beauci like Jules in there somewhere. And the Wolfhounds too, Fran and I used to dog sit for a week each time for a friend who had half a dozen of them , plus a similar number of Deerhounds and lots of other breeds right down to the most intelligent, a Spaniel/Dachshund X. A total pack of around 25 in all. :joy:

When I walked them every morning I learned to not deviate from my track when I heard what sounded like a horse race galloping up behind me. Those big ones delighted in flashing past just grazing my sleeve but there was always one or two who aimed to arrive under my armpits. Talk about ‘his head tucked underneath his arm’ . Happy times.

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We took over my parents’ Jack Russell Toby when Dad became too frail. Toby used to love sticks. The larger the better. He’d have the stick crosswise in his mouth, come racing up behind us, decide he would go between the two of us and whack our calves with the stick as he raced through. :roll_eyes: We learnt to move out the way - fast!

Look on the bright side, if that had been a Deerhound you would have got it in the small of your backs. :rofl:

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Missed a big opportunity for a video and some snaps a short while ago. Young Shanna persuaded Jules to prance and play just outside my glass doors. I knew that if I went for the camera I would miss it all so just stayed and watched. Of course the old man of 9.5 years got tired or bored before the young flirty piece of 2.8 but she kept trying. Lighter, but taller than him she tried to get him going again by tapping him on the shoulder and back with a big paw. In the end they were chasing each other at speed all round the garden before he finally gave up and growled at her. Game over. :rofl:

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Found this of Vita when she was about the same age as your young Shanna and Guccio (our friend’s elderly Spinone) was staying with us. Guccio was so good with her and she adored him. Sorry about the quality of the film, but you get the idea. :slight_smile:

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Lovely, you can almost hear him saying ‘Gerroooff’ :joy:

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Holiday!

Our dog is never allowed upstairs to bedrooms, so his idea of nirvana is a gîte all on one level. (For fellow gîte owners don’t fret all the bedding is ours, we know what our dog is like)

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Well the opportunity came yesterday and I was able to take advantage of it.
This video has already been published on SF but in the technical section because I was asking for help with it. If you do not frequent that area, here it is in its correct place. :smiley:

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Sweethearts :heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart_eyes:

Lovely!

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