A challenge: what happens if you stop talking to your dog for a day?

[Loraseal]

I talk a lot on his walks (mad dog English lady) as he mostly has leash walks and I try to keep him engaged (well I try to). At home I talk less and I use more hand signals . When I give him his food he knows he has to sit. If he does not sit for his food, I put my hand on my hips and he grunts and then sits! He hates me singing and goes to another room if I sing. I cannot sing...I have no music talent at all...and he knows it!

 

[Aitch]

My dogs get their ears talked off. Poor things probably get headaches from all my chatter. I do use a mixture of hand signals and spoken commands. I find that if I have to command at a distance then a hand signal is a quick and easy way to do so.

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Perhaps Carbon is a little deaf?

He can sure hear anything he thinks remotely like a treat bag opening, so I don't think so. But I did have this thought as well because he really doesn't seem to register language. I'm not kidding when I say that I honestly don't think he knows his own name!

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

In the house I think it depends if she's looking for interaction any way, then I chatter to her about what I'm doing. Outside it's probably restricted to cues, because I try to keep her occupied with me.

I've been trying this today - no talking outside the house, my normal chatter inside. I kind of like it!

 

[M.F.]

He can sure hear anything he thinks remotely like a treat bag opening, so I don't think so. But I did have this thought as well because he really doesn't seem to register language. I'm not kidding when I say that I honestly don't think he knows his own name!

It might be that he missed an important developmental period to comprehend language if he was in a shelter. I remember a section so clearly from my psych101 textbook of animals (might’ve kittens, puppies?) that had been raised in a cage of only horizontal bars. Later, they could not see vertical bars and would walk into them.

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

It might be that he missed an important developmental period to comprehend language if he was in a shelter.

Yes, this is my feeling as well. Of course I don't know Carbon's background for sure, but from what the shelter told me, he was in two different killing stations before the shelter. He is also clearly younger than the shelter thought (younger than what they put as a guesstimate age on his passport), which means he must have been surrendered to the killing station very young - my guess would be around 10-15 weeks. As far as cages/runs, the shelter and the killing stations are very different, but in terms of human contact, there is very little in either setting. So...makes sense to me that Carbon can't seem to wrap his head around language.

I do find it sad, but more for me than for Carbon, because I'm so chatty with my dogs and my Rottie boys were both very good at language. I was very proud that Duncan knew the names of all his toys and would go find them by name. However when Brogan went deaf as an oldster, he learned everything by hand signal very nicely and I decided to keep on talking to him regardless just because we both liked it.

I'll just keep chattering away with Carbon as well, but it has made me think about training and the changes I need to make in myself to better meet his non-verbal learning style.

 

[Aitch]

Alex was like that too when we first got him @Emily_Babbelhund . He had no idea what we were saying to him. I approached it by using a limited vocabulary over and over again during training and gradually expanding it. The sad fact is that dogs who are in shelters from a young age don't get talked to much so they have to be taught as though they are tiny pups. Alex is still learning but he has come a long way and once he had a grip on a few words he became eager for more. Time and patience is the only answer here. Carbon will get it in the end.