Dobes&Hounds

Might as well be me. Since there have been a couple comments on here as of late about dogs not thinking, only reacting, I thought I would take it upon myself to post evidence to the contrary.
I am NOT saying by any means that dogs perceive feelings and thoughts the same way we do. What I am saying is the dog's brain is designed to think in it's own way. They are obviously not verbal creatures like humans are, and it is theorized that they think in images. The first study to that effect can be found here Pet Animal Behavior: How Dogs Think
Dogs can solve problems. It would be logical that they could as it is a survival mechanism. They can also learn by observation, and have the concept of object permanence.
Here are more recent articles studying the thinking dog...
What Were They Thinking? More Than We Knew. - washingtonpost.com

Dog Unto Others: Canines Have Sense of Fairness | Wired Science from Wired.com

#1 - Dogs Instinctively Understand Humans « Why Dogs?

The last article may be more along the lines of dogs evolving to co-exist with humans, but it demonstrates their ability to learn to communicate with a different species. Too bad so many humans have trouble understanding their dogs.

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Amanda

I asked Travis if he thought Athena could understand full sentences of different words she knows... he didn't think so, but I think he believes me now!

She knows "kisses" "mommy" "papi" "toy" "couch" and so on.

So I can tell her "Athena, go on that couch and give papi some kisses." She'll run over and do exactly that.

More and more it seems like she can put commands together and figure out things that I never thought a dog could do... I would start this out by saying "Mommy kisses" and she'd kiss me, I'd tell her good girl, then I'd say "Athena kisses" and I would kiss her so she could learn the difference.

I would love to see how far I could go with sentences! Maybe one day I could read her an entire freaking book and she could understand the whole thing.

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DLS

The Doberman IS a problem solving breed. No doubt in my mind that they can and do think things out, given the opportunity to do so.

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KEstep

I would give anything to figure out what Peaches thinks about. She definitely problem solves so she has that going for her. The other day we went out of town together on a 3.5 hour drive each way and I caught her staring at me while she was resting her head and I swear she was thinking to herself "What is HE (refering to myself) thinking about?" There have been some other times where I felt like she was wondering what my leg tasted like, but that's a whole other story.

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michael327

One night I was working on a sample and my two were watching me.
As I was cutting off excess material Annika kept coming over and picking pieces up,ignoring leave it and forcing me to stop and take it away. We are talking sharp pieces of metal. After about the 6th repetition I took her down to the office for a time out in her crate. Needless to say she was not happy. About an hour latter I go down and let her out. She disappears in the shop, comes trotting back down to the office and drops a piece of metal at my feet, hops up and licks me.

Explain that one.

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In his grief over the loss of a dog, a little boy stands for the first time on tiptoe, peering into the rueful morrow of manhood. After this most inconsolable of sorrows there is nothing life can do to him that he will not be able to somehow bear. " - James Thurber

" There is no faith which has never yet been broken , except that of a truly faithful dog ." - Konrad Lorenz

Tess-a-boo

These are great articles. Lots to mull over here.

Part of the reason I wanted a Dobe was their reputation for being as smart as they are. Just like a dog that becomes bored without mental stimulation, I would become bored with a dog that didn't challenge me intellectually.

And Amanda...we do the same thing with Tess. It's "go give papa a kiss," "bring me your ball," or "go find your kong." I'm talking about a dog who knows her toys by name, for the love of pete! You've seen the video of her talking to the treat under the couch...don't you think she's just trying so desperately to say something in human words?

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Chatty

My dog thinks, and understands.

There is no doubt that the doberman excels in this area. They are a working, thinking breed. Very intelligent.

I see it everyday. And I second Amanda, Niko can understand what I tell him. Examples are, "Get your ball and lay on your pillow" - he does it. "Give (insert childs name) your ball" goes to the correct child with the ball.

Verbal- Niko is appropriately verbal. He will give my hubby the what for when he is not so willing to get on his rug at dinner time. It is a different type of response, not at all a growl, but he communicates through sound. I really have to tape that and post it, I just don't know how.

Many times I have caught him looking at me as if I have just flipped my lid that's OK too because at least he is thinking. :-)

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Dakota

Dogs not thinking... I won't even bother to get drawn into the discussion because I know it's bullcrap.

What in gods name do people think saying crap like that... like humans are the only ones capable of thinking logically. The arrogance and single mindedness of people who claim such stupid and ridiculous statements.

RedFawnRising

Thank you so much for starting this thread. I have been meaning to, but hadn't had time to look up any good links. Again, thanks.

Personally I alternate between being amused at how ridiculous the statement is: "Dogs don't think, they just react," and being offended by it.

I often wonder if folks who believe this have ever really related to this species. I can't imagine they've ever watched a good Service Dog work.

In addition to those things you already mentioned (just got home and haven't had a chance to read your links), dogs use symbology, too.

I taught Ezra to read flash cards for his basic commands. If a dog can look at a series of black marks on paper, and come to be able to associate what those marks mean, how exactly is that different from a very young child first learning written language? (This falls in with the concept of object permanence and extrapolation, as well.)

I think dogs are freaking amazing, that they learn to interpret an entirely different species' language, a species they didn't even evolve along the same genus/phyla with.

I have a million service dog stories that clearly demonstrate thinking, even abstract thinking.

It's an insult to the human partners of these amazing dogs to say they do not think. The dogs probably don't give a crap what someone says, but it's offensive to folks whose daily lives depend on these wonderful animals.

PM me if you wanna chat about the flash cards, Athena sounds like a good candidate, smartie girl!

Yes, I agree, this breed excels at this. I have known a few breeds, that, in general, seem to be much more concrete thinkers, and rather limited in intelligence.

Then again, we humans usually arrogantly define "intelligence," as "figures out what I want and need really fast and does it."

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How embarrassing to be human. - Kurt Vonnegut

The universe always finds a way to keep the wise humble. Usually through an instrument like a Pibble Hound.

~Michael327

crazyinluvwithmydobes

I absolutely believe that they understand more than people give them credit for. Our one dobe boy Sampson, will go and pick up whatever colored ball we tell him. If we say blue..he gets blue...if we say green...he gets green. He even knows the difference between his squeaky ball and his football. If we say, "go get your football", he'll search the whole house until he finds it. Smart boy he is.