[PeggyTheParti]

Peggy's Christmas present for my husband was spoiled today when it arrived on the front porch without any Amazon packaging:

Oops! Oh well. What word shall we teach her first??

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Some context: Teaching Dogs to Talk? - The Other End of the Leash

 

[Ava.]

OMG! I've been wanting to do this for SO long! Would be so helpful for an outside command, etc.

I've been fascinated with hungerforwords and bunny for ages.... and billy the cat!

 

[Spottytoes]

Peggy's Christmas present for my husband was spoiled today when it arrived on the front porch without any Amazon packaging:

View attachment 471868

Oops! Oh well. What word shall we teach her first??

Very interesting! I think you should have a separate thread for this endeavor! I’m super curious as to what Peggy will learn and how you go about teaching her!

 

[PeggyTheParti]

OMG! I've been wanting to do this for SO long! Would be so helpful for an outside command, etc.

I've been fascinated with hungerforwords and bunny for ages.... and billy the cat!

My husband's obsessed with Bunny's mirror video. It really is so cute.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Very interesting! I think you should have a separate thread for this endeavor! I’m super curious as to what Peggy will learn and how you go about teaching her!

I'm glad I took the time to research the process, because it's not what I would have thought. We'd have no trouble teaching Peggy to just hit a button, but apparently you don't want to directly teach that part. The idea is for them to watch you and then—eventually, hopefully—spontaneously do it on their own:

"Rushing the process would likely get your dog pushing buttons but not necessarily really understanding the meaning behind the button they push. Dogs who are rushed in the training process are also less likely to independently use the buttons to actively communicate."

Expert Advice – American Kennel Club

www.akc.org

So I've already warned my husband it's going to take weeks (at least) of consistency from both of us before she learns her "first word." But I think it'll be worth it.

She's been really struggling to communicate with us lately. The other night she stared at my husband for five solid minutes. She wasn't hungry. She didn't want to go outside. She wasn't in the mood to play. I felt so bad for her! Eventually she just gave up.

 

[Liz]

Exciting! Looking forward to seeing how this works for you. I wonder how different it is from the "Show Me" command.

 

[Ava.]

The video where bunny indicates a splinter in her foot is very cool. It would be so helpful to have your dogs be able to tell you when a certain part of their body hurts.

 

[Michigan Gal]

I got that for the cat. I wanted to know when she wants to go out. Not loud enough, have to be in the same room. I hope it works for you.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

The video where bunny indicates a splinter in her foot is very cool. It would be so helpful to have your dogs be able to tell you when a certain part of their body hurts.

That's the dream!

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Exciting! Looking forward to seeing how this works for you. I wonder how different it is from the "Show Me" command.

What does "Show Me" entail?

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I got that for the cat. I wanted to know when she wants to go out. Not loud enough, have to be in the same room. I hope it works for you.

I've never wanted to train potty bells, but if I did, I'd probably get this doorbell:

MIGHTY PAW Smart Bell 2.0 Potty Training Dog Doorbell, White, 1 count - Chewy.com

Buy Mighty Paw Smart Bell 2.0 Potty Training Dog Doorbell, White, 1 count at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

Seems like it requires a very light touch. Might be good for a cat? The receiver is easily portable, so you could move it from room to room.

 

[Basil_the_Spoo]

Yeaaaaaahhhhhhh I'm so glad you got one of these because poodles seem like the perfect subject and I've been fascinated by Billy the cat too. You and Peggy seem like advance level learners.

 

[katmcg86]

Let’s all get these for Christmas and make it the January trick to learn!


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[Ava.]

I've been thinking about it, but there's not a single room where I spend most of my time, so having buttons (unless I had them all over the house) wouldn't be very practical.

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Very interested to see how this goes!

Mom and I have been discussing this, but I can't think of what we would use them for. They look super cool though. Annie already has symbols for "I am hungry" (rattle around near the side door sniffing and poking her nose in things), "I need out" (banging the laundry room door which, strangely, is no where near the outside) and "is it bedtime yet?" (Random barking at nothing) and "I want pets" (jabbing us with her nose or staring). Plus a few others. It's kind of a 'what else would I want her to communicate with me?" Question. Potty bells, when I tried them, were very much abused.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Very interested to see how this goes!

Mom and I have been discussing this, but I can't think of what we would use them for. They look super cool though. Annie already has symbols for "I am hungry" (rattle around near the side door sniffing and poking her nose in things), "I need out" (banging the laundry room door which, strangely, is no where near the outside) and "is it bedtime yet?" (Random barking at nothing) and "I want pets" (jabbing us with her nose or staring). Plus a few others. It's kind of a 'what else would I want her to communicate with me?" Question. Potty bells, when I tried them, were very much abused.

Even though the surprise was spoiled today, I wrapped it up for Christmas because my husband says he wants to give her first word a lot of thought. I've never been interested in doing potty bells, mostly for the reason you described. And I suspect Peggy might abuse other buttons, too, when she's bored. So I want the options to be very specific and the results not especially exciting (beyond the excitement of being understood).

So no "treat." No "chicken" or other favourite foods. But we'll probably do one for kibble refills. Currently she slaps her empty plate when she wants more.

And "outside" will only grant her access to her very dull puppy potty area. No backyard romp. We'll see how that goes. If she's bored enough, even requesting access to her dull puppy potty area might be tempting! But I'm willing to risk it so I don't have to struggle to decipher her long intense stares.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Let’s all get these for Christmas and make it the January trick to learn!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wouldn't that be fun?? But I suspect, to do it properly, it might be more of a "trick of the year" than "trick of the month." Lol.

If anyone else does get them, let me know! I can create a space for us to help each other out and share our progress.

Here's the link if you like Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Res...-Buzzers/dp/B00HT5HBMO/ref=asc_df_B00HT5HBMO/

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Yeaaaaaahhhhhhh I'm so glad you got one of these because poodles seem like the perfect subject and I've been fascinated by Billy the cat too. You and Peggy seem like advance level learners.

Since day 1, I've marvelled at her efforts—good, bad, and sometimes very bad—to communicate with us. I just hope I can explain these tools to her in a way she can understand.

I've never studied language (beyond basic French!) so I'll be learning along with her.

 

[Liz]

What does "Show Me" entail?

Show Me is my cue (I may have discussed it here before) for her to "show me" what she wants. Physically my cue is to stand beside her in line with her hips, so she can take the lead... often to the kitchen, sometimes the back door, once she lead me to her leash and nosed it, and frequently to her toy bin and then her dog bed.