Do You Have To Spell In Front Of Your Pet?
 

I was just curious if others have to spell in front of their dogs? There were many words that we could not say without them going crazy. Golf cart became the G.C., for example. You couldn't use the word at all no matter what you were saying about it. Bye-Bye was B-Y. Eat was E-A-T. One of them even once picked up a word on TV and got all excited.

And do any of your dogs watch TV? I had a Basset that would howl when wolves were howling on TV or if you sang. I had a Dachshund who was fascinated by the TV. My other Dachshunds could have cared less about TV. It was fun to watch him watch TV.

We spell all the time as well. Especially the R I D E word for going in the golf cart.

loL....we have to spell c o o k i e for their treat.

Don't know if the OP was coincidental or not, but this just happens to be canine literacy month. Puppies who are introduced to spelling at an early age are seen to have a better understanding of phonics. They acquire language skills with ease, have a richer vocabulary and possess greater cognitive abilities.

Omg
 

You would have thought that I started this thread....It is so bad with our dachshund that now he can spell also.....And Television, he watches TV constantly and Lord help us if there is dog that is bigger than "Moses", he goes NUTS....He also LOVES to go to bed....He will give us the steady stare until we head for the bedroom!....One more trick that must be associated with dachshunds, he loves to attack the blanket....

As much as I love this little dog, I also have concerns because he is so protective and a little snippy...1st dachshund EVER to be aggressive, I have to blame myself for poor early training...I don't know if this bad habit could be reversed after 7 years...

we spell cookie.. cart..park..treat.., etc.
but I think she is catching on.. may have to enter her in the doggie spelling bee..

My Aussie has learned to spell as well - too smart for his own good. The Standard Poodle doesn't bother with such stuff 'cause he knows in the end he'll get his way one way or the other. One wants to please - the other wants to be pleased.

Our first golden knew the spelling of things--treat, walk, ride. Cracker... when he learned how that one was spelled, we switched to calling them Premiums.

Ya know, you're right. Our Bailey is hooked on phonics.

Yes! We have to spell all the time. It's mind boggling how much English our little guy understands. (He also knows the name of each of his 30+ toys.) :doggie: :smiley:

I love hearing about other people's dogs.

Our little dog Biggins doesn't watch television and doesn't know a lot of words (but of course he knows cookie, out, truck, dog park, and our names). He is extremely well behaved and anxious to please. He has been trained as a therapy dog. His big sister would be much too excitable for that job.

The people who previously owned our rescue Portugese Water Dog (our 70 lb dog) had one big complaint. Lollipop loved to watch television, and she would get so excited when watching animal shows that she would lick the screen of their plasma tv. So they got rid of her. At our house she is allowed to watch television, we just put it out of her reach.

Lollipop also knows an amazing number of words, even sound-alike ones. She listens attentively to all conversations. Dog park is her favorite phrase.
She does tend to get a little over excited at times and she craves attention. But she is easily trained and smart as a whip.

Sleeper, my Old English, knew walk and w a l k, ditto bath and several other words. Walk had him at the door immediately. Bath had him under the bed with no way to get him out. If the Porsche was mentioned, he'd jump in the car before the second syllable (the joys of a T-top that was always off). Ditto Fiat. If you said "ride", he would try to herd you to the Fiat but would happily get in whatever car you chose, even the Acura. Definitely a dog that was too smart for his britches.

Maybe you all need to try Pig Latin. :)

Our cats know their names, I suppose, although they respond just as well to kissing sounds. They know dinner and treat for sure. They would be aghast at the thought of walks or cart rides.

Yeah, we spell all the time. But that only buys some time. Katy, our Standard Schnauzer must have a spelling vocabulary of...well...I don't know how many words. But spelling ride, walk, eat, treatie, squirrel, bunny and several others doesn't do any good any more. :)

Our dog knew O...U..T so we started justO..U and she still knew what it meant

We've started coming up with new descriptions of the things our Peekapom already knows. It's like a secret code we use. If you say Dog Park, it's an instant mad dash to the door, we now call it the Canine Recreation Area or CRA. Treats have become Morsels, not for human consumption (stole that from the sign in the freezer at Publix) and go for a ride is now Gopher (she figured that one out pretty quick)

Charlie McGee came in second in the Canine National Spelling Bee. When they asked him to spell golf cart he replied "GC"! :doggie:

I love this thread!! We had a pug named Chester and he knew exactly what we were talking about. Spelling the trigger words only lasted a couple of weeks before he caught on to them too. The golf cart, once he realized that it moves and the faster you go, the more air blows on your face, in his opinion, was the greatest thing that us crazy humans ever invented.

Animal Planet was his favorite TV Channel. My wife and I were watching the Westminster Dog Show and Chester was sitting between us not really paying too much attention to the dogs until the Pug was being showcased. He jumped off the couch and ran to the TV and was watching very intently. When he could no longer see he Pug, he went behind the TV to look for him and came out with that "Where did he go" look o his face. Then jumped back on the couch next o us. We did not react at all when the Pug was on TV. Amazing that he recognized someone as handsome as himself.

Our beagle, Bob, now knows the spelled out words, R-I-D-E, E-A-T, G-O, etc. I like the idea of pig latin, but I believe he'd understand that in a few days.

Ride - walk - out --- I spell in front of the dog.

He spells w-i-n-e

This has turned into a fun thread. I can't believe how many super smart dogs there are out there. Another poster's dog acted like one of my dachshunds. There would be something on TV like a cat, for example, he would leave the couch and run into our walk-in closet (which was the room behind the TV) looking for that cat. He, too, would come out with that puzzled look like "where did it go". Then he would go to the other bedroom looking for the cat. Then he would go back to the closet and back and forth. The look on his face and his determination to find that cat were so funny. It was more fun watching him than watching TV. In fact, we would encourage him by saying "Where's that cat?" We got a lot of laughs.

that is so funny....
 

Moses gets so excited when he sees a dog on TV, that he will also run to the TV in bedroom looking for the dog....Ha!....He is a hooooot!

We have two boxers that love to ride in the t r u c k! Many other words we must spell as well.

Since moving to Florida we have added lizard to our spelling list. Our shih tzu/bichon loves lizard hunting.

Molly, my cat, runs into the kitchen if I say, "Molly, do you want a treat?" On Animal Planet sometimes I watch the show "My Cat From Hell." Molly is fascinated by that show. She will run up to stand right in front of the TV and her head goes back and forth when the cat or cats are being shown.

My favorite cat loved the oil painting show (Bob whatshisname) She would lie on top of the TV and reach down with one paw to touch the moving brush

Hmmm, I thought we were the only nutty people that did that. Our standard poodle and cocker spaniel know different words but I'm convinced they tell each other what the other doesn't recognize.

Our dog, Sadie, likes to watch PGA golf on television. She gets irked (starts barking loudly) when she sees Tiger bogey a hole.

The other day, when Tiger got a 2-under eagle on Hole #4, Sadie showed her strong approval by doing a somersault off the sofa.

Yesterday, while watching the PGA golf show, I told Kathy I was going to the fridge to get a B-U-D. Sadie did the impossible. She barked, "Me, too."

Can you believe it...a talking dog?!

Gene

Our Abyssinian knows a few words...I think he has us trained but then the saying is that dogs have masters and cats have staff. Abys were once treated like royalty and ours still thinks this is true.

Hookt on foniks werkt 4 mee!

Our two dogs, an American Eskimo and an English Setter, have to have the television on when we go to work. My Setter watches it intensively. Their vocabulary is so large that spelling no longer works. They know how everything is spelled. When my husband and I are talking to each other, they sit and stare, turning their heads like they are absorbing everything. And if we head toward the dining room, they beat us there because that means it's nap time. I swear sometimes that they're smarter than we are. They were also both easy to train, although they can be stubborn.