Talk all about dogs!
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Liza
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Levonian said:Aw, c’mon—here’s another pic of Lola—how can you not just adore her?Lhasa Apso’s are great dogs. They’re small but not too small (about 10" at the shoulder), and they’re fairly hypoallergenic. And they don’t act like small dogs—they don’t bark at everything that moves like poodles and Chihuahuas do. You can let the grooming go for a little while if you’re low on time or cash, as long as you keep them brushed. Best of all, they act like big dogs. If you’re lying on the couch, they’ll jump up on your chest and start slobbering all over your face, just like big dogs do.
:P What a cute dog! Hmm just my kind of dog... and I'm not a dog person!
WBHarley, Jake is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo adorable! He has that loving aura, too
Research Shows Dogs Understand Language
WASHINGTON - As many a dog owner will attest, our furry friends are listening. Now, for the doubters, there is scientific proof they understand much of what they hear.
German researchers have found a border collie named Rico who understands more than 200 words and can learn new ones as quickly as many children.
Patti Strand, an American Kennel Club board member, called the report "good news for those of us who talk to our dogs."
"Like parents of toddlers, we learned long ago the importance of spelling key words like bath, pill or vet when speaking in front of our dogs," Strand said. "Thanks to the researchers who've proven that people who talk to their dogs are cutting-edge communicators, not just a bunch of eccentrics."
The researchers found that Rico knows the names of dozens of play toys and can find the one called for by his owner. That is a vocabulary size about the same as apes, dolphins and parrots trained to understand words, the researchers say.
Rico can even take the next step, figuring out what a new word means.
The researchers put several known toys in a room along with one that Rico had not seen before. From a different room, Rico's owner asked him to fetch a toy, using a name for the toy the dog had never heard.
The border collie, a breed known primarily for its herding ability, was able to go to the room with the toys and, seven times out of 10, bring back the one he had not seen before. The dog seemingly understood that because he knew the names of all the other toys, the new one must be the one with the unfamiliar name.
"Apparently he was able to link the novel word to the novel item based on exclusion learning, either because he knew that the familiar items already had names or because they were not novel," said the researchers, led by Julia Fischer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig.
A month later, he still remembered the name of that new toy three out of six times, even without having seen it since that first test. That is a rate the scientists said was equivalent to that of a 3-year-old.
Rico's learning ability may indicate that some parts of speech comprehension developed separately from human speech, the scientists said.
"You don't have to be able to talk to understand a lot," Fischer said. The team noted that dogs have evolved with humans and have been selected for their ability to respond to the communications of people.
Katrina Kelner, Science's deputy editor for life sciences, said "such fast, one-trial learning in dogs is remarkable. This ability suggests that the brain structures that support this kind of learning are not unique to humans and may have formed the evolutionary basis of some of the advanced language abilities of humans."
Perhaps, although Paul Bloom of Yale University urges caution.
"Children can understand words used in a range of contexts. Rico's understanding is manifested in his fetching behavior," Bloom writes in a commentary, also in Science.
Bloom calls for further experiments to answer several questions: Can Rico learn a word for something other than a small object to be fetched? Can he display knowledge of a word in some way other than fetching? Can he follow an instruction not to fetch something?
Fischer and her colleagues are still working with Rico to see if he can understand requests to put toys in boxes or to bring them to certain people. Rico was born in December 1994 and lives with his owners. He was tested at home.
Funding for this research was provided in part by the German Research Foundation.
___
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org
WASHINGTON - As many a dog owner will attest, our furry friends are listening. Now, for the doubters, there is scientific proof they understand much of what they hear.
German researchers have found a border collie named Rico who understands more than 200 words and can learn new ones as quickly as many children.
Patti Strand, an American Kennel Club board member, called the report "good news for those of us who talk to our dogs."
"Like parents of toddlers, we learned long ago the importance of spelling key words like bath, pill or vet when speaking in front of our dogs," Strand said. "Thanks to the researchers who've proven that people who talk to their dogs are cutting-edge communicators, not just a bunch of eccentrics."
The researchers found that Rico knows the names of dozens of play toys and can find the one called for by his owner. That is a vocabulary size about the same as apes, dolphins and parrots trained to understand words, the researchers say.
Rico can even take the next step, figuring out what a new word means.
The researchers put several known toys in a room along with one that Rico had not seen before. From a different room, Rico's owner asked him to fetch a toy, using a name for the toy the dog had never heard.
The border collie, a breed known primarily for its herding ability, was able to go to the room with the toys and, seven times out of 10, bring back the one he had not seen before. The dog seemingly understood that because he knew the names of all the other toys, the new one must be the one with the unfamiliar name.
"Apparently he was able to link the novel word to the novel item based on exclusion learning, either because he knew that the familiar items already had names or because they were not novel," said the researchers, led by Julia Fischer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig.
A month later, he still remembered the name of that new toy three out of six times, even without having seen it since that first test. That is a rate the scientists said was equivalent to that of a 3-year-old.
Rico's learning ability may indicate that some parts of speech comprehension developed separately from human speech, the scientists said.
"You don't have to be able to talk to understand a lot," Fischer said. The team noted that dogs have evolved with humans and have been selected for their ability to respond to the communications of people.
Katrina Kelner, Science's deputy editor for life sciences, said "such fast, one-trial learning in dogs is remarkable. This ability suggests that the brain structures that support this kind of learning are not unique to humans and may have formed the evolutionary basis of some of the advanced language abilities of humans."
Perhaps, although Paul Bloom of Yale University urges caution.
"Children can understand words used in a range of contexts. Rico's understanding is manifested in his fetching behavior," Bloom writes in a commentary, also in Science.
Bloom calls for further experiments to answer several questions: Can Rico learn a word for something other than a small object to be fetched? Can he display knowledge of a word in some way other than fetching? Can he follow an instruction not to fetch something?
Fischer and her colleagues are still working with Rico to see if he can understand requests to put toys in boxes or to bring them to certain people. Rico was born in December 1994 and lives with his owners. He was tested at home.
Funding for this research was provided in part by the German Research Foundation.
___
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org
catlover_Amy81
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Hi! I have 2 dogs. The one bigger is Akita/Aussie Shep. mix, his name is Spike and another one medium is American Staffordshire Terrier, her name is Candy. They both weighs about 90 lbs. 
lol I thought she would be weigh likes 60 pounds but I heard some Pit Bulls can weigh about 100 or over.... *gulps* Spike is 6 years old and Candy will be 4 years old soon. About Candy, my mother found her in the alley by her friend's a few years ago. I found out that my neighbor's friend who had puppies and gave one ( Candy ) of the puppies to a lady then she doesn't seem care.... Candy had accidently ran away from the yard but a lady didn't go out to look for her or suppose to keep an eye on Candy outside but she called my neighbor's friend that she wanted another one of puppies then told what happened... And he got mad and won't give another one to her. He was so glad that my mother found her then we keep her. 
lol I thought she would be weigh likes 60 pounds but I heard some Pit Bulls can weigh about 100 or over.... *gulps* Spike is 6 years old and Candy will be 4 years old soon. About Candy, my mother found her in the alley by her friend's a few years ago. I found out that my neighbor's friend who had puppies and gave one ( Candy ) of the puppies to a lady then she doesn't seem care.... Candy had accidently ran away from the yard but a lady didn't go out to look for her or suppose to keep an eye on Candy outside but she called my neighbor's friend that she wanted another one of puppies then told what happened... And he got mad and won't give another one to her. He was so glad that my mother found her then we keep her. Talk all about dogs
I am new member of this deaf group..read the posts about dogs..want to tell about our dogs..
My parents built the kennels and set for AKC pure German Shepherd dogs when I was small..our dogs became some champions...we attended the dog show very often..
my website for our GSD dogs in the history between '60 to '80
here is http://www.geocities.com/doppelttay/home.html
I am new member of this deaf group..read the posts about dogs..want to tell about our dogs..
My parents built the kennels and set for AKC pure German Shepherd dogs when I was small..our dogs became some champions...we attended the dog show very often..
my website for our GSD dogs in the history between '60 to '80
here is http://www.geocities.com/doppelttay/home.html
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I grow up to have cats and dogs.
Yes, Great Dane was one of them... I have him when I was 3 years old... He's too large and jump on me and lick my face. I never forget that.
It's my dream to own husky for a long time until I saw Australian Kelpie dog in Australia. Max, Keplie dog's owner is a friend of Tamara's husband. They need someone to look after their Max before they leave for South Africa for vacation. We took their offer to stay their house and look after him and fall in love with him more and more every day. Australian Kelpie dog is very beautiful pet and such darling... He loves to play with my children and also love when we take him for a walk every morning and night for a month. It break our heart to leave him for go back to Germany.
http://www.rarebreed.com/breeds/kelpie/kelpie.html
Unfortunlately, we don't have any breed for kelpie like this in Germany
I didn't know what's Boston terrior is until I learn from Monster Cookies in the previous months. I saw Boston terrior in real life for a first time last year and find them cuteeeee. I don't mind to own Boston terror some day but my 3 guys rather to have Keplie or Old German Shepherd dog...
Yes, Great Dane was one of them... I have him when I was 3 years old... He's too large and jump on me and lick my face. I never forget that.
It's my dream to own husky for a long time until I saw Australian Kelpie dog in Australia. Max, Keplie dog's owner is a friend of Tamara's husband. They need someone to look after their Max before they leave for South Africa for vacation. We took their offer to stay their house and look after him and fall in love with him more and more every day. Australian Kelpie dog is very beautiful pet and such darling... He loves to play with my children and also love when we take him for a walk every morning and night for a month. It break our heart to leave him for go back to Germany.
http://www.rarebreed.com/breeds/kelpie/kelpie.html
Unfortunlately, we don't have any breed for kelpie like this in Germany
I didn't know what's Boston terrior is until I learn from Monster Cookies in the previous months. I saw Boston terrior in real life for a first time last year and find them cuteeeee. I don't mind to own Boston terror some day but my 3 guys rather to have Keplie or Old German Shepherd dog...
serijules
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I have 3 Great Danes and a corgi (who is my hearing assistance dog).
Great Danes are WONDERFUL dogs, but not for everyone. They are not outside dogs under ANY circumstances, and they require training, period. They are a lot of dog and if you don't like having a dog that needs to be by you all the time, follow you around, etc, a Great Dane is not for you. I work in Great Dane rescue and 90% of the Danes that come into rescue are between 6 months and 2 years old because they don't outgrow their puppy stage till after 2 years, and can be very very destructive.
That being said, I'll never NOT own one
Anyhow, here is a picture of my babies...Bella is the merle, Emma is the black and Wyatt Earp is the corgi. My other dane is a mantle named Princess, I just recently adopted her. She is "elderly" at 7 years old. I don't have a picture uploaded yet of her.
Great Danes are WONDERFUL dogs, but not for everyone. They are not outside dogs under ANY circumstances, and they require training, period. They are a lot of dog and if you don't like having a dog that needs to be by you all the time, follow you around, etc, a Great Dane is not for you. I work in Great Dane rescue and 90% of the Danes that come into rescue are between 6 months and 2 years old because they don't outgrow their puppy stage till after 2 years, and can be very very destructive.
That being said, I'll never NOT own one
Anyhow, here is a picture of my babies...Bella is the merle, Emma is the black and Wyatt Earp is the corgi. My other dane is a mantle named Princess, I just recently adopted her. She is "elderly" at 7 years old. I don't have a picture uploaded yet of her.
luckystar
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i already have a dog and i love him to death...his name is tequila, he's half shar pei and half pitbul. i would love to have a pure bread pitbul, all white. they are one of the smartest dogs and loveable..i dont think i would ever own any other breed, maybe a boxer.
Miss-Delectable
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I don't have much fondness for dogs, but I guess if I had to choose one, I'd pick Great Dane. Because they're good with people especially kids.