Most of you, if you "know" me at all, know me as that Feng Shui Person on AR. What you may not know is that I am a long time Pet Advocate and have done things such as volunteered at non-kill shelters here helping to tame some of the feral kittens and anything else that was needed. I worked closedly with a good friend who wrote for a local paper and we covered all types of events on helping animals.
When I had gotten my new puppy last year, Skylar, I was teaching him the usual things. Sit, lie down, roll over---cute but basically useless. He unfortunately never learned manners which I am still working with but I noticed the dog was learning words---more then I recall most of my other dogs. I think, now, that they were all capable of it but I wasn't aware of it. Another good friend INSISTED I teach him his "body parts." She claims that her cat would have not been alive if she had not done that years ago, and I believe she's right.
Her beautiful cat, Katerina, was in a horrific car accident. When found, she was barely conscious and the vet did not know whether she would make it---and if she did, what condition she would be in. He was certain she would be blind in one eye, other then that, everything was questionable. My friend had a tormenting decision to make and she decided to try and save her cat. Katerina was in the hospital for a long time, being fed through a tube which eventually went directly into her stomach. She was uncomfortable and fought them all the time.
At some point my friend decided to take some time off work and take her cat home with her. She had taught her cat ALL HER BODY PARTS. Her cat knew the words Back, Tummy, Ear, Mouth, Nose, Eye and Tail. She said shew would explain to Katerina what she was doing "I am putting dinner (which Katerina knew) into your Tummy." Or "Your EYE will get better." She absolutely believes her cat understood about 20% of what she was saying and coupled with her love for her and her calm, soothing voice, allowed my friend to accept the food and treat her eye without a "fight."
Though not as dramatic, I have heard other stories where people made it a point to teach their pets they names of certain parts of their bodies. Skylar knows them all and even his Vet noticed. "I'm just going to check his Tummy" and Sky will roll on his back. Dogs and Cats and some other animals can have a tremendous vocabulary. In an experiment not long ago on TV, they surrounded a dog with well over 100 toys of his. They would ask the dog to get the "dog," "pig," or "bear" and this dog had a 100% success rate.
I am now trying to teach Sugar who is older....she loves getting her Ears and Tummy rubbed and has those down already! While teaching your animals all the "cute" stuff, teach them about themselves as well. I hope we never need it, but it just might save their life one day.
PostScript: This was several years ago. Katerina is now 11 and although blind in one eye, nothing has slowed her down! She is a joy....
This is a very interesting post, Carole. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Animals really are quite brilliant if we believe they are and allow them to be.
Recently I went on a CMA appointment and the homeowners had the sweetest little miniature pinscher who was absolutely brilliant. She sat up on the chair with me and acted like I was there to visit her !! (actually, I think I was ). Whatever the owners said, she understood completely every word and her head would dart from one to the other and back to me as though she were following our conversation completely. At one point , the husband mentioned their backyard and the number of birds they have visiting...the little dog jumped off the chair and trotted over to the patio doors and gazed at the sky looking for birds. I was so taken with her, if they had of been looking for a new home for her, I would have gladly adopted the little munchkin in a heartbeat !
I was going to ask you how Sugar was making out...I'm glad you mentioned her in this post.
Jo
Hi Carole: Great post today. Very interesting, and I am sure it works. Animals are so smart, and eager to learn anything and everything - why not body parts? Reece knows what her 'ball' is but sometimes still confuses it with her nyla 'bone', I think out of pure excitement to play. But interestingly enough, when we have to clean Pimms' ears, you say the word 'ear' and he runs. We joke that he knows what we are talking about, and doesn't want his ears cleaned, but I think it's true. You are definitely on to something here.
Jennifer, it's honestly not something I would have thought of either; but I know what words he absolutely KNOWS and maybe they will help him someday.
Joan, Do it, hopefully you will never need it but if you do....imagine...
Lizette, I absolutely believe you! That is not bragging, that is being AWARE and how closely you are connected to Chanel to realize what she knows.
Lori, it does make sense. We teach them all these tricks, why not something that might be helpful one day?
Teri, Keep teaching! They understand so much, it's sad how little credit we give them!
Jo, My sister's dog was very much like that. She sat upright at the table and had dinner with us; if I hadn't seen it over and over, I wouldn't believe it :)
Molly, It definitely does work. I am leaving a list of the words Skylar knows while I'm away, the kids don't know all of them!
Jennifer, Good thinking. I don't know if they can communicate it back but I think when you're in "tune" with your pet, you'll know something is bothering them.
I believe you are absolutely correct, animals are capable of learning so much more than we attempt to teach the. I never have thought about teaching body parts but what I good idea--no doubt in my mind that they can learn and respond. Great story, I loved it. Thanks.
Wow, what a story... I totally agree and believe that animals are far more intelligent than we give them credit for... Also they have a miraculous power of healing if they find the love and support from us.
My cat, PUKKY (now 17 years old) a main-coon, who by his own bread characteristics was not supposed to live that long, has been through some unbelievable situations in his life. He also contracted an eye virus infection that looked very bad, and doctors predicted that he'll lose not only the side of affected eye, but both... I was devastated. I concentrate all my energy, attention and love to make him get better.
I was already in peace with the idea that my cat will be forever blind. But NO, a miracle happened (that even doctors could not understand) and his eyes are more beautiful than ever... and side unaltered!
He heard me, he worked with me and he knew that I'll be devastated for his loss... he couldn't let me down and returned my love.
Animals are amazing.
Carole, That is very interesting but makes sense. I will try this with Bella. Dogs are so smart and if they know bonie and chicken hey why not tummy and eyes and back!
Ginger
Ginger, Thank you for the comment. When my friend told me about it I was a bit skeptical but did it. I believe I could relay information to my little one and he would understand some of it at this point. They know all kinds of words and these can actually help!
Candy, No, unfortuantely we don't, they are much smarter and more intuitive then we realize. If my dog can learn to sit, lie down, roll over, give me paw and jump over a stick, I knew he could learn many more words. I try to get to a new one a week :) Thanks for your comment.
Carole - that's awesome. We share your love of animals. Our favorite animal charity is Rolling Dog Ranch in Montana www.rollingdogranch.org. They take in disabled and abused animals. The animals get to go live on a beautiful Montana ranch with some of the greatest people we've ever met. They have a wonderful blog that they do about life on the ranch.
Carole, what a fascinating and sweet story! I have two dogs, and they know many words, but it never occurred to me to teach them their body parts. I will definitely start teaching them. Thank you for sharing this story with us.
Kevin & Monica, For some reason that place sounds familiar. I don't know if I read about it or if someone told me about it....it's wonderful work that they do!
Griselda, I hope this helps many people. And they DO learn, my dog now knows almost all of his body parts. It is so funny to see him at the Vet who will say I'm just going to look in his EAR or check his neck and Skylar knows what he's doing!
Although I've never heard about this before I have read that a dog has the understanding of a 2 year old child. It's not uncommon for a dog to have a vocabulary of 100+ words. The key is to be consistent and never stop teaching your pets.
Carole, I totally agree with your observation that dogs (and cats) understand words. My grandpuppy, Fred, has demonstrated this many, many times. My daughter speaks to him as if he were a person, and I believe he thinks he's a person. I will tell her to try to teach him his body parts. What a good idea!
Chris
Elaine, Thank you for your comment. When you think about it, they already know lots of words...bath, cookie, sit, lie down and so many more. It wasn't difficult at all to teach him his body parts.
Jennifer, we don't give them nearly enough credit. We teach them all kinds of cute things but teaching Katerina her body parts saved her life! And my dog learned them fast enough,
Chris, That's wonderful to hear; it's probably the more she talks to him the more he understands. Funny that my dog cries when the phone rings to get my attention. I know they train animals for that but he wasn't trained, he just does it.
Carole, really fascinating! I am going to try and teach my little Yorkie/Bichon 'Woody' a few body parts right now! He knows what the word Ears mean because that is the first comment everyone makes when he meets them! I'm so glad Katarina made a good recovery and is still going strong , we have 3 Ragdoll cats and I'll be trying the same thing with them. Thank you for a really great post!
Emily ~ Celebrate Staging, Vancouver BC