How much do your dogs understand?

I have been looking at the 'anti-show' thread and been thinking about how much dogs understand.

I recently started to read 'Oh Behave!' By Jean Donaldson.
I have not managed to read it all the way through, but it was quite interesting what she was saying.

Part of which was - how much (she feels) we underestimate what our dogs understand.

The passage of time was one thing - her belief is that dogs have a very good understanding of time due to the way she has observed them behaving.

One of the interesting things she was really stressing (in the bit I read) was that, what we know about dogs behaviour is very much speculation, because the dog cannot explain to us (in a language we understand). We are only making guesses towards what thought processes are occurring at the time of a behaviour.

Something I have observed is that My mothers and My dogs know the difference between our cars. While I was looking after Mums dogs the other day, she came back (in my van) and Etta did not respond at all, if Mum had come back in her car, I would have had difficulty keeping her in the house - let alone quiet.

I did all the science stuff at college about dogs not having the same emotions as people etc...and in the same breath as the Professor told us this - he also told us he thought it was rubbish!

So....do dogs have emotions? do we underestimate their thought processes and feelings?

Yes - I firmly believe that dogs have emotions, and a very wide range of them at that. Joy, excitement, depression, upset are all the obvious ones but there are much more complex issues going on too.

I think that some people do underestimate their thought processes and understanding of situations........although perhaps much of the "understanding" comes from learned experiences and automatic response?

I firmly believe that dogs are very much cleverer than some people give them credit for...........apart from our little chap who only has one brain cell, and that is not always working
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I'm certain dogs have thoughts and feelings! Kia has been playing up ever since Mike left and I know its because he's gone. She reacts differently to each person she knows, for instance, she loves to jump up and get cuddles from my mum but wont be as excited to see my dad (she knows he's a cat person!). And, I don't know, just the looks she gives me sometimes. You can just tell...

They're much cleverer than we think! And I don't know about dominance, but I bet they are plotting to take over the world!!! Hehe!

S xoxox

That's really interesting.

One thing I really don't think a dog understands is the concept of time, daily time yes, but i always tell myself that when they go into kennels they dont know if it's 6 days or 10.

But i reackon dogs sure as hell understand their owners emotions! More than my fella ever does

Me too! My dogs recognise the sound of Paul's van before it has even come round the corner into our cul de sac! Even though there are other vans in the road they ignore!

Yes I agree, dogs do pick up on emotions and I think that the bitch that we had did this far more than the two dogs.

Yes, I am sure dogs have emotions. I've seen my own dogs exhibit happiness, sadness, fear, anger, jealousy and probably loads more.

The one I'm not sure about is love in terms of how we love people close to us and how we love our animals. There is no doubt that they have strong attachments to certain people in their lives and other animals too, but to what extent you could truly call it love, I think is difficult to prove.

I know that Jean Donaldson believes that there isn't such a thing as a dog's desire to please - she thinks its always due to self-gratification - i.e. they please us because there is a reward for them (but there is a thread on Dogsey about that already).

As for how intelligent - I think most people on Dogsey know how intelligent their own dogs are. And just like people, different dogs have different levesl of intelligence. But yes, I think the 'average' owner could well underestimate their dog's intelligence. I've seen enough TV training programmes when the owners are gobsmacked that their dog can work out which cup a treat is hidden under etc.

i definitely believe many people underestimate dogs, and how much they understand. at the end of the day, like you said, we dont know (and cant know) exactly what goes on in their head, as they cannot express it to us... so people cannot say as a hard fact, that they do not understand. i am always reading about dogs who do amazing things, and if they simply did not understand then i do not believe they would be capable of such things.

Yes i feel dogs do have emotions! and also have an understanding of time.
our dogs all know when its dinner time, and all start to get unsettled, clearly they can not watch the clock but something makes them know what the time is and that its soon dinner time

Dogs can be very attached to people and other dogs, and i myself have seen a dog greive for another dog when its passed on..
I have seen dogs get jealous - when you pay attension to another dog and not them.

Be fearful towards something they may have had bad experience with, for example my mum took on a dog that we 'believe' was miss treated, her previous owner was on crutches.
The reaction that dog showed the next time some one entered our house with crutches was so upsetting, it made our minds up how she was previously treated any how.

Im sure dogs feel alot of things, maybe its just the way they show it that peope dont understand, as they dont show there feelings like us humans do there for i doubt we will ever really be able to understand our four legged friends.

Thats exactly it. They cannot 'show' us these feelings in a way that we can comprehend. But I'm sure they try! We may not be able to understand them but that wont stop us loving them, and feeling their version of 'love' being returned to us. Even if it is for 'self gratification' only, they can do some amazing things for people and show such loyalty that I think there is more to it...

S xoxox

I'm sure dogs can feel emotions & understand the emotions of others. We had on a sad film the other day & mum started getting a bit weepy-eyed... as soon as Molly saw this, she was snuggling up to my mum which is unusual as mum wasn't making any noise or anything & she never even goes near her for cuddles because she knows my mum doesn't like dogs! She also knows when she needs to say sorry (although I suppose that's because I put her in time out for 5 minutes if she's naughty) and will act all humble and sweet after you allow her back into the living room after she has been 'naughty'.

I have to say, Molly can be a bit dippy sometimes so it does remind me that a lot of her behaviour is 'learned'. For example, if I tell her to sit she will sit & then lie down because that is what I get her to do when we're at the traffic lights and If you say 'down' to get her off the sofa she will lie down on the sofa instead & look at you like 'See mum? I'm a good dog!'