@canidmajor Everything I say is gibberish, to the dogs, unless they hear something they know to be a cue. Your dogs, I assume, know that all their cues are preceded by their names. Nerina is used to picking any potential cue out of the human talk. So, whether I say, “Wilson” before giving “her” cue or not, she will still see it as her cue.
I know it will confuse her, because I’ve seen it happen. She drops bones when I tell my foster dogs to drop something, she drops her dummy when we’re on walks with other dog owners and they tell their dogs to “drop it”. I have no idea how smart that makes her, but I like to believe that she’s not an idiot and just has this one cue automatized because we worked on it for years. Of course, I’ve heard people claim that all Labs are dumb, and compared to herding dogs, they might be. No idea. I’m biased, and I don’t believe intelligence is easily measured. They’re wonderful dogs in lots of ways, though, and very trainable.
@janbb Well, that’s basically her “go pee” cue. *Mach schnell.
Yeah, Germans have the benefit of a language which is perfectly suited to yell at dogs, boot camp style. I love that. ~