Just checking but the 'Stalker pup' (Mabel Anne) once *out of the home and
at the Vets* evinced something we never trained. At least, nothing directly
(deliberately etc).

If we want her to sit someplace specific, we point at that spot then give
the asl for sit or 'down' or whatever. We'd never tried this walking though
and it doesn't work in the house or her familar back yard.

It worked though at the vets last night. Charlotte got tired of her antics
and started 'pointing' at just where she wanted Mabel Anne to be at and she
fell right in line with her finger point.

It seems to only be followed when in a 'strange place' so far. It *seems* a
sort of tandem 'heel if pointed at heel position or go and walk where we
point at' sort of thing. What the heck did we do by accident? Seems useful
though (embarassed grin).

On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:44:04 -0500, "cshenk" wrote:

Just checking but the 'Stalker pup' (Mabel Anne) once *out of the home and
at the Vets* evinced something we never trained. At least, nothing directly
(deliberately etc).

If we want her to sit someplace specific, we point at that spot then give
the asl for sit or 'down' or whatever. We'd never tried this walking though
and it doesn't work in the house or her familar back yard.

It worked though at the vets last night. Charlotte got tired of her antics
and started 'pointing' at just where she wanted Mabel Anne to be at and she
fell right in line with her finger point.

It seems to only be followed when in a 'strange place' so far. It *seems* a
sort of tandem 'heel if pointed at heel position or go and walk where we
point at' sort of thing. What the heck did we do by accident? Seems useful
though (embarassed grin).

Dogs use body language for much of their communication with each
other. Not surprisingly, they are much more in tune with body
language cues than verbal commands. My Borzoi learned to come to
where I wanted her after I pointed a few times, and she's not deaf.

On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:03:20 -0500, sighthounds & siberians
wrote:

[...]
Dogs use body language for much of their communication with each
other. Not surprisingly, they are much more in tune with body
language cues than verbal commands. My Borzoi learned to come to
where I wanted her after I pointed a few times, and she's not deaf.

You bet. NatGeo recently had a show on about that very topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJu2Q...ayer_embedded#!


--
Dogman

"Dogman" wrote in message
...

On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 20:03:20 -0500, sighthounds & siberians
wrote:

Dogs use body language for much of their communication with
each other. Not surprisingly, they are much more in tune with
body language cues than verbal commands. My Borzoi learned
to come to where I wanted her after I pointed a few times, and
she's not deaf.

You bet. NatGeo recently had a show on about that very topic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJu2Q...ayer_embedded#!

Yes, my friend Bonnie (who breeds Borzois) "pointed" that out to me when
Muttley and I visited a while ago. She remarked that dogs are the only
animals who respond well to such visual cues, and she demonstrated that with
Muttley. And I see it every day when I have Muttley find his old bone and
bring it to me for a fresh replacement. Sometimes he doesn't seem to see it
but he will follow my cue when I point to where it is. Dogs are about
equivalent to a 2 year old human, which can be demonstrated by a more subtle
visual cue which combines a finger point with a "bigger" gesture using the
arm and elbow, which does not fool a three year old child.

Paul and "Smarter than a Monkey" Muttley
www.muttleydog.com

"P E Schoen" wrote in message
...
..
Yes, my friend Bonnie (who breeds Borzois) "pointed" that out to me when
Muttley and I visited a while ago. She remarked that dogs are the only
animals who respond well to such visual cues, \/.

That's interesting. I would have thought chimpanzees would repond well
to pointing seeing as they share our DNA.
Ali

On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:44:04 -0500, cshenk wrote:

Just checking but the 'Stalker pup' (Mabel Anne) once *out of the home
and at the Vets* evinced something we never trained. At least, nothing
directly (deliberately etc).

If we want her to sit someplace specific, we point at that spot then
give the asl for sit or 'down' or whatever. We'd never tried this
walking though and it doesn't work in the house or her familar back
yard.

It worked though at the vets last night. Charlotte got tired of her
antics and started 'pointing' at just where she wanted Mabel Anne to be
at and she fell right in line with her finger point.

It seems to only be followed when in a 'strange place' so far. It
*seems* a sort of tandem 'heel if pointed at heel position or go and
walk where we point at' sort of thing. What the heck did we do by
accident? Seems useful though (embarassed grin).


It is called Targeting

please read this (broken link):

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/iss...Dog-Obedience-
Training_15784-1.html

"sonofdog" wrote
cshenk wrote:

(snippies)

It worked though at the vets last night. Charlotte got tired of her
antics and started 'pointing' at just where she wanted Mabel Anne to be
at and she fell right in line with her finger point.

It seems to only be followed when in a 'strange place' so far. It
*seems* a sort of tandem 'heel if pointed at heel position or go and
walk where we point at' sort of thing. What the heck did we do by
accident? Seems useful though (embarassed grin).

It is called Targeting
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/iss...Dog-Obedience-
Training_15784-1.html

Interesting! Seems related to what they describe as advanced level? It's
not quite the same but it sure generated giggles when Charlotte used it to
get Mabel Anne to follow the pointed finger location. We even played a
little bit and had her go in little circles. She's been going to where we
point to sit/stand/lay-down for a bit but this was the first time she did it
on leash while moving to direct her around.

Oh, meantime Cash has nailed ASL for sit, down, stand, 'go there' (our words
to go where we point) and doesn't need verbal words for those things
anymore. Don's play-training him with 'get' and using a hand motion to show
bringing something to him. (We made this one up, hand palm up and curl
fingers as you bring hand to chest). No real 'need' for him to learn this,
it's just to keep him happy training since he gets bored if there isn't
something 'new' pretty often.

Charlotte is playing 'dance' with Cash now since it's nasty cold wet
outside. Mabel Anne is just watching in fascination. It's pretty funny.
Mostly they waltz around with him trying to stay in step and kind of mimic
what she does after she does it. Not real 'training' going on there, just
play time and some modicum of exercise.

On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:54:53 -0500, "cshenk" wrote:


It is called Targeting
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/iss...Dog-Obedience-
Training_15784-1.html

Interesting! Seems related to what they describe as advanced level?

Who is "they", and advanced level what?

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote
"cshenk" wrote:

It is called Targeting
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/iss...Dog-Obedience-
Training_15784-1.html

Interesting! Seems related to what they describe as advanced level?

Who is "they", and advanced level what?

'They' as in the people at the link being discussed, and 'advanced level' as
in the link on targeting above.

Not the same but has interesting relationship to it when you get to the
'dancing' parts.

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:54:53 -0500, "cshenk" wrote:



Interesting! Seems related to what they describe as advanced level?

Who is "they", and advanced level what?

I haven't had time to read it but the article is written by Pat Miller