# Sometimes I think they can REALLY understand us!



## CaseysGSD (Oct 15, 2010)

Cute story...

My daughter was just sitting on the floor with Blitz, Blitz had her head in my daughters lap. So I hear Brooke say to to Blitz, Ill give you a treat if you let me look at your teeth (no flames, I was right there and trust Blitz for this interaction, she was totally relaxed) So anyway, Blitz just looks up at her like "do what you must" So Brooke gently lifts her lips and checks all her teeth (she's been trying to keep track of puppy teeth lost, she found one the other day and put it under Blitz's pillow LOL) So anyway Blitz lays perfectly still and lets her do a full inspection and as soon as she stops Blitz jumps up and runs to the treat closet! It was like she totally knew what Brooke (she's 5) wanted, let her and knew her reward for doing so! GSDs surprise me everyday!:wub:


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

LOL! That is so cute!!!


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

I too am impressed at how much mine understands. I think if they are going to learn anything, the word treat would be one of the first. I use that word to get mine to pee on command: "Peeps for treats!" ;-)
You have a nice and nice looking dog.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Very cute - why would you worry that people would flame you for letting your daughter play with the dog?

Our toddler sized son used to play all kinds of ways with our female GSD, and we never worried that she would bite him or anything like that.


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## Lexi (May 12, 2010)

Cute!


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

How sweet! It's so nice they'll grow up together


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## cassadee7 (Nov 26, 2009)

That is great  They really are smart. My dog has learned to spell. The kids as me "can he have a T-R-E-A-T?" and he jumps up and runs to the kitchen. lol.


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## CaseysGSD (Oct 15, 2010)

codmaster said:


> Very cute - why would you worry that people would flame you for letting your daughter play with the dog?


I wasn't really, but I have heard some people upset that kids are "bothering" a dog....but I would not call what my daughter was doing bothering at all...Some dogs might not like kids poking at them but Blitz actually thrives on my kids doing anything to her as long as she's getting their attention!


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## Shadow's mum (Mar 13, 2010)

Too cute.  I think it's lovely that your daughter and Blitz have a trusting relationship.
My son came home from dog school on Sunday with Shadow, apparently she was really well behaved and did every thing he asked of her, even the stuff she hasn't been taught. (she's always better when her boyfriend, Kujo isn't at school) Anyway, the instructor said to my son she's never met a dog that can read or understand a human like Shadow can.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i think our dogs know a lot of things. they know things that we as owners
don't train them for.


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

Kids and shepherds make the cutest pairs!!!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

thats awesome Casey. Believe she'll keep surprising you too. Shasta is a total PITA but she makes surprises me regularly. I love shepherds!


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## Katey (Aug 11, 2010)

How cute!! It's so wonderful that you have such trust in the dog, and that you are encouraging such a special relationship between the Blitz and your daughter. 

I agree that GSDs are remarkably intuitive dogs! But isn't it funny how even young GSDs can just "know" things like that, but then you need to train them to, say, not gnaw on table legs? 

Now I know that there are big differences there behavior-wise (and yes, proper supervision prevents puppy-destruction), but it's something my grandmother would always joke about her dogs, and I still find amusing.


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## bianca (Mar 28, 2010)

What an adorable story :wub: How cute is it that your daughter put Blitz's tooth under Blitz's pillow awwwwwwwww :wub:


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## CaseysGSD (Oct 15, 2010)

Katey said:


> How cute!! It's so wonderful that you have such trust in the dog, and that you are encouraging such a special relationship between the Blitz and your daughter.


While I would never have my kids do certain things to an unknown adult dog (and yes, I have taught them the difference) with our puppies I have always been big on having my kids to feed sometimes, give water, sit next to them while eating or chewing treats and teaching our pup to obey the drop and leave it command from them. I believe if the dog gets used to these things from the beginning they always see it as normal and I have never had a issue with trust in those situations.


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## CaseysGSD (Oct 15, 2010)

bianca said:


> What an adorable story :wub: How cute is it that your daughter put Blitz's tooth under Blitz's pillow awwwwwwwww :wub:


 
OMG...I switched it out with a dog biscuit the next day before my daughter woke up, well Blitz could smell it and kept trying to dig it up...it was so funny trying to keep it there until she got up!:crazy: How do you tell your dog that there is a treat in their bed andd they are not allowed to have it!


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

CaseysGSD said:


> OMG...I switched it out with a dog biscuit the next day before my daughter woke up, well Blitz could smell it and kept trying to dig it up...it was so funny trying to keep it there until she got up!:crazy: How do you tell your dog that there is a treat in their bed andd they are not allowed to have it!


LMAO fantastic parent right there, the things we do to and for our kids and pups. That is too funny I can see poor blitz going nuts like woah theres a treat in my bed how the heck did I leave that last night then this look like OMG why wont you let me eat it. Its my treat AND my bed this sucks.


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## nous defions (Nov 15, 2010)

*The get it...*

My GSD, Jasko, can also sense moods. Once, my wife and I were about to get into a silly disagreement over something minor. But, I guess, as we all do at one time, or another, we thought it was a big deal. Anyway, Jasko was in the kitchen by my wife and when it looked like we were about to argue, he looked at both of us, and hurried to his keenel. Mind you, we don't yell at home, and we never, ever hit him (I think people that hit dogs lack training themselves). He just figured that the mood was not positive, and he didn't want anything to do with it. As he walked away briskly, my wife and I looked at one another and began to laugh. Jasko had not only managed to wisk himself away, but he lightened the mood and we realized that we were being silly. That's why we love him!

Our two year old daughter grew up with Jasko. He was eight months old when she was born. Jasko was trained at the Tarheel K9 in North Carolina (spent six weeks there), and we have maintained his training at home. Plus, we never leave the two unsupervised together. Nevertheless, that beautiful 90 lb GSD is the most gentle creature with our daughter. But, if you are a stranger to our home... that's another matter - he is very protective.


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## Bridget (Apr 5, 2004)

That is so cute. "Peeps for treats" is cute too.


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

> *Sometimes I think they can REALLY understand us!*


I'm surprized you think only "sometimes". Also, children have a much easier time communicating with animals than adults.


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## Melina (Feb 20, 2010)

I got tired of Koda trying to pull me so he could mark every other bush on walks, so I've trained him to walk next to me until I point to a bush and say "Okay, Go!". Then he'll veer off and go pee on it. If I don't give him that cue, he won't pull on the leash, won't stop, won't sniff, nothing...Keeps walking next to me. It's awesome.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Had a very smart rescue GSD, who really had a mind of her own. If I called her when she was off leash, it was amazing the number of times she decided she just HAD to have one more pee. 

Then, when she was done, she pretended she'd forgotten I'd called her, and start sniffing around again!

Her trigger word was 'squirrel'. If we wanted her ears up for a photo, that'd do it every time! The cute part was if she was in the house when we said it, she'd run to the window and look out. Even if it was night-time, she'd go to the window, looking for those rascally squirrels!


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

here is my latest...

I was eating oreos. My boy decided he wanted one. Sat down and begged. He doesn't get much people food but obviously he has gotten enough to know how to beg. 

I say no, sorry kid. No oreos for you. He wanders off. Comes back a few minutes later and deposits a little piece of gravel on the couch cushion by my leg, then makes his very saddest most begging eyes at me.

He knows if he drops a toy in front of my female GSD she will usually steal it and he can manipulate her into trading toys when he wants hers.

He knows I gave him plenty of dog cookies for not eating gravel when he was a baby.

So he thinks maybe he can trade me gravel for an oreo??? Or maybe I am as easy to manipulate as the other shepherd and he thinks gravel is my high value toy LOL 

spoiler alert he never got an Oreo but I was pretty floored by the level of thought that apparently went into all of this...especially the part where he searched the house for something that might work to offer me as a present. We have a gravel walkway in front so it gets tracked into the kitchen and there is often a stray piece to be found in the kitchen.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

I'm sure they know more words then we realize. 

That is really cute he knows nothing in life is for free - he was taught well lol!!!!!! They are scary smart. 

Last night I was eating dinner and I had all the dogs around me Luna does not usually beg but she was last night -sitting right next to our chihuahua right near me feet. I noticed max was not around and thought how odd is that- he is the king of all beggars. I turned and saw him laying about 8 feet away he was laying really weird all stiff , crooked a bit twisted and crazy still like he was frozen in mid pose with desperate focus on me to notice his great obedience of keeping his distance. I did see through his crooked ways but could not resist the most desperate look in his eyes. They all got a little piece. Sometimes I'm easy to figure out.


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

Earlier this year my son picked me up from the airport in my little Toyota Yaris, with Nitro, as usual, in the back seat. Nitro was laying down, when a large SUV started aggressively tail gating my son. This went on for a while, eventually the SUV got dangerously and intimidatingly close. Nitro picked that moment to sit up and stare out the rear window at the driver of the SUV. The SUV immediately backed off to a safe and respectful distance. Thanks Nitro!


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

I love these stories. 

My gal-dog loves to play fetch with pine-cones. I had the front door open and the dogs in the front yard. I was also working on my computer (which faces the window to the front yard). My gal brought me a pine cone but I told her, Not Now. She goes back outside. She comes in with a pine cone and again I tell her not now. Eventually I go to the door to check on the dogs. My gal-dog is sitting in front of the door with 4 pine-cones lined up so I can choose a favorite one to toss for her.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Cats can be pretty smart, too!

When I was a teen, we had a black cat that was half Burmese. He LOVED turkey! When we had a turkey in the oven, he'd lie infront of the stove for most of the day, trying to scheme how he could get to it.

One day, after Thanksgiving, my mom put him outside, saying he eats too much turkey. 

When she let him back in after lunch, he kept meowing, and finally tapped her on the leg to get her attention.

"What is it, Blackie?" she said. "Your food's in your dish!"

He went over to his bowl, and quickly found out that it contained just cat food, and no turkey.

He came back, and resumed trying to get her attention. When she ignored him, he tapped her on the leg again, but this time, there was a claw out!

"OUCH!" she exclaimed. "What do you want, Blackie?"

He meowed again, then headed down the stairs to the family room, where we had a second fridge that was used for storing things when we ran out of room in the kitchen fridge.

He sat down in front of the fridge, and meowed again. My dad opened the patio door, trying to tempt him to go outside, but he wasn't interested. He KNEW the turkey was in that fridge!

Mom was so impressed that she took the turkey out of the fridge, and gave him some.

Smartest cat I've ever known... 

He lived to be 17 years old, and I still miss him! :crying:


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

I have a 90 yr old neighbor with whom I'm very close. So ever since Nyx was 13 wks old, we go to visit multiple times a week. So we were over there the other day and as he and I were talking Nyx went to lie down on his lawn. He said to her "you can't lay on my grass" jokingly, and she immediately got up and moved onto the concrete driveway. You should have seen his expression! He said, "it's like she understood!", and of course I replied indignantly, "of course she understands....everything you say, so be careful"


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

These are great stories they are so keen to our body language and they sure do soak everything in. 
I know someone- she has a little dog (non gsd)who always was crazy about her husband they were always very close. One day her husband left suddenly and moved out. When the husband soon to be ex -comes back to visit to pick up the kids, the little dog will not come out to greet him at all. . Even if he is eating something at the table. The little dog will not hang around for any hand outs of food or want to jump in his lap while sitting on the chair- which is very unlike him. The first time the husband came around -about a week of living out of the house -the little dog growled and barked at him. This little dog is used to long distance family members who visit sporadic through out the years and never acted as if they were strangers. I just found this very interesting and wanted to share this.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Puppies don't have a clue what we are trying to accomplish so that's why we are so busy and often pulling our hair out raising them. But all that hard work over time makes a for a dog that does understand us, more than we think.They know our next move even with our first subconscious muscle twist. They pick out words from sentences to their own advantage. They know when we don't feel good or do feel good and adjust accordingly. That's why I adore the GSD, especially Deja!


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Can't imagine life without them!


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

I used to have a BF who was still living with his mother on a farm. They had 2 dogs, both of them GSD/lab crosses. One day, we were sitting at the kitchen table, and his mom was telling a story. The door to the porch was open, with just the screen door covering it.

In the mom's story, someone said, "Hi, how y'all doing in there?" When she said that, she also waved her hand, as if greeting someone. 

The dogs picked up on the words and her gesture, and ran to the door barking, thinking someone was actually at the door! :laugh2:


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## MOJO9913 (Nov 13, 2017)

very cool! I truly believe dogs are in tuned with us


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