We've seen before how pooches have the uncanny ability to pick up behavior and tricks from each other. Just like an episode of Twilight, they're able to pick up on unspoken cues to figure out proper behavior and act in sync.
Of course, Miss M is not big on mentoring, but takes satisfaction in being the mentor and bossing others around:
There have only been two times that Miss M has 'lowered herself' and picked up on other dog tricks. When I first adopted her, there used to be a dog in the neighborhood named Monty; he was Miss M's boyfriend. She could recognize him from afar, they played with equal energy levels, and they had a fun game of chewing on eachother's ears. Though she took this bad learned behavior and started doing this with other dogs who didn't think it was such a fun game. I dreaded the day when she would meet my parent's dogs and try to chew on their ears:
The second times was when we were fostering a dog to potentially adopt., who Miss M also thought was her boyfriend. This dog was the Michael Jordan of pitbulls who could gracefully bound over our furniture and ottomans with ease.
Miss M thought this would be a neat game, though she is not nearly as graceful or delicate and can't really clear the furniture:
I always wondered why out of all the behaviors to imitate, why she could only choose the bad ones, and could never pick up on something like Mr. B's politeness. Do you notice your dogs picking up good or bad behaviors from other dogs?
25 comments:
Oh yes. Jordie has learned how to climb up my kitchen window when he wants to come in, just like his big sis Roxie. So far he hasn't taken to hitting the window with his paw, like the Rox does (fortunately) or banging on my apartment door at all hours of the morning but I'm sure he will eventually.
Sadly it appears that Sophie hasn't picked up on anything from Koda. She still refuses to do any kind of trick besides sit meanwhile Koda beside her is going through every trick he knows to try and get the treat.
our shiba learned to bark like a beagle from listening to our beagle mix since he was a pup. she would do these short chirpy barks before he came on the scene.
damn beagle!
Corbin teaches all his foster sisters bad tricks... lol, he never picks up on the good things.
-Corbin's momma, Jenn
It is amazing how well they pick up on the others antics. Winston is an ear cleaner as well, and you are right not everyone appreciates a good ear wash.
haha my friends dog picked up the trait of bringing clothes out from my dog when ever i would leave. I had to babysit and now whenever my friend leaves, his pooch brings out a shirt to sleep on...i think its more because they miss us...but same thing ha
hahahaha. After staying with her doggy parents for a couple weeks, Darwin learned how to counter surf. She never used to even try to grab things on the counter, but after her 2 week stay there she ran off with a loaf of french bread. Though in her defense she LOVES bread. hehe.
Leroy has taught Sherman that it is ok to act like a goofball sometimes. Although Sherman does not do it as much as Leroy, it is great to see as SHerman is always so laid back:)
Unfortunately our dog has always picked up only the bad behavior (has never once imitated good behavior), and even worse, taught the bad habits to other dogs we had in the past. Somehow I don't think this will change as she's almost 15 now :)
Heehee...that's easy! Cuz the bad habits are way more fun than the good habits, silly!
Oh, and I've picked up a lot of good stuff from Brudder Ranger. Like how to lift my leg to tinkle! I never knew to do that until I watched him do it for awhile and now I do it, too! But not ALL the time. Balancing like that is kinda hard.
Wiggles & Wags,
Mayzie
PeeS. Your foster doggie was so very handsome!
Everytime we add another dog to our house, the existing dogs always pick up a new bad habit. I think it is just their way of keeping us in check
Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com/
No, not yet at least. Shiva hasn't spent enough time around other dogs beyond group classes or brief periods in the park. But I am sure as soon as we get a second dog this will change. I'm just hoping she is the mentee, not the mentor, unless it comes to her wicked sit-stay, that is.
Téa picked up nearly every good manner she has from watching Toni, which we expected. What we didn't expect was that Toni would learn to be a little more playful from Téa - but she's really awkward and bad at it, which makes it hysterical! Téa will shake toys like she's knocking the life out of them, but when Toni does it, it kind of looks like she developed a weird nervous twitch (maybe she's just trying to make the toy nauseous rather than kill it). Téa is also a big fan of covering her messes with dirt, grass, leaves, snow, etc. Toni now tries to do it now as well, but she's such a brute that she digs her feet in too far. So first they get stuck and then when she finally manages to fling something onto her mess, it also usually includes large clumps of dirt and leaves huge tracks in the ground where she was digging in. She's so proud of herself, though, that sometimes I try to hide that I'm laughing at her!
Mickey has learned that if he is really nice to strangers they will pay as much attention to him as they do to Kayloo (Kayloo is a suck and Mickey used to walk in the other direction when new people came around).
Mickey has done a great job of teaching Kayloo to keep away from our food.
Oh the bad ones of course ;)
My puggies are so ill behavied.
Izzy eats rocks outside so Anakin started to follow suit.
Izzy barks out the window and it didn't take long for Trixie to start after we adopted her.
(hmmmm... who's the alpha puggie?)
But the only thing Izzy will follow is when one of the others lays on us. Better watch out... she will kick anyone off of our laps~
I wonder how much s/h is for an Izzy pug? hee hee
Hugs!
What a silly question! Cause bad behavior is funner
Benny & Lily
Most definitely, although sadly, Morgan has not picked up nearly as many of the Greyhound behaviors as I'd like! lol When we had fosters, they quickly learned about using the steps, how to ask to go out and what was and wasn't okay, plus the important words "potty" and "walk" from ours in just a manner of a few days. It's uncanny!
Heehee. Fi picked up a few subtle mooching tips from TaiChi (who was the ULTIMATE moocher) and the ability to nap the day away at an early age. Abby hasn't picked up either of these habits - she's just developed a bunch of bad habits of her own! ;-)
-Dr. Liz
Absolutely!! All the bad stuff...digging up the shrubs, using the furniture for a napkin...I could go on and on, but this comment box is not big enough!
:)
Wyatt's Mom
All of the dogs in our house feed off one another in the bad behavior department. Grover is the counter surfer in the house, lily the toy poodle will go over to the counter and bark at Grover to knock something off for her. When she gets whatever the food item might be, she will then Growl at Grover and not share with him.
the synchronized howling they have picked up from one another. it started with guero and coco chanel and has been passed on to brinks and bella , then lucky and tiger and now even miss shelby joins in.they have an uncanny way of knowing we are home before we set foot near our door. they welcome us with howls and woos ALL AT ONCE. its pretty chaotic but we know they are just happy we are home.
YES PIP WILL PICK UP ANY BAD POINTS A DOG HAS, NEVER ANY GOOD ONES.
Uh oh. Ms. M jumping furniture hurdles equals trouble!
My younger one did pick up "sit" from Kitty and to settle in at night. Thank you Lord. All of her other bad habits she learned on her own! Kitty is queen and does her own thing. She did learn to play bity-face with Coco, which we could do without.
Oh yes!! Daisy was NOT a barker, and she could care less if a dog walked by. But Roscoe on the other hand barks at everything and dogs are not allowed on his street! Daisy now gets over excited when she sees dogs through the windows and barks. We are working on this.....
I don't think they ever pick up on the good stuff on their own. Molly is the poster child for perfectly behaved dogs, and no one (unfortunately) has taken to imitating her except for her one singular "flaw": she howls at sirens. The one thing Melanie has pick up from Molly is howling. I will say though that watching a pit bull howl is just about the cutest thing ever. Luckily we don't hear many sirens where we are ;)
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