Shetlander Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 I swear a big reason is "vocabulary." After finishing lunch today, my coworkers and I left the back office where we eat our meals. As I was sitting down at my desk, I noticed Quinn slinking into the back room. I said in a normal tone of voice, not even mentioning the counter surfer/hopper upper by name, "If I find you up on that table, I'm going to beat you." The secretary who had a clear view of him, said he immediately did a U-Turn and came back into my office. He sat by my side with his neon halo flickering and buzzing away. Note: No Border Collies were harmed for their evil thoughts or deeds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLloydJones Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 I swear a big reason is "vocabulary." That and their ability to pull meaning , not just out of command words, but out of words used in a sentence. Some of it can certainly be explained by context and tone, but it's clear to me that they are doing some impressive language processing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzysdad Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 HAHAHAHAHAHA. Was someone feeling a tad guilty about what they were about to do? Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 :D "Who, mom? Me? why I would never dream of it!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shetlander Posted April 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 HAHAHAHAHAHA. Was someone feeling a tad guilty about what they were about to do? Guilty? I don't think Quinn does guilt. We did go several rounds recently when I waged an ill-fated campaign to get him to stop counter surfing. Despite my determination, he scored 4 times, courtesy of my flawed "traps." The last heist occured less than two feet away from me when my back was turned. That sufficiently broke my spirit, so I rolled up the scat mat and became extra, extra careful about keeping food out of his reach. I think his concession after that whole go-around was an increased awareness that I don't like counter surfing. But I don't know if that counts as guilt. More like a dog who prefers the peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted April 19, 2010 Report Share Posted April 19, 2010 . I think his concession after that whole go-around was an increased awareness that I don't like counter surfing. But I don't know if that counts as guilt. More like a dog who prefers the peace. Nah. He's biding his time, waiting for your mere, frail human memory and drive to fail you. Mark my words. Ruth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
border_collie_crazy Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 lol how about when your BC is muddy and you contimplate to yourself without the dog present weather you feel like bathing dog or putting dog in crate for an hour..and after deciding to put dog in crate you let dog in and have them sit by the door while you bring other dogs in..however dog slinks away..so you go looking for dog only to find the bath hating border collie sitting in the bathtub looking at you like "just get it over with, a few minuts of pain beats an hour in a crate" yes this actually happend, recently..it was Happy. I started laughing when I found her sitting in the bathtub! cant be a stupid dog to make that kind of choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njnovice Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 LOL, Mick seems to know what, "Do you want me to put the bark collar on?" means. For the record, he's been zapped with it twice, I think. I don't even keep it charged. But if I put it on, he won't bark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejano Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 It is their opposable thumbs. Ken is quite proud of the system of fencing and gates that lead the dogs from the mudroom up the steps into the yard, blocking them from plunging down into the driveway and stopping them from careening onto the porch if we have company. It's completely safe and invincible ...we thought.... Saturday morning Robin sprung open the mudroom door and then wriggled underneath the porch steps and found himself outside the wire, ran completely around the fencing (about a quarter of an acre) had a brisk morning swim in the pond, then returned to the closest gate and yodeled to come in and be towel-dried !! All while DH was sitting in the TV room sipping coffee and watching the news and I was sound asleep. Ken heard him barking because the gate he came to happens to be the one closest to the window in the tv room! We figured out how he did it tonight...he's not trying to open it with his paws - at least to begin with. That particular door has never fit well in the frame and there's just no fix to it because of the way the previous owners modified it from a single car garage to a mudroom...at any rate, Robin has figured out that he can use his weight to pop it and when he gets it to open just enough that he can claw at the edge, out he goes and being Robin, he's found the weak link in the new fencing, so Ken has to get more lattice and secure underneath the steps and we have to keep the mudroom door locked all the time, which means double the trips up and down stairs to bring them in to the mudroom from the back yard I hate this house and having a smart dog is a pain in the neck sometimes . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejano Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 lol how about when your BC is muddy and you contimplate to yourself without the dog present weather you feel like bathing dog or putting dog in crate for an hour..and after deciding to put dog in crate you let dog in and have them sit by the door while you bring other dogs in..however dog slinks away..so you go looking for dog only to find the bath hating border collie sitting in the bathtub looking at you like "just get it over with, a few minuts of pain beats an hour in a crate" yes this actually happend, recently..it was Happy. I started laughing when I found her sitting in the bathtub! cant be a stupid dog to make that kind of choice! I love this one....they really do know us so well, don't they! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierMike Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Opposable thumbs, hmmm, hadn't ever thought of it quite like that, but now it makes perfect sense. So far, I've had to start using the child lock feature on the back doors of the car because I've watched him mess with the door handles when we get to the park, or other fun places. And just this morning, I watched him try to either turn off the alarm clock or just hit the snooze button.... Time to move the clock to a higher position I guess, not gonna try to explain being late for work by blaming the dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejano Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Opposable thumbs, hmmm, hadn't ever thought of it quite likethat, but now it makes perfect sense. So far, I've had to start using the child lock feature on the back doors of the car because I've watched him mess with the door handles when we get to the park, or other fun places. And just this morning, I watched him try to either turn off the alarm clock or just hit the snooze button.... Time to move the clock to a higher position I guess, not gonna try to explain being late for work by blaming the dog. They'll figure anything out given half the chance. Ladybug is only in her crate for as long as she wants to be as she's figured out how to spring the latch -- for the life of me, I can't figure out how except that she digs the door toward her and the bottom stile pops out... Robin knows how to lift a hook and eye latch with his nose ...thank goodness Ken saw that one coming and got one with the C catch on it that comes down and circles up into the eye. Brodie is the only good one....so far! As for Quinn's counter surfing...for some reason or another friend of mine who is a kindergarten teacher had brought home the cookies the kids had baked and then had to admit, somewhat shamefaced, that her dog had eaten their homework. . Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuxedodog Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 The other day I got home from work and Buster was out of the yard, he looked really guilty. He has been staying outside when we are not home since the behaviorist recommended it. Buster was chewing his way through the garage door to get outside -in his defense, the first time he went and got my neighbor to let him into the yard, and the second time, she noticed a hole in the door went to check up and Buster was waiting at the gate to be let into the yard. My first thought when I saw he was out again was what was I going to do with him if there is no where that I can leave him that he won't escape. I made a circuit outside of the fence until I saw a Border Collie face sticking out from under the deck saying "here Mom, this is how I got out of the yard, please fix it so I don't have to let myself out again." My husband took one of the sheets of plywood from the garage door repair and patched the length since he thought all of the boards were kinda loose. We never did find the broken board, I think Buster hid the evidence of his escape. Way too smart - now if he could figure out that it is better to go into the barn with the dog door when it is pouring rain rather than sitting under the deck and getting soaked, I would be even more convinced of his intelligence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejano Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 The other day I got home from work and Buster was out of the yard, he looked really guilty. He has been staying outside when we are not home since the behaviorist recommended it. Buster was chewing his way through the garage door to get outside -in his defense, the first time he went and got my neighbor to let him into the yard, and the second time, she noticed a hole in the door went to check up and Buster was waiting at the gate to be let into the yard. My first thought when I saw he was out again was what was I going to do with him if there is no where that I can leave him that he won't escape. I made a circuit outside of the fence until I saw a Border Collie face sticking out from under the deck saying "here Mom, this is how I got out of the yard, please fix it so I don't have to let myself out again." My husband took one of the sheets of plywood from the garage door repair and patched the length since he thought all of the boards were kinda loose. We never did find the broken board, I think Buster hid the evidence of his escape. Way too smart - now if he could figure out that it is better to go into the barn with the dog door when it is pouring rain rather than sitting under the deck and getting soaked, I would be even more convinced of his intelligence. He just likes knows it annoys you Maybe this doesn't count as brains, but Robin and Brodie have anywhere within a quarter of an acre they can choose to lie down and watch the world go by -- porch, shade tree, nice green grass, even the old standby, the good old mud hole, but where do they pick to flop down now that its spring and what's left of my pitifully few flowers are bravely rising to greet the sun? You guessed it, the flowerbed! If they didn't look so sweet lying there tulips crushed all around them, I'd be out there screaming my head off . Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 The other day we started to play our "find it" game with Speedy. He gets up on my husband's lap and he covers Speedy's eyes. Then I hide a tennis ball. Then my husband lets Speedy go and he searches all over the room for it. Dean was not in the room when we started this. He came in as Speedy was searching. He saw Speedy standing in front of the TV sniffing up toward the top of it and Dean ran over and did the same thing! It was really funny. He had no idea what he was searching for, but he started looking, too! Speedy did find it - since he knew the scent they were after. I guess this was more of a "funny" story than a "smart" story, but it did show how observant these Border Collies are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest maya's mom Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 So interesting that I read this thread last night. My husband was gone in the evening, and Maya was sleeping on a chair in our family room. She heard the garage door open, and jumped down and ran to the door where you enter from the garage. She sat right in front of it, waiting for her daddy to come in. I then said to her, in a totally normal tone of voice, "Maya, you're blocking the door." She turned her head, looked at me, and very deliberately got up, walked back about 5 feet, and sat again! I have never given her any sort of command for her to do that before then, but she knew exactly what I said! It was so awesome to witness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 I swear a big reason is "vocabulary." I agree! And I believe they like to keep it a secret as to how many words they know. A couple of years ago DH & I rented a pet friendly, riverfront cabin and took the boys on vacation. (This was before Josie.) DH & Jake were inside the cabin one day while JJ & I walked out on the screened in back deck. JJ was by the screen door whining. I wasn't worried about him since he had NEVER pushed his way thru any partially closed door; much less a door that swung to the inside. As I was looking down at the river, I told JJ "I wish I trusted you off leash, JJ. If I did, I would let you go swimming without one". The next thing I knew, I was hearing the screen door slam. When I looked over, I saw JJ running down the steps towards the river! I screamed and took off down there. By the time I got there, JJ was in the river looking at me with this "See, mom, I can be trusted so throw a stick" look on his face. And Josie, well, I know she's smart but I'm beginning to think she's scary smart. I found out having an off white crate pad when you live in red dirt country is a stupid idea. Especially when you have a very wet winter. So, I replaced the crate pads with a bathmat and a blanket. I wonder if Josie is telling me she misses her crate pad. But I don't think she's saying..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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