Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Animals Are Smarter Than You Think





















Last week I read this on Facebook “The real reason animals don't talk, is because they understand so much.” The quote really resonated for me because during the wonderful years we had Toby, our Chesapeake Bay retriever we learned so much from him.  We learned early on that this dog was a lot smarter than we gave him credit for, and once we figured that out, life got a little easier. Toby’s ability to “read” his environment was uncanny, this became particularly evident during his hospital visits, he visited as a pet assisted therapy dog with Chimo - http://www.chimoproject.ca/chimo/ and was placed at Alberta Hospital Edmonton. He seemed to know exactly what the patients needed from him and acted in such a way that built trust with them.
In a recent discussion with Susan Sutcliffe (K9 Body Worker and expert dog behaviourist) on my PAWsitive Radio with Charmaine, we discussed the ways in which animals communicate (non verbally, through their behaviours, routines and so forth). Susan provided some incredible tips to increase our ability to communicate with and understand our pets. You can listen to the show here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/chammond/2012/03/10/guest-susan-sutcliffe
Georgina Bradley also shared some helpful perspectives about how smart animals really are. Georgina trained dogs for Hollywood movies, the Olympics, and for families and pet owners, like you and I. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/chammond/2012/02/25/guest-georgina-bradley
How fun it would have been to have Susan and Georgina meet Toby, I would have loved to hear what they thought he was saying.  J
Until next time… remember, our pets understand a lot more than we think they do! 

No comments:

Post a Comment