This morning, as I tried to remove myself from the pile of blankets that I had been cocooned in while enjoying my coffee; I told Riggs “I’ll be back.” Over the years, he has learned exactly what this means. It is something that I like to teach my dogs so they don’t get up, follow me and find out that I’m coming right back. So, I head upstairs and got dressed for our morning walks. These days most walks are done separately. This is for a couple of reasons listed below:
Elsa’s age.
Elsa can only walk a very short distance.
Riggs needs to re-learn to be at home by himself.
Riggs is ripped off in the walk department if we all go together.
And, it is always good to go out one on one.
Once I was dressed I came downstairs to find Elsa off the couch and Riggs as shown in the image above. He had clearly understood my “I’ll be back,” and remained in his comfy cocoon. But once I come down dressed for walking, everything changes. He quickly sat up and I told him “just Elsa.” He knows what this means. He doesn’t like it but he understands it. I would love to switch things up and take him first sometimes; but with Elsa’s Laryngeal Paralysis, she has to get out first. She cannot walk once the sun is up and warming things.
So, as “just Elsa” left my mouth, Riggs sank down. I grabbed Elsa’s sling and we head downstairs. I glanced back and smiled seeing that Riggs was still under the blanket. He knows the routine; he clearly understands what “just Elsa” means. I’ve been telling him this for a long time.
Elsa’s cue for going on a walk are hand signals and the sight of her sling being picked up. The presence of her sling can mean a couple of thing; but in the very early morning (6:30am) when we are in the livingroom, it means a walk. Elsa is nearly deaf now so I try to rely mostly on hand signals or some type of signal for her. She’s a smart cookie and has got a solid grasp on pretty much everything she needs to know.
So how long does it take for a dog to fully grasp new terminology? Depends on the dog, you, how you are teaching it and how difficult the term is. If you regularly teach your dog new cues or terms, then teaching new ones is easy. But if you don’t talk to your dog often and teach them the meaning of things then the learning curve is much slower. Our dogs should understand how to learn by listening and association.
We are seeing a big change in Riggs lately. He is 6.5 years old now and finally showing some maturity. ;) Seems like the boys take much longer to mature than the girls. He is a funny and very quirky guy; he’s got a lot of stuff. But smart, yikes! He’s probably the smartest that I’ve lived with so far. He is really fun to work with and he loves our deep conversations. The speed at which he picks up new cues, or terminology is pretty crazy. That and his sense of time and motion is always spot on.