raineth Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Del loves the attention from humans. Being large and spotted she gets a lot of it, luckily for her :) Most of the time when we pass people she stays by my side with just a wistful glance at the people we are passing. But every now and then she 'selects' people. She might spot them from afar, or from close and she decides she really must be patted by these people so she faces them and sits, looks at them, and she will not be moved. This nearly always works and they come to pat her. Today we walked past a whole heap of people at the botanic gardens and she was only mildly interested in them. But as we were leaving she spied a mother and son about 50 metres away and decided she must have pats from them. And she did much to her happiness. Anyway I just can't help but wonder what she sees in these people who she selects for patting, it is a mystery! Or how these people always seem quite happy to pat her. So tell me, does your dog do anything mysterious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I guess it's mysterious in who she selects and how often it works... She is much like your dog... she will select people then crawl up to them and then roll over for belly rubs... even if they can't really bend down to reach... it's close to a 100% success rate - she's never picked anyone who wasn't willing to give her a belly rub... even if it's all wet and sandy. She also picks people that she thinks she knows and runs up to them and about 10 to 5m out, they fail the sniff test... so she runs away again... which is funny when it's someone who would like to give her a pat... dog gives them the brush off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 ahhh Frosty does it too, but with a grovelly tummy rub! They are so clever at getting what they want. Yeah I didn't mean Del was being mysterious in a paranormal sort of way. Just that it is a mystery why she selects some people, and how she has such a good success rate. She doesn't do it all that often, about once a month she will see people who she selects to be patted by :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I think most dogs have an innate sense for working out which humans are worth spending their time on, and those who aren't. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jemmy Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I often wonder if body language plays a part. My girl gets a whole body waggle going when she picks someone that she'd like to have a pat from, and it seems to be the more relaxed people, who will smile as they approach, rather than people who seem busy or like they don't want to be bothered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I don't know if body language plays any part. Frosty often picks people standing in groups who weren't paying any attention to her before she showed up and rolled over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 When we visit at the hospital Josie has people who she has decided need more of her time. One lady in particular who was very frail and in the palliative unit but that was who Josie picked, she would lay on the bed with her for 10 minutes or more and place her head on her tummy and close her eyes, then when we tried to leave the hospital Josie tried to turn and go back to her room. When we visited the next week Josie made a beeline for her room again. This beautiful woman couldn't speak and could barely move but you could see the sparkle in her eyes when she realised the dog was there for a cuddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Jake will pick on some people and just hate them. One lady infrequently visits but as soon as he sees her he barks. She is familiar with dogs and I can't work out why, she does nothing in particular wrong. Some people I understand, they wave their arms or lean over him excitedly. He does consistently hate the same people though. Jake the flake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Dogs are amazingly good at noticing our body language - My thought is that it's one of those things passed down from hunting - in a mob/flock of animals the one who looks that tiny bit different is noticed and then tested .... ?they do a similar thing when working sheep - treating 'leader; sheep differently to young ones - or stubborn ones ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wire Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Wally has a wag and smile to everyone he sees but every now and then he sticks his nose right up their butts as they're walking past, only to women though. I get so embarrassed and apologise but it cracks me up :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Haha, I love the idea that she is using some innate capacity that once would have allowed her to select the prey she would be most likely to catch to identify dog loving humans that will give her love and cuddles :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 When we visit at the hospital Josie has people who she has decided need more of her time. One lady in particular who was very frail and in the palliative unit but that was who Josie picked, she would lay on the bed with her for 10 minutes or more and place her head on her tummy and close her eyes, then when we tried to leave the hospital Josie tried to turn and go back to her room. When we visited the next week Josie made a beeline for her room again. This beautiful woman couldn't speak and could barely move but you could see the sparkle in her eyes when she realised the dog was there for a cuddle. That is so special and lovely :) Jake will pick on some people and just hate them. One lady infrequently visits but as soon as he sees her he barks. She is familiar with dogs and I can't work out why, she does nothing in particular wrong. Some people I understand, they wave their arms or lean over him excitedly. He does consistently hate the same people though. Jake the flake. Oh Jake you funny boy! I wonder if it's her perfume or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leec Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 (edited) My girl has a 'thing' for our adult female neighbour. There are 4 people who live next door, but the mother, good god, Chelsea can't get enough of her. Chels will pretty much ignore the rest of them, but for the mum she will crawl on her belly, whimper for attention and roll over for a belly scratch. Interestingly enough, the mum is not particularly overly dog loving ??? Strange! Edited September 23, 2014 by leec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeckoTree Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Certainly something deep and mysterious lol, deeper than what I can muster anyway, my intuition is good, but my dogs is 100% accurate from what I have seen. I can't fathom what It might be beyond perhaps a more open third eye or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 (edited) Certainly something deep and mysterious lol, deeper than what I can muster anyway, my intuition is good, but my dogs is 100% accurate from what I have seen. I can't fathom what It might be beyond perhaps a more open third eye or something like that. I would never have even considered the more open third eye option! :laugh: I don't think Del is too discerning though. She didn't so much as bark when people smashed our car windows, and broke into our car and shed! The only person she's ever brushed off was a very drunk man on the main street who was shouting her name. So she does have some standards. Edited September 24, 2014 by raineth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-o Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Predators detect anxiety and fear... i.e. if there's a lion in the room it will more likely attack you if you show fear. Animals pick up on that stuff throughout the spectrum, from calmness to stress. Sixth sense perhaps? Or maybe dogs like people that smell of something... like food, other dogs, urine... who knows!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Loved dogs living in houses with their people do learn a lot of human body language, they understand that smiling or laughing means your happy(and therefore might be happy about them and give them a pat!) and in a crowd of people they'd be likely to pick up on people exhibiting those same signs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 She didn't so much as bark when people smashed our car windows, and broke into our car and shed! One of my friends had a great dane as a family dog when he was growing up. They got burgled - couldn't find the dog anywhere. Panic. The dog was under one of the kids beds... really good sense of self preservation. Zero guard dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raineth Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 She didn't so much as bark when people smashed our car windows, and broke into our car and shed! One of my friends had a great dane as a family dog when he was growing up. They got burgled - couldn't find the dog anywhere. Panic. The dog was under one of the kids beds... really good sense of self preservation. Zero guard dog. hahaha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuralPug Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Sometimes its the body language..other times it seems that something in the appearance or manner reminds the dog of a person they have met previously who has made a strong impression, good or bad. I was visiting one day and the resident GSD suddenly began to bark warningly at the owner's brother-in-law, who was actually a frequent visitor and had never caused that reaction in the GSD before. The owner was totally mystified. I suggested that the brother in law remove the Akubra he had just donned, which he did, and lo, all was good again. My heart dog, a Mastiff, was startled one day when young on a walk when a Telecom repairman in a hard hat suddenly popped up out of a hole in the ground as we were passing. I was dragged 50-odd metres, grimly hanging on to the leash of a terrified dog. For the rest of her life, although she was not an anxious or fearful girl ordinarily, she would bolt at the sight of men in hard hats. My grandmother had a Peke bitch who would bark warningly and show fear of teenage girls with their hair in plaits - if they unbraided their hair then she would bounce happily up and cover them with kisses. We always wondered what had happened to cause that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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