Follow the Finger
As you know, body language is important in dog agility. Have you thought about “finger language”? No, not THAT finger. I mean the pointer or index finger. Time Magazine online featured an interesting article about an assistant anthropology professor who is opening a special Canine Cognition research lab to test dogs on their unique abilities, such as following fingers and more. He believes his dogs DO understand how to follow pointing fingers, and while you might not think this very unusual, no other animal seems to be able to do this. For the full story, click here.
Thanks! I’ll see if our library has them. 🙂 They sound like interesting reads.
And you’re right. Dogs are masters of body language and tones of voice- most humans are masters of neither!
Thanks for the link. Great article, and as it happens, I’m currently reading Alexandra Horowitz book Inside of a Dog that’s mentioned in the article.
If this subject interests you, I’d recommend any of the several books by Stanley Coren (there is some duplication of information if you get all his books). I’d especially recommend How Dogs Think. And not just because of the corgi on the cover looking up – although that’s why I bought the book in the first place, and then went on to his other books.
All my reading, and of course interacting with the dog had convinced me that all dogs read people a lot better than most people read dogs. I’m still learning.