How clever are they?

[Oscar 12345]

Little Otto, 6 months old, is forever demonstrating just how clever this breed is.

Just got back from a walk. Otto as usual looking for any chance of an extra meal saw a small piece of bread dropped by a bird. I got to it first and rather than have to drag him away from it I picked it up, walked a little way and put it deep in a conifer hedge at about 2m height. 30 mins later walking back down the same country lane, Otto went straight to the hedge exactly where I put the bread. He does this all the time. Incredible sense of smell and memory... Any other examples from any one?

[Fergus]

If we put something new in a room or move something, however small, Fergus will stop and look at it when he walks into the room.

[Dawnspell]

We've had a little semi soft animated musical robin xmas decoration. Barney loves this little robin and keeps putting it in his bed to look after it. If you say "find robin" he goes and fetches him so you can turn it on and share the experience Hes also worked out how to turn it on to make it start singing. He has to squeeze one of its feet, he knows which one by the press here sticker.

He knows lots of his toys by name and will find them if you ask him.

Hes also worked out that if I'm putting invoices in envelopes that means I'll be going to the post box. So he sticks to me like glue whenever I have envelopes ready to post in my hand

My Mum is over at the minute and always has a tissue in her handbag. Barney cant resist ripping up tissues to make confetti. Hes figured out where she keeps them and keeps raiding her handbag little

[Schnauzer Sam]

Rosie loves tissue paper. We need to keep our bathroom doors closed or she'll slip off for a shredding session! Pockets and bags are plundered for any tissues (no matter what state they're in).

Good to know we aren't the only family in Guernsey picking up shredded paper after our dog.

[Robin black mini]

My little girl continues to impress me with her smarts...she outdoes the poodle..
We sometimes play fetchindoors ,throwing a ball along a corridor when it's raining outside..the ball can go off into the kitchen,the bathroom,or roll down the stairs to a lower level...if the ball is lost I tell Robin where it went and she finds the room as directed.and goes off to retrieve the ball....impressive I thought.
Then she took the game a step further..one time I went downstairs to get the ball..she was at the top waiting,and I threw her the ball...she then returned to the top of the stairs and with her mouth threw the ball back down to me.......impressed,I rethrew the ball to her and she repeated the game until we got bored...but impressive for sure..she's the first dog I've had to do this.i think she is training me.

[Oscar 12345]

Yes, my little boy loves to throw everything. He throws stuff backwards over his head. I put a rubber ball in the bottom of a sock and that goes flying. Occasionally it lands on the coffee table which is glass top and he stands under the table looking at it completely mesmerised. Now if I could get him to throw the ball and retrieve it himself, that would be progress.. ;)

[Riesen16]

I hate to admit it but Schnauzers are very smart. I am on a German Forum for Schnauzers. The motto is: "Once a Schnauzer - always a Schnauzer". I can't contribute to this - there are hundreds of breeds, some of which I have never encountered which could be as "smart".

What I have found with Enya is, she is very watchful of what we do. She tries to snatch paper tissues from my pocket. She watches our every move, Maybe it's because she is a female, and we had only males!

I can't quite see how this "watchfulness" can be attributed to the breed. Schnauzers have extremely good noses and are excellent dogs for tracking trials. They are not so easy to train in other disciplines - here, patience is required!! In Switzerland there are not so many Schnauzers now in trials. They are definitely not "stubborn" but they require a lot of training and many trainers have resorted to German Shepherds and Malinois. This has nothing to do with the breed but the handlers who wish to land on the podium for the 1st, second and third places.

Airedales, Rottweilers, Schnauzers, Boxers and Dobermanns are now rare at big events.

A pity

Gill

[Fergus]

There was a bauble trail for kids in the country park where we go.
It was a cane of about 2 feet every 20 or 30 feet.
Fergus stopped at every one and sniffed it from top to bottom as they were new.
The next few days he ignored them.
Then one day one of the baubles was missing. he spent about 30 seconds sniffing at the cane.
He seems to notice change.

[Bodee]

As I said in another thread Milla will point out poohs on request that she has done in the dark and I lift them in the daylight. I also bought a string of bells and hung them over the handle of the back door and after ringing them a few times before I went out she soon caught on and now rings the bells when she needs the loo (or when she just wants to go out to play)

She has also learned that I don't like her barking at people or dogs walking up the street ( not people coming up the path or to the door) so she just keeps an eye on them.