Why is it bad to teach my dog this?

Question

Hello,
I think my 1 yr old rottweiler is very smart and I have been teaching him to identify animals. He knows the word puppy, kitty, piggy and horsey. I did not see any harm in this when I say the animals name he will look for it and wag his tail and just watch it walk by or watch it on Television. Unless if I say " go play with the puppy" then he will run up to the dog. A dog trainer saw me point out a kitty to my pup and said how dangerous it is to draw attention to an animal walking by. She said that it would make him get exicted and possibly attack.

Does anyone have any reasons on why this could be bad to teach a dog? Has anyone done the same?
I am just curious of people's opnions, thanks!

Answer 1

Here is the problem and it is something that no one here understood. People blamed the trainer and talked of socializing the dog. Socialization for a dog works like this. The dog is socialized ENVIRONMENTALY so that he does not exhibit any unsureness in any environment. That does not include having the dog in the park playing with strange dogs or cats or horses or bunnies. Dogs socialize within their own pack, they get to know members of their OWN family, not outsiders. Have you ever seen a pack of dogs get up and go visit another pack? This is where the problem comes in. Although you want the dog to be FAMILIAR with other species of animals, you DO NOT want the dog interacting with them because you never know. Socialization does not extend to that point. The dog has no idea what you are saying to him in English, all he knows is that your tone inflection is higher then normal when you point at a cat, he can translate that any way he wants. He may one day translate it the wrong way and you will be responsible for that translation.

Answer 2

It is not a bad thing that your dog can identify animals. It is only bad if you can't control it. You may want to only point it out sometimes because if you start pointing out every animal than your dog may think that every time he sees an animal, pulls towards it and wags his tail he will get rewarded. If for some reason you don't see the animal first and he pulls towards it, it may hurt you (since rottis are big and strong). Varying when you give the command will teach him only to go to animals that you tell him to go towards. Be careful of the animals you send your dog towards. Some cats really don't like dogs, others have no problem with them, but you don't want to put your dog in danger.

My dog knows some animals, but I only let him see the ones I tell him to see. He is a very playful dog and likes to play with them all, but the other animal doesn't always see it that way, so I make sure to read the other animal's body language before sending my dog over to greet them. You can also teach your dog other tricks that are very similar, like identifying and bringing you different toys, or sending him to different family members. These are also fun things to do with your dog.

Answer 3

I teach all my dogs to be smart and friendly. I not see you doing anything wrong. The first TWO words I teach are No and Yes. After that the dog can learn anything. If, my dog sees a Kitty, I may say; "You see the kitty"? If, the dog starts toward the kitty, and it look scared, I may say; "No, leave the kitty alone" and the dog listens. If, the kitty is friendly I may walk with my dog to the kitty to evaluate the situation and always keep a friendly tone in my voice. The dog will smell and I will pet the kitty saying how it a nice kitty.
I have never had a dog bite people or animal unless I say to! And, really have never had to say to.
I feel if you teach your dog to be friendly, he will be and he will always protect you without having to teach, it a dog thing.

Answer 4

It's good and bad. It is good if you know the animal's and you know they would never hurt your dog. It's bad if if don't know any of the animal's because you don't know if they are vicious and could attack, possiably hurting your dog. Then a big law suit will follow and honey, you will be at fault beacuse No# 1 Your dog was not on a leash and #2 You allowed your dog to go up to a strange dog. Just make sure you the the animal's and it is at an area where you know it is safe. Any of the animal's could have Rabies or god forbid something else. Just be careful. Have a great day honey.

Answer 5

There isnt anything wrong with this unless your dog does attack. The trainer doesnt know how your dog reacts to other people and neither do we. I've acuatly done this myself too, and i think its ok. Its not like your saying "kill the kitty" or something like that! As long as you can keep your dog under control this is ok!

Answer 6

If you are teaching him calmly to identify other animals and you see that he approaches them calmly and not with aggression.. And you never encourage aggression or allow it, and never say Git the Cat! then it's not going to be a problem.

I am sure my dogs get bored with my incessant chatter, and they learn all sorts of words and names of things.. Never have I seen them be aggressive towards anything that they know the name of.. Even I'll tell my one girl ' let me know when the mailman has been here ' and she'll come and scratch the door cause the mailman is putting mail in the box. She doesn't bark at him, she doesn't even bother with him, but she knows it's her job to notify me of his appearance..

Answer 7

I've learned that dog trainers are like any other occupation -- there are good ones and some not so good! Maybe, the trainer over simplified her comments. In your case, it sounds like you are trying to socialize your dog, not teach it to "attack". I can understand that we can never let our guard down around our dogs (even the calmest can get aggressive under certain conditions), in your case, I think you know your dog and what you can do. I'm with you on this one.

Answer 8

I see no problem with it. My rat terrier knows horses, cows, and cats. She's 7 years old now and it's never been a problem.

You're going to know your dog's temperament better than a trainer and you can see any signs of aggression. I wouldn't worry about it unless you do.

Crazy trainer, I think.

Answer 9

my unproffesional opinion is that if the dog is prone to get excited or attack he wouldn't need your urging to do so. Being able to recognize objects by name is a sign of intelligence, be great if you can teach him to recognize objects by name and fetch or perform with them in some way. As a cat owner I don't think me or my pet would be happy if a rottweiler wanted to play, lol.

Answer 10

In my opinion i don't think that you are teaching your dog anything bad as long as you have the situation under control and its not like your teachin him to kill animals you are teachin him to be social which can be a good and bad thing like i said make sure you have the situation under control good luck.