I think she has a good sense of smell. Better than mine. She can find treats when I hide them in the house. But at least half the time she picks the wrong hand when I put the treat in one of the hands and then get her to pick. She'll usually go over and start sniffing and licking the wrong hand! It's weird! Is her sense of smell really inferior to most dogs'?
Why can't my dog guess which hand the treat is in?
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Joined
·
246 Posts
Your dog is just messin' with ya'. 
Fair enough! I've just always been curious about it!
Joined
·
3,870 Posts
If you are handling the morsels with both hands that may present enough scent in the off hand to confuse her. That wouldn't present any difficulty for my dog, though.
That's an interesting idea. I'll see what happens if I don't let the treat touch the other hand. It might just be that she doesn't like the game though.
Joined
·
1,212 Posts
Ilya and Lola had trouble playing this game at first. I just opened my hand with nothing in it and he would choose the other one but, it wasn't his turn anymore. Rats! Lola chooses the right one of course because she knew which one was empty and she was rewarded with the treat.
Now, they both use more effort to get it right the first time. LOL... or, he could pull one of Ilya's trick of giving me a high 10 to wack both hands at the same time. S I G H ....
Now, they both use more effort to get it right the first time. LOL... or, he could pull one of Ilya's trick of giving me a high 10 to wack both hands at the same time. S I G H ....
Does she always end up with a treat no matter which hand she picks?
Joined
·
6,481 Posts
i just figured out the other day what iorek does. he sees which hand i pick up the treat with before i put them behind my back to "switch it up" and he always choses the hand that i picked up the treat with! he is very observant! i didn't even notice that was what he was doing until the last time we played that game. he really likes the game. i love to play any game with him so it is win win
and he always choses the hand that i picked up the treat with! he is very observant! i didn't even notice that was what he was doing until the last time we played that game. he really likes the game. i love to play any game with him so it is win win
Joined
·
4,427 Posts
This is one of the first games we teach in Puppy Kindergarten and it's a very important one. The puppy is NOT supposed to go directly to the hand with the treat. He is supposed to deliberately pick the empty hand....nudge it, lick it or paw it. The whole concept is teaching the puppy to do something else (work) for the reward...not try to take the treat directly. It's called Indirect Access and is a key concept to training.
I saw something like this on NATGEO. Dogs pay attention to humans with more intensity compared to any other animal.i just figured out the other day what iorek does. he sees which hand i pick up the treat with before i put them behind my back to "switch it up"
They did a similar test with a chimp. With the chimp behind a glass with three small openings for it's hands, a woman put down three cups in front of each opening. She then placed a small piece of food under one cup and moved the cups around. The chimp was watching her the entire time. So when she was finished, he had picked the cup where the food was under.
Next, she covered the glass window up and placed the food under another cup. When she moved the cover, the chimp automatically picked the same cup. She then pointed to the cup hiding the food. However, the chimp was confused and continued to point at the same cup it picked before.
Now, she did the same test with the dog. When it came to following the cups, the chimp proved superior. However, when the lady pointed at the cup hiding the treat, the dog picked that cup with over 90% accuracy!
Why? Because chimps are not domesticated animals and they have no real reason to pay close attention to our gestures, facial expressions, etc. Dogs do. Dogs evolved to understand our emotions, body language and even facial expressions. The dog knew by paying attention to the lady, she would eventually show it where the food was.
PB
Joined
·
6,481 Posts
that is very interesting! it makes sense. dogs have been living with people for 10's of thousands of years. thanks for sharing that
Edit: I misread the question the first time. Yes, I do always give her the treat. Maybe she's learning that it doesn't really matter which hand she picks.
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
