Quote:
Originally Posted by NEPEANDOGS
This is going to sound weird, but sometimes, when nothing else seems to work, my three year old Shar Pei, Sophie (who also wants to Stay Out All The Time, because there's so many more squirrels to be chased outside than inside) will respond to my bird imitations.
I noticed this last year, because on our walks I like to amuse myself by imitating the birds I hear - crows, chickadees, robins, etc.
Whenever I started to imitate a bird, Sophie's ears pricked right up, and she would turn and stare at me, and do that head-swivel thing that dogs do, and she would get excited. The more I would do it the more she liked it.
Out of desperation a while back when I couldn't get her to come to me, I did my "crow" imitation, and she ran right to me, her tail wagging, no problem.
Other sounds also seem to work - the other night I wanted her to come into the bathroom so I could give her a wash, and I tried imitating the sound my cats make when they are talking to each other, and that worked to, until she figured out that I wanted to wash her.
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What you're talking about is the dog being conditioned to come to certain sounds. Since she's interested in birds she thinks when she gets there there will be a bird, and this excites her. This conditioning can be from reinforcement with a reward (getting treats when they show up to the sound) or even instinct. Instinctually a dog may know that something will be found if they follow a noise or smell, such as a prey item.
This is the same principle that makes training with a whistle or any other noise or command work. You make a noise, the dog comes and is rewarded with something they like (such as a treat, toy, etc.). So you can take it into your own hands just by rewarding when she comes to that noise
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It's also the same reason animals will often come to the sound of a food bag or food being poured into a bowl, or a can opener, etc.. They know when they hear this sound food will or might come soon afterward, and many animals are driven by instinct to find high value items like food.
You don't even have to give the item every single time, and eventually not at all. With the food pouring/can opener example, they do not need to get food every time to follow the noise. They just have been conditioned to know that that noise is often followed by something good.