Originally Posted By: sotto
OK, here's a little test. Who is smarter in this scenario?

I was visiting my neighbor this morning, and his 20-something son and GF were there with their brand new freshly purchased labrador puppy. Apparently the kids think puppies are born understanding the English language, because I observed them saying repeatedly over-and-over to the puppy, "Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!", ad infinitum. Of course the little lab was standing up on all fours, patting happily, looking at little birdies flying overhead, and at the son and GF, quizzically cocking his little head back and forth. After a few minutes of this, the kids shrug to each other, give up, pick up the little dog, and go trotting off down the street.


I don't view 20 something yr old as "kids" Nonetheless, the "Sit!, Sit!" scneario is just not confined to the younger generation. In local parks, I constantly see dog owners from all age groups and all walks of live who are of the foolish belief and uneducated opinion that issuing multiple commands to "Stay / Sit / Come / Down / Heel" etc is an effective way of (not) controlling their dog.
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Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock