Jodie

We took Jodie as a pup from my daughters dog Jessie, perhaps a little prematurely as she bonded with Bill as a playmate and has shown little interest in others of her species but plays with Bill as an equal opponent. She learned to play ball and became an obsessive player, preferring it above food.

Our Jodie
Having an interest in Neuroscience I was keen to see how much Jodie could learn without formal training in any specific task. Border Collies and Heelers are both intelligent breeds. So my expectations were high. The plan was to be consistent with our daily routine and not to limit our conversations with her to one word commands. She was treated as one of the family and behaved as and indeed identified with children. House training naturally came first and consistency with where, what and speech used worked a treat. This meant she would go on command or could be queried if she needed or would ask to be let out. She developed a remarkable understanding of english, although body language was her prefered communication an this required interpretation. As many dogs do she learned to smile which also needed familiar interpretation. She would respond with an ambiguous yes or no which was more like a "you know" But it was very clear that she understood most of the important conversation even if not directed at her. She of course integrated our body language with our speech much more skillfully than we humans communicate.

As a member of the family she enjoys being inside with her sheep and is a very homely body. Loves to play ball and is highly competetive with her sister Shadow (now deceased) and friend Rocky a friendly shiny black fun loving Labrador x Rotweiler who used to visit us daily. Now at 14 years she is but a shadow of her former self. 21/01/2010.

Jodie passed away on 27/04/2010 7:30pm from a brain haemorrhage, aged 14 years and 2 months .

General Characteristics
Playing seek, fetch and catch with great skill and enthusiasm.
Anticipates the balls direction, distance and drift in water.
Is totally honest and trustworthy. Is sensitive to body language unusual activity and appearances.
Records life as a daily repeated sequence of events.
Is embarrassed by false recognition of visitors.
Smiles when embarrassed and occasionally when tricked.
Has a sense of humor, smiles quite often and loves anything to do with cats.
Likes motors esp. when combined with motion and insists she initiate their starting by barking.
Is very territorial, likes to bark at intruders or passers by.
Is easily upset by any aggression directed at her.
Cocks her head attentively when being spoken to no matter what the content.
Has a strong sense of responsibility for family protection.