Trigger word

Madzy420

New Member
Wierd thing happened this week. I was pulling some sauerkraut out of the fridge and hubby asked me what I was making. I said kraut and my dog growled...rather annoyed like. We looked at one another and wondered why. We never use that word much (or eat kraut much for that matter...maybe 4-5 times a year.)

This morning, she wouldn't come out of her kennel (just being lazy) and hubby said it loudly and she jumped up and ran out, giving little grumbly barks and growls. She also does this when we say "Chum", the neighbor's dog. She dislikes poor Chum for whatever reason.

Why in the world might "kraut" be setting her off? I can't think of anything negative associated with that word which triggered a memory, etc. I wonder if its the smell of sauerkraut she doesn't like but it doesn't give off enough of a pungent aroma since its cold.

Does anyone else's dobie have an unexplainable reaction like this to certain words? Did you ever figure out why?

🤔🤔🤔
 
Why in the world might "kraut" be setting her off?
I know it could sound like a German training command. Did whoever had her before train any of their dogs in German?
 
You'd be amazed at what they can remember or trigger a memory from a young age.
I shouldn't be surprised. She's an amazing dog and super smart. I'm wondering how they would use "cabbage" in training. Definitely going to ask our breeder if they used it in any way.
 
I'd say it has to be associated with a similar sounding word that means something to her.

Has there been any time that she has been away from you and someone outside of your family has interacted with her? For example: Maybe your neighbor interacted with her a few times without you there and they called her Kraut and she does not like that person.

Is it possible that it sounds like "crap!" and that is a word you all have used in anger about something?

So, she seems annoyed, but not on alert – as in running to the windows and looking for a bad guy? If it put her on alert, I would make it my new alert command. If it just makes her growl, I would make it my new growl command. I have definitely modified my plans to align with what happened to come to be.

With my current dog, I finally switched away from using the command "Watch!" to get him to alert. That is to say, I decided upon it before I even got him that I would not use "Watch". See, with my previous dogs, my wife and I would sit down to watch something on TV and wife would be all "Do you want to watch..." "Or do you want to watch..." "Or do you want to watch..." So there I was clearing my throat each time she said the word.
 
but it doesn't give off enough of a pungent aroma since its cold.
I would think she still could pick it out, and probably quite easily.
I don't think so. We got her at 9 weeks old so I doubt she would remember if they did?
The first time I said my younger dog's name after getting her, she looked immediately. Strong enough that I messaged her breeder and asked had she been calling her by her name a lot. "No, maybe once or twice". I figure the time or 2 she said her name, something really good happened.

They all give us little puzzles to solve, don't they? That's a neat one you've got on your hands, there.
 
I'd say it has to be associated with a similar sounding word that means something to her.

Has there been any time that she has been away from you and someone outside of your family has interacted with her? For example: Maybe your neighbor interacted with her a few times without you there and they called her Kraut and she does not like that person.

Is it possible that it sounds like "crap!" and that is a word you all have used in anger about something?

So, she seems annoyed, but not on alert – as in running to the windows and looking for a bad guy? If it put her on alert, I would make it my new alert command. If it just makes her growl, I would make it my new growl command. I have definitely modified my plans to align with what happened to come to be.

With my current dog, I finally switched away from using the command "Watch!" to get him to alert. That is to say, I decided upon it before I even got him that I would not use "Watch". See, with my previous dogs, my wife and I would sit down to watch something on TV and wife would be all "Do you want to watch..." "Or do you want to watch..." "Or do you want to watch..." So there I was clearing my throat each time she said the word.
No, she has never been away from us.
We asked our obedience trainer and she is just as stumped.
I do say crap a lot so that's a possibility. She doesn't run to the window, but looks at us like she"s annoyed but not aggressive

True story: our Chihuahua would react the same when we said "golongal" (a root usef in Thai cooking.)

Still scratching my head. lol.
 

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