An adorable teaching moment

January 11, 2013 12:24 PM

Puppy teaches younger puppy how to go down the stairs. Cuteness ensues. SLYT
posted by lunasol (50 comments total)

I just clapped for my browser. She did it!
posted by freshwater at 12:31 PM on January 11, 2013 [4 favorites]

And she got a congratulatory mouth around her head for her victory!
posted by small_ruminant at 12:35 PM on January 11, 2013 [21 favorites]

awwwwwwww...Such a good big brother!
posted by Thorzdad at 12:35 PM on January 11, 2013

I could never teach a puppy to walk down stairs because I would default to BEEP BEEP I ARE PUPPY FORKLIFT ALSO HUGS.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 12:37 PM on January 11, 2013 [63 favorites]

That is so amazing. There's no doubt at all about what the older dog is doing. Love it.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:37 PM on January 11, 2013 [10 favorites]

Whew! Great job, both of them. So inspired.
posted by ignignokt at 12:37 PM on January 11, 2013

I think I have the courage to go downstairs now. If not today, then definitely tomorrow.
posted by ignignokt at 12:37 PM on January 11, 2013 [38 favorites]

Well that certainly lifted my spirits. Good job Simon! Daisy is lucky to have a nice older bro around to help.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:40 PM on January 11, 2013

My dog did this once when a friends dog had gotten itself trapped on a floating dock thing about 20' offshore in a small lake. She swam out and climbed up then jumped off multiple times to show the other dog it was ok. He was still hesitant so she got impatient and after a bit of deliberation stuck her head under his back end and shoved him off.

I wish I'd had a smartphone back then because it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
posted by fshgrl at 12:42 PM on January 11, 2013 [21 favorites]

I just clapped for my browser. She did it!

Spoiler alert, dammit!
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 12:42 PM on January 11, 2013 [1 favorite]

That is wonderful.
posted by nickrussell at 12:44 PM on January 11, 2013

Wow, that older dog is quite clever. He realized that the puppy was distressed, understood why, helped him or her solve the problem, and then sort of issued congratulations afterward. You see that sort of thing in raccoons and otters, but it seems like most dogs aren't that smart.

If ovaries could actually explode from cuteness, I think that lady would have been in serious medical peril.
posted by Malor at 12:47 PM on January 11, 2013 [2 favorites]

you saw that "if you don't go down, I'm picking you up by your head and dragging your sorry ass down there!" move, didn't you???
posted by HuronBob at 12:52 PM on January 11, 2013 [10 favorites]

IS NO ONE ELSE OUTRAGED THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SHOOT VIDEO IN THE RIGHT ORIENTATION???
posted by special-k at 12:58 PM on January 11, 2013 [40 favorites]

Maybe her dog can show her how to film properly too.
posted by bonehead at 1:00 PM on January 11, 2013 [30 favorites]

That's right Simon. Show your mom how to hold her smartphone. You almost got it. You almost got it. woof. woof!
posted by special-k at 1:01 PM on January 11, 2013 [4 favorites]

Looks like me trying to learn how to ski.

"See, you just swoosh swoosh swish"
"I just ...? What the hell?"
posted by benito.strauss at 1:08 PM on January 11, 2013 [3 favorites]

In Finland the dog teachers would have taught that puppy on the first try.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:11 PM on January 11, 2013 [6 favorites]

Here's how cats do it.
posted by bonehead at 1:13 PM on January 11, 2013 [114 favorites]

The more videos like this I watch, the vegetarianer I get. There's no way that dog doesn't know what's going on.
posted by DU at 1:28 PM on January 11, 2013 [9 favorites]

IS NO ONE ELSE OUTRAGED THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SHOOT VIDEO IN THE RIGHT ORIENTATION???

I suppressed my outrage and forgave it. This video is that good.

Though if the human had started the video in portrait and rotated it so most of it was sideways, all bets are off. Idiots.
posted by supercres at 1:31 PM on January 11, 2013 [1 favorite]

YAY!
posted by .kobayashi. at 1:32 PM on January 11, 2013

Here's how cats do it.

Cats are assholes.
posted by hanoixan at 1:39 PM on January 11, 2013 [1 favorite]

freshwater: "I just clapped for my browser. She did it!"

I'm happy to know that I'm not the only one who does that.
posted by deborah at 1:40 PM on January 11, 2013

Way to go, puppies.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:43 PM on January 11, 2013

Puppies: 1. Humans: 0. That narrator's screechy voice was, um, SCREECHY!
posted by cstross at 1:54 PM on January 11, 2013 [2 favorites]

IS NO ONE ELSE OUTRAGED THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SHOOT VIDEO IN THE RIGHT ORIENTATION???

The orientation actually worked pretty well- all you'd have gotten if it were the right way 'round would have been stairway walls.
posted by BungaDunga at 2:18 PM on January 11, 2013 [5 favorites]

That was friggin' adorable.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:27 PM on January 11, 2013

That was adorable. Now I want a puppy and we don't have space for one :(
posted by arcticseal at 2:29 PM on January 11, 2013

That is the cutest thing on the internet, oh my god.
posted by a hat out of hell at 2:53 PM on January 11, 2013

hanoixan: Cats are assholes.

I feel as if the crash at the end was an added sound effect.
posted by Decimask at 2:53 PM on January 11, 2013 [7 favorites]

You know, for every video like this affirming the good nature and kind hearts of dogs there X number of dogs like ours:

Me, trying to teach our new puppy how to go down the stairs.
"C'mon, Ansel. C'mon! You can do it."
Our older Scottie, Murphy, runs up to the puppy at the top of the stairs. Is he going to show Ansel how to do it?
Nope. He plops down in the middle of the stairs so that puppy can't get down even if he tried and stares blankly at me.

Out elderly tube dog, Ramses, is laying on his side, tongue lolling out because he's missing half his teeth and feet sticking out because his arthritis is so bad his joints don't bend. "Wheeze. Wheeze." He's obviously not feeling too good.
Along comes Ansel. Will he respect his elders? Nope, bounces off of Ramses like a spring board. "WHEEZE!"
Here comes Murphy. Some innate animal empathy for a sick pack mate? Nope, jumps over him like he isn't there and sit on his head. "WHEEEEEZE!"

I can imagine it now. "Murphy! Go get help, I'm stuck in a well!"
Murphy stares blankly at me.
"Murphy! Help!"
Murphy pees on the well and trots off to hunt squirrels.
posted by charred husk at 3:05 PM on January 11, 2013 [7 favorites]

I once worked in a building where the floor below us was an apartment. The dog that lived there, I think a German Shepherd, once managed to call the elevator and enter it. He did not however figure out how to get it to come to our floor - that took one of my co-workers pressing the elevator call button.

I wondered what went through his doggy mind once he got in that elevator. I'm pretty sure it was something accepting of the immediate situation.
posted by zippy at 3:19 PM on January 11, 2013 [3 favorites]

I could totally see the pup's problem: there's not really any room for all four legs on the step at the same time, so the back legs need to come down to the step at the same time as the front legs move to the next step. Like in climbing, one must simply commit.
posted by exogenous at 3:19 PM on January 11, 2013

That reminds me of the trouble I had trying to get on a bike as a little kid. The puppy's legs are not as long as the stair step is tall.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 3:24 PM on January 11, 2013

bweee
posted by elizardbits at 3:29 PM on January 11, 2013 [1 favorite]

Aw cute.

Once I had a young cat that got stuck up in a tree. I spent a good amount of time under that tree trying to coax the cat to at least come down to some branches wear I could get her. She wouldn't or couldn't and just skittered back and forth on some branches meowing with distress.

During this time my older cat who was still inside came to the screen door and started meowing and scratching on it. He became more and more insistent. So I was very annoyed at the whole situation and let my older cat out to at least cut out that bit of irritation.

When the door opened my older cat ran out,shot across the yard and ran up the tree. He stopped at the younger cat, batted her upside her head a few times with a paw, meowed at her and then ran back down the tree in this route that took him through some branches and around the trunk a few times. The younger cat, with only a little pause ran down the tree taking the same route.

It all happened so fast I felt like rubbing my eyeballs to make sure I actually saw it happen.

In my mind it went like this.

Older cat: 'Damn useless young sprat. Why in the hell are you climbing trees when you don't know how to get down. What's the problem with you? Hey owner let me out.... Hey owner! This is getting really annoying let me out so we can get this stupid young git down and shut her up. OWNER!!! &^$%^$^%$'

**door finally opens****

' Finally!! ^*&^*^' Cat runs up the tree bats younger cat, "Idiot. Shut-up. Pay attention and follow me exactlty. *grumble grumble* Cat runs down. Younger cat follows.

Older cat. "Yep, yep. That's how a pro does it. Live and learn kid. Okay owner, where is my food. I'm hungry now.
posted by Jalliah at 3:30 PM on January 11, 2013 [26 favorites]

Our dog was two when we adopted her but apparently hadn't seen large sets of stairs before, and we didn't have any in our house, so when we visited my parents I had to teach her that it was ok to go down them. Of course, once she figured it out we couldn't stop her from running up and down them gleefully for the rest of the trip.
posted by ghharr at 3:41 PM on January 11, 2013 [2 favorites]

Our dog was two when we adopted her...

I am sorry to be the one to tell you this but your dog is too long.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:06 PM on January 11, 2013 [11 favorites]

I wondered what went through his doggy mind once he got in that elevator. I'm pretty sure it was something accepting of the immediate situation.

There was a video, on here probably, of a pet washing device. It showed its operation for a cat and also a dog. The instant the dog was trapped, it went crazy. Then, when the water started, it calmed right down. "Hey! I'm trapped and can't be with all my friends- oh, wait, now I'm drowning. Cool."

The cat was the opposite. It was placed inside and seemed relieved to have some nice plexiglas between it and its handlers. Then the water came. It, naturally, went crazy.

Dogs: more empathetic.
Cats: smarter.
posted by gjc at 4:33 PM on January 11, 2013 [1 favorite]

I still can't do this. I have lived in a ground floor flat all my life. The only time I tried to tackle stairs I injured myself. Of course, I was terribly drunk at the time.
posted by Decani at 4:46 PM on January 11, 2013

Puppies: 1. Humans: 0. That narrator's screechy voice was, um, SCREECHY!

Wow, score 1 for my learned-the-hard-way habit of always watching YouTube videos muted by default, only inching up the volume if it becomes apparent that sound is necessary for comprehension. I didn't even know there was a narration and I suspect I ENJOYED IT MORE THAN YOU HA HA as a result.

No, really. Never turn the sound up on a mystery meat YouTube video until you know what it is and you're sure it needs it.
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:47 PM on January 11, 2013 [3 favorites]

Squeeeeee!
posted by sarcasticah at 5:29 PM on January 11, 2013

Well at the beginning of the video I am pretty sure you can hear the pup whine. Pretty awesome that the other pup just instantly recognizes the sound and goes in to help.
posted by rosswald at 5:31 PM on January 11, 2013

My cat was all "WTF? There is a whining animal noise coming from the computer. I will keep watch while lying here on my back with my legs in the air just in case it emerges and wants to be friends with me."
posted by hoyland at 8:32 PM on January 11, 2013 [2 favorites]

Around 1:37 it looks like the older dog is ready to catch the puppy should she fall down the last few steps.
posted by ceribus peribus at 8:43 PM on January 11, 2013

IS NO ONE ELSE OUTRAGED THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SHOOT VIDEO IN THE RIGHT ORIENTATION???

I think this is an good use of that orientation, because the subject is a vertical stairway.

I wonder why people hate vertically-oriented video but are fine with vertically-oriented still images, or, uh, Rothko paintings
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:55 PM on January 11, 2013 [9 favorites]

So sweeeeeet! I think the human narrator and the big dog were saying the same things.
posted by (F)utility at 10:34 PM on January 12, 2013

See, there are subjects for which a vertical video IS better.
posted by Tom-B at 9:17 AM on January 13, 2013

A former acquaintance told the story once about when she owned both an elderly cat and a new puppy. Apparently, the cat taught the puppy how to climb up on top of the dining room table - first the cat would get the puppy to follow him, then lead him to jump from the floor to the chair, and then from the chair to the table.

However, the cat did not teach the puppy how to get down off the table; instead, the cat would jump straight off the table and saunter off. The puppy would be left standing on the table thinking "Cool, look where I am!" while the cat was lounging in the next room thinking, "Sucker....."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:39 AM on January 15, 2013 [2 favorites]