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Old March 8th, 2013, 11:08 PM
pattymac pattymac is offline
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Dogs Understanding words

Just wondering how many words/sentences your dogs understand. I think Bayley's got a pretty good understanding of words.

She's pretty good at names too. It's funny how I can say something and she'll do it. The other morning, the cats had left a few smidges of food in their bowl so I scraped it into her bowl while she was outside. When I let her in the porch, I told her that I put some stuff in her bowl, she went right to it. She knows 'go find me something' go get Noella..I think that's a fave, bring me your kong, Jacy's here (her dogwalking person), ok the nurse is coming, she knows to go jump up on my bed. There's probably more but that's all I can think of. The cats are pretty good too, they all know their names. Noella learned mousie and birdie pretty darned quick! I think she's the smartest, could be street smarts
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Old March 8th, 2013, 11:16 PM
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Loki Love Loki Love is offline
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Loki knows a good amount - enough for us anyway The biggest reacting words are 'car ride', 'collar' and 'walk'. Those get his tail wagging and running towards the door we keep the collars and leashes hung up.

He also responds really well to 'C'est qui ca?' - that gets his ears really alert and running to the door and windows to try and see who is outside.

He also knows the basics, of course
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Old March 9th, 2013, 06:54 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Oh, lots of words. A favourite training trick when we are at the nursing home is a random ordering of SIT, DOWN, STAND. I'll give a bunch but then I will double one up and see if he is really paying attention and really knows what I'm asking.

Sit, Stand, Sit, Down, Stand, Stand. Obviously on the double Stand he should not move and usually he does not, but his whole body will give a little quiver as he anticipates a change.
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Old March 9th, 2013, 11:50 AM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Marty understand the word cookie really good! He understand a lot words and shot demand , my last dog knew how to say "out" . A friend was surprised when I ask Finlay if he wanted to go out and he answered "out"
Marty does a little dance when I give him a cookie.


I can't stop thinking of Finlay ,I still miss him sooo much.
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Old March 11th, 2013, 10:01 AM
Jull Jull is offline
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Bestia is very good, he knows "car ride, grandma's, treat, food, bed time" he also knows the difference between some of his toys, if I ask "bring me Mickey, bring me chicken or bone" he knows which one it is, if I just say "toy" he brings any of the other sorted items.

He also knows to sit, and "go to your pillow" when he is on the couch. If I ask him who is coming? he goes to the door and waits to hear something so sweet. Guero, well he is still very new, but I have noticed, that from watching Bestia he is picking up some things.
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Old March 11th, 2013, 10:25 AM
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We've noticed that the dogs we've had since puppyhood pick up a lot more from our general conversations that the ones we've had for less time. We talk to our dogs all the time so the longer they're here and the more they're focused on us, the more language they've picked up. Not just commands or the word 'hungry' or 'out'...but whole concepts like "let's take the dogs out back for a romp" or "seems like a good day for chews" or even "gotta fit in a birthday party". Ember has the best language skills since we got him the youngest, and Macie (who has always been a bit more aloof because of her sad early history) is the least cognizant of what we're saying.
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Old March 11th, 2013, 10:30 AM
Jim Hall Jim Hall is offline
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Oh, lots of words. A favourite training trick when we are at the nursing home is a random ordering of SIT, DOWN, STAND. I'll give a bunch but then I will double one up and see if he is really paying attention and really knows what I'm asking.

Sit, Stand, Sit, Down, Stand, Stand. Obviously on the double Stand he should not move and usually he does not, but his whole body will give a little quiver as he anticipates a change.



thats is so cool!! now do you think you could teach them "simon says"/
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Old March 11th, 2013, 10:33 AM
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i hope tenderfoot training weighs in here.

They are HUGE into getting your dog to understand a large vocabulary.

I believe most of their dogs speak both English AND Spanish.

Ok kidding about that, lol - but I believe most of their Pack have a 50+ word vocabulary.
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  #9  
Old March 11th, 2013, 10:38 AM
Jull Jull is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marko View Post
i hope tenderfoot training weighs in here.

They are HUGE into getting your dog to understand a large vocabulary.

I believe most of their dogs speak both English AND Spanish.

Ok kidding about that, lol - but I believe most of their Pack have a 50+ word vocabulary.
Besita follows my mom's spanish, but when I talk to him in spanish, most of the time he chooses to ignore me - maybe he thinks only grandma speaks spanish, nobody else -

I think they understand more than we give them credit for, I really dislike it when people say "they are just dogs, they don't understand"
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Old March 11th, 2013, 10:40 AM
Jim Hall Jim Hall is offline
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i klnow dogs who under stand Spanish and english that no big deal the vogue around here is getting them to look at you and use your eyes or a head motion to command
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  #11  
Old March 11th, 2013, 11:31 AM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Originally Posted by hazelrunpack View Post
We've noticed that the dogs we've had since puppyhood pick up a lot more from our general conversations that the ones we've had for less time. We talk to our dogs all the time so the longer they're here and the more they're focused on us, the more language they've picked up. Not just commands or the word 'hungry' or 'out'...but whole concepts like "let's take the dogs out back for a romp" or "seems like a good day for chews" or even "gotta fit in a birthday party". Ember has the best language skills since we got him the youngest, and Macie (who has always been a bit more aloof because of her sad early history) is the least cognizant of what we're saying.
I am so glad to hear you talk your dogs all the time too. I had one woman come up to me and say "I thought you where talking to yourself until I saw your dog!" I have heard of people not being to say the word 'walk' or their dog will get all excited about going for a walk.
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Old March 11th, 2013, 11:57 AM
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tenderfoot tenderfoot is offline
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Weighing in...

People tend to dumb dogs down. They are thrilled to have a 5 word vocabulary - come, sit, down, stay, heel. If you only had a 5 word vocabulary with your best friend it would be a very short phone call, and you wouldn't have a very deep relationship.

Dogs are capable of SO MUCH MORE!!!! And your own dog probably knows way more than you think! We say that 30-40 words is the tip of the iceberg. There is a dog out there with a 1000 word vocabulary and he can read! Of course its a Border Collie, but it certainly shows us what they are capable of.

Every action your dog can perform should have a word and hand-signal of association. Remember you are not teaching your dog HOW to sit, lay down, run towards you - they ALREADY KNOW HOW to do it all. You just have to create the action and give it a word and hand-signal of association AND be consistent. You can speak English, your partner can speak Spanish and your kids can speak French. The dog will not be confused. He is reading your words, your body language, hearing your tones and seeing the pictures in your mind. Lots of info for him to pick up on. In fact as much as we talk about a big vocabulary, we had a dog (Cowboy passed 2 yrs ago) who just had 1 word - Dog. But 'Dog' meant: come, down, get the horses, leave it, etc. He heard the word but read everything else about us to infer its meaning in that heartbeat.

Every toy in your dogs toy box (at least a dozen) should have a name, and every room in the house has a name. Even the car...get in the 'car', ride 'shotgun', get in the 'back', and get in the 'way back' - the car has 4 different different words.

We always provide a 40 word list for our clients to aspire to, but I love it when clients bring us a list and it far exceeds ours!

The next factor is the levels at which you can count on your dog to perform these words.
Level 1 - inside the house.
Level 2 - outside your front door (not at the dog park - which is Level 3 & 4 combined) where your dog gets an adrenaline rush from the sights, sounds and smells so it is tougher for him to concentrate, but you practiced in the house first so Level 2 will be easier.
Level 3 - at long distances. How good is your dog at 5 ft., 10 ft., 100 ft. away from you.
Level 4 - distractions. How good is your dog around cats, squirrels, other dogs, people, kids, balls....
AND there are levels within levels. I can have cats in the house, or long distances in the house, I can have squirrels in the trees 40 ft. away. These are ways to test your dog at higher and higher levels.

The other part of this picture is that is is great to have a big vocabulary but you have to use it! We all get lazy and start to take things for granted. If you speak a second language you need to keep practicing it to stay fluent. Your dog needs to keep working his whole vocabulary to keep it fresh. You could also make it a goal to teach him something new every week. It helps to keep your relationship in top form and keep you connected.

And yes, Marko, we use Swahili with our dogs just to prove a point.
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Last edited by tenderfoot; March 11th, 2013 at 12:15 PM.
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Old March 11th, 2013, 04:21 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tenderfoot View Post
Weighing in...

People tend to dumb dogs down. They are thrilled to have a 5 word vocabulary - come, sit, down, stay, heel. If you only had a 5 word vocabulary with your best friend it would be a very short phone call, and you wouldn't have a very deep relationship.

Dogs are capable of SO MUCH MORE!!!! And your own dog probably knows way more than you think! We say that 30-40 words is the tip of the iceberg. There is a dog out there with a 1000 word vocabulary and he can read! Of course its a Border Collie, but it certainly shows us what they are capable of.

Every action your dog can perform should have a word and hand-signal of association. Remember you are not teaching your dog HOW to sit, lay down, run towards you - they ALREADY KNOW HOW to do it all. You just have to create the action and give it a word and hand-signal of association AND be consistent. You can speak English, your partner can speak Spanish and your kids can speak French. The dog will not be confused. He is reading your words, your body language, hearing your tones and seeing the pictures in your mind. Lots of info for him to pick up on. In fact as much as we talk about a big vocabulary, we had a dog (Cowboy passed 2 yrs ago) who just had 1 word - Dog. But 'Dog' meant: come, down, get the horses, leave it, etc. He heard the word but read everything else about us to infer its meaning in that heartbeat.

Every toy in your dogs toy box (at least a dozen) should have a name, and every room in the house has a name. Even the car...get in the 'car', ride 'shotgun', get in the 'back', and get in the 'way back' - the car has 4 different different words.

We always provide a 40 word list for our clients to aspire to, but I love it when clients bring us a list and it far exceeds ours!

The next factor is the levels at which you can count on your dog to perform these words.
Level 1 - inside the house.
Level 2 - outside your front door (not at the dog park - which is Level 3 & 4 combined) where your dog gets an adrenaline rush from the sights, sounds and smells so it is tougher for him to concentrate, but you practiced in the house first so Level 2 will be easier.
Level 3 - at long distances. How good is your dog at 5 ft., 10 ft., 100 ft. away from you.
Level 4 - distractions. How good is your dog around cats, squirrels, other dogs, people, kids, balls....
AND there are levels within levels. I can have cats in the house, or long distances in the house, I can have squirrels in the trees 40 ft. away. These are ways to test your dog at higher and higher levels.

The other part of this picture is that is is great to have a big vocabulary but you have to use it! We all get lazy and start to take things for granted. If you speak a second language you need to keep practicing it to stay fluent. Your dog needs to keep working his whole vocabulary to keep it fresh. You could also make it a goal to teach him something new every week. It helps to keep your relationship in top form and keep you connected.

And yes, Marko, we use Swahili with our dogs just to prove a point.
Anyone that think dogs are dumb should hand around a working dog for a day. Service and police dogs have a very large vocabulary.
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Old March 11th, 2013, 05:33 PM
pattymac pattymac is offline
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exactly, even the cats understand quite a few words. Bayley is pretty good with her words and I'm sure with a bit more work she'd be even better.
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Old March 20th, 2013, 10:57 AM
Simon85 Simon85 is offline
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Sit, Down and Roll. No more, no less.
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Old March 20th, 2013, 12:59 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Sit, Down and Roll. No more, no less.
I bet your pet understand more than you think.
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Old March 20th, 2013, 01:07 PM
Jull Jull is offline
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I bet your pet understand more than you think.
I think so too... I was thinking about this post the other day, and made a list of all the words I know bestia understands, and I got more than 30, (just in english) ... I would love it If I could understand even 2 of his words
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