Does your dood understand what you're saying?

[Pat and Traveler]

I've heard some amazing things about dogs understanding what we're saying.  Aside from the commands we've worked on, they sure seem to pick up other things along the way!  One of Trav's cutest is what he does after he 'plays dead.'  We taught him to lie on his side when we say "Bang, bang--dead dog!'  That's cute.  But he usually continues to wag his tail when he's supposed to be dead--silly dood!  However, now he's learned to hold his tail still if I say, "Dead dogs don't wag their tails," which just cracks me up.

We spell some things so he won't get too excited--walk and ball, for example.  He's picked up some words that I didn't realize he was learning.  "Antler" is one.  I was keeping an antler up on the bookcase for a while.  I didn't want it lost in the yard or collected by his brother.  Much to my surprise, he started looking up at the bookcase when I said 'antler.'  He knows exactly where I keep it.  He learned 'vacuum' somewhere along the line.  He loves to bark at the vacuum and, well, I let him have his fun with it.  Now all I have to do is mutter about having to vacuum, and he trots off to the closet where it's kept.  He understands 'kitty' and 'look' and 'who's that?' and 'squirrel' and some others I'm not thinking of right now.  I put something in his bowl the other day, and when he came in from outside I told him he should look in his bowl, and he went straight to it for the snack.

Has your dog picked up any surprising or unexpected words, or body language clues?   

[Kimmy & Chewie]

I say "Chewie alarm" and Chewie jumps on my sister's bed and wake her up with lots of licks/kisses.

DH doesn't allow Chewie on our bet, so for him its "Good morning" which means lots of tail wags next to DH's side of the bed.

[Pat and Traveler]

"Chewie alarm..."  That is SO cute!

[Kimmy & Chewie]

"Chewie alarm" is the most effective way to get my sister out of bed in the morning. She's a very deep sleeper and can sleep through most alarms. Even when I physically shake her, she often fall right back to sleep after I leave the room.

With "Chewie alarm", she usually gets up within a few minutes and doesn't go back to sleep :)

[Kimmy & Chewie]

Yes, I do think my dood understand what I say. (whether he OBEYS what I say is a totally different thing)

Chewie is bi-lingual (English and Thai) for "walk", "treat", "meal time", "no" and "lets go"

English only words/phrases are "bully sticks", "ball", "gimme" (retreive the toy you point at), "jump", "paws/hi-fives"
Thai only words/phrases are "come" (recalls only work in Thai - don't ask me why), "who's at the door? go have a look" (runs to door and wait), "brush teeth"

DH and I are both Thai, but studied overseas for many years, so our speech is mixed betwen Thai and English (alternate between Thai/English sentences and words). Explains why Chewie understands both. It's a bit confusing for our dog sitters (my mom and sis as they need to remember which commands are in Thai and which are in English :P

 

[Pat and Traveler]

Kimmy, that would be a challenge!  So funny that Chewie will only come if you ask in Thai.  I can just imagine people trying out different languages for him...:)

[Kimmy & Chewie]

Pat..yes, it's pretty challenging for others to figure out the different languages :P

The other funny thing is, when Chewie doesn't understand my mom or my sister, he will try doing a few things (in hope of treats). Like sitting down, giving his paws, drop, spinning etc... just in random order, in hope that one will be what they want. Pretty funny!

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Oh yeah.... my doodles expecially Sasha know exactly what I am saying.  I do have to spell words out at times as to not get them too excited :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That is amazing that Trav has learned to hold his tails still!  I agree they are incredibly smart....not only do my Doods understand a lot of what I say, but then they decide which things they're going to listen to and which they will choose to ignore.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Selective hearing is a big "talent" here too.

[Pat and Traveler]

Jane, gotta love that selective hearing gig.  I think Trav might respond to 'squirrel' very consistently, but maybe 'treat' would trump that.  :)

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

Haley picked up on the words "excuse me" immediately. With Cole" (R.I.P.) I would say "move" and Cole' would get out of my way. That word had no effect on Haley when he was a little puppy so I said "excuse me" and the very first time I said it Haley got out of my way. To this day the word works every time.

Ball has to be spelled backwards as Haley learned after a few times what b-a-l-l was.
When I say "grooming time" he runs to my studio (where the grooming table is) door if we are outside or to the back door of the house if we are inside the house.

No matter what he/we are doing outside if I say "dinner time" he runs to the back door of the house.

These are all word that I have not trained him with. There are a lot of words that he gets a treat for like "bed" if he gets on his bed in the kitchen.

The list goes on.............

[Pat and Traveler]

Oh, I like the 'excuse me!'  Great idea about spelling things backward.  Trav drops to the floor with all legs tucked if I say 'grooming.'  I so admire people who have made grooming a fun experience for their doods.