Words my dog knows

[JudyN]

After brainstorming this with OH, I keep meaning to put this list somewhere and here is as good a place as any

Many of these are words I haven't actually taught, some I wish he didn't understand, and some he may just be picking up on nuances and intonation to work out what's going on. In no particular order:

Jasper Mummy Daddy Kev Granny Joe Jess
sit down stay come stand back OK
drop leave wait spin twirl paw other bow kiss
wee widdle poo garden off
find (it)
out of here
tea(time) sausage cheese pizza chicken
what do you say?
(on your) bed
settle down
this way
all gone
not today
not for you
walk car jump
hide & seek
lift (foot)
Ah!
(are you) ready? (I can't say this to OH without Jasper leaping up to see what's going to happen)
blue thing
ball
no bite
Are you not coming? Shall I leave you here then? See you later (gets him off the sofa when he wasn't sure he could be bothered coming for a walk)
Is that your friend? (Wags tail when we see a dog in the distance even if it turns out we've never met it before - I just discovered that one today )


There's probably a few more I've forgotten. Anyone else fancy adding your list? You might be surprised how long it gets!

[rachel540]

Ok so recently ive realised Pepper is a proper Yorkshire Lass.....

'Ere then = come
Ere-ya = take it
Ta = drop it

I am still trying to pick out more phrases like this i didnt realised i say and didnt realise she knew

And then the obvious....

Mummy, daddy, nana, grandma and grandad
Din-dins
(Are you) hungry
Give us your collar = comes and puts head down to take off collar
Walkies
(Lets go for a) wander
Ballie, cheesey kong, duckie
Cheese, treaties
What you got! = play chasing
Water
Ready
Lets go
This way
You go get it = lazy mummy!
Find it
(Do you need to do) jobs = sits down for no, goes to backdoor for yes
Swimming
Sit, down, paw, up, kiss
Bed, house = two different places
Wait, leave it
Whos that!
Cat! Birdies!
Go get it! = ooops! Bad mummy
And of course good girl

[Sweetie's Human]

Very little round here by comparison!

We've got:

Sit
Stay
Come (sometimes)
Let's go!
Spin
Stand
Where's your Boy?
Good girl!
Wee-Wees?
Ah-ah! (sometimes)
Not for you (sometimes)
Off! (sometimes)

Hmmm... The number of times I've used 'sometimes' here makes me think we should be putting a bit more work into training Sweetie!! This thread could prove to have been a very good exercise for us, Judy.

The fact that Sweetie didn't know any of these when she arrived here is proof that she CAN learn - she just needs some decent teachers. And she really does enjoy learning new things - although she's probably not the fastest at picking things up, but we can persevere. (Actually, sometimes I wonder if she's just having us on to get more treats )

Setting my own homework - I'll be back on this thread in two weeks' time to add one thing to my list - any suggestions?

[bendog]

Most of mine are on hand signals/body language over verbal

But experimented yesterday and we mostly have:
Sit
Down
Stay
Wait
This way
Spin
Stop
Here
Leave it
What's this
"Here you are" (or more usually "hereya")
Do you want to go out?
Dinnertime
Bedtime
Noses out (of cupboards!)
Budge (out the way/budge over)
In the car
Wheres your toy/ball
GET IT! (Tuggy)
Find it (treats)
Yes
Good

Their names

[WufWuf]

Sweetieshuman "Touch" is a really nice easy one to teach and it's really useful for moving dogs around It's easy to teach too, let me know if you want a breakdown.

I'm sure Honey knows more words than I'll remember for this list

Sit
Down
touch
spin
twist
under
over
through (jump through legs)
around
Achoo (sneeze)
hop up
off
this way
around this side (of tree post etc)
stay (ish only learning it really)
here/look
head in (bag)
Kiss (touch nose to my face)
Wait (or you won't get the thing you want)
go sniff
let's go
are you ready?
come on

Where's the ball? (very specific to when she's feeling giddy and we are playing with a toy)

"she's not there today" (the puddy cat that Honey has to check for on our walks)
"not going that way"
"hang on" (I've got to fix/find something)
"do you want a drink" licking lips indicates yes
"do you want a brush"

I'll have to have a think and see what else I'm saying to her, a lot of what Honey understands are non verbal cues (no walkies cue just me getting ready in a specific way for example, so I don't put my shoes on onfront of her unless she's going). My strongest recall is me squatting and if I stop and stare off at something she knows I'm deciding if we can go that way so she will hang around me sniffing and mooching until I decide what is going to happen next. She also has a non verbal cue for me picking her up but I can say "come up to me" if I need more warning that I'm going to be picking her up or it's in an unexpected place.

[Sweetie's Human]

Great lists.

Yes please WufWuf. Is there a thread you can point me to? (Don't want to hijack this one )

Sweetie has picked up on a lot of our routines as well. The one she understands most is that if I come out in a suit and wearing perfume, I'm going to work and she's going to get a frozen Kong! Exciting times She doesn't get nearly as excited about OH going to work though, because she knows her Kong is about half an hour away, so she gets a cuddle, then settles in her hidey-hole.

[WufWuf]

Yes please WufWuf. Is there a thread you can point me to? (Don't want to hijack this one )

I don't think so but it's super easy (and I'm sure Judy won't mind it also keeps the info together so if someone was reading this and thought "oh I'd like to do that" they don't have to go off to another thread to find out how, which is something that bugs me as it's like hiding the punchline to a joke, there's no "flow" ).

Rub something stinky on your hand, when Sweetie sniffs it mark it if you use a marker and reward from other hand. Mark/reward even little movements towards your hand if you have to and build up to nose/hand contact. Keep doing this until she looks like she is twigging that it's something to do with your hand. Gradually reduce the level of stinkyness of your hand. Make sure you offer your hand in a way that is clearly different (I use a stiff straight out hand with tumb tucked up to fingers). She should get the gist and start moving towards your hand as you offer it, when you can bet that she will mush her nose on your hand when offered it in that way (even briefly) you can add the word. You can extend the amount of time she will "touch" your hand if you wish once she has it down.

This is how I taught Honey, I'm pretty sure there's other ways to teach it (such as teaching her to target a post it note then moving the post it to your hand) but the above worked fine for our needs .

[Sweetie's Human]

Thanks WufWuf. We'll give it a go. Stinky will definitely work for my grubby girl!

[Sanna]

Oh this is a fun one Precious's list:

Words I have taught:
Sit, down, stay, come, wait, paw, other paw, touch, talk, roll over, leave, spin, crawl, around (around me to heel position), off, find it, hup! (up/ jump), look, go pee, high five, kiss, swap (drop), stand, back, outside, inside, mat/ bed, steady, tunnel, weave, close, fetch it (when he's in the mood), take it

Words he's picked up:
Go around (tree/ obstacle)
This way
Left/ right
Get your ting (his bone)
Get your ball
Get your toy (any toy other than ball or bone..)
Daddy/ mummy
Put your nose in (halti on)
Do you want water/ dinner
Are you ready
Finish
Ok/ off you go (do what you want)
Car
What's this
Good/ good boy
Ah!
Precious
Let's go!
Not for you
Thank you (drop/ give)
Whoa! (Stop)
Uh-oh (comes to check what's going on)
Wanna go for a walk?
Bye! (If he ignores his recall this is my backup..)
Walk on
Do you want a hug (comes and backs into me for cuddles)
It's all good (nothing to worry about, no need to bark)

Funny how it seems I've unintentionally taught him lots more than I've managed intentionally

[WufWuf]

It's so interesting "hearing" all the different ways we communicate with our dogs .

I've been paying a bit more attention and noticed that I tend to communicate more with consistant getstures and inconsistant words (but the same basic tone) so for example if I want Honey to move over on the bed or the couch I might say "scootch, scootch" or "move over there" but the gesture is always to pat the place I want her to go. Or if standing I will gesture where I want her to move to and what I say doesn't really matter. Once I left behind the "old skool" way of thinking I had to decide what kind of a relationship I did want to have with my dog and I decided that wanted my relationship with a dog to "feel" natural to me so I would just "do" some things then try to replicate what I naturally did (if it was successful of course ).

It's something I try to get across to people who ask me for advice on training their dogs*, it's not for me to pick the word you want to use or the gesture, you will both find it much easier to keep up and be successful if it feels "right" to you, then with most of them I give up and give them step by step strict instructions I think it's a little too "hippy dippy" and mostly people just want you to give them an instruction manual. I do think that it's very very important that people understand the basic's of how to teach and how dogs learn but beyond that it's another living being that you have to share your life with so let's make it as easy and comfortable as possible.

*Honey makes a spectacle of me on a daily basis whether it's her LOVE of HUMANS, training her tricks, her "I'm going to eat you all up scary monsters" or her crazy adorable way of walking so she's become a tiny celebrity and get's more "Hello's" from people she knows than I do . It also means that I'm probably known as "the crazy dog lady" so people will seek me out from time to time for some advice . I'm an introvert with an extrovert dog .

[Sanna]

I also love the fact that nobody's listed the word 'No!' ..

[Sanna]

It's so interesting "hearing" all the different ways we communicate with our dogs .

I've been paying a bit more attention and noticed that I tend to communicate more with consistant getstures and inconsistant words (but the same basic tone) so for example if I want Honey to move over on the bed or the couch I might say "scootch, scootch" or "move over there" but the gesture is always to pat the place I want her to go. Or if standing I will gesture where I want her to move to and what I say doesn't really matter. Once I left behind the "old skool" way of thinking I had to decide what kind of a relationship I did want to have with my dog and I decided that wanted my relationship with a dog to "feel" natural to me so I would just "do" some things then try to replicate what I naturally did (if it was successful of course ).

It's something I try to get across to people who ask me for advice on training their dogs*, it's not for me to pick the word you want to use or the gesture, you will both find it much easier to keep up and be successful if it feels "right" to you, then with most of them I give up and give them step by step strict instructions I think it's a little too "hippy dippy" and mostly people just want you to give them an instruction manual. I do think that it's very very important that people understand the basic's of how to teach and how dogs learn but beyond that it's another living being that you have to share your life with so let's make it as easy and comfortable as possible.

Totally agree, I think you kinda have to try and use whatever comes naturally as you'll do it at times subconsciously anyway. I've occasionally tried to do things the 'correct' way or the way I've been shown by someone else, and if it didn't immediately feel 'right' I've just ended up confusing the heck out of both myself and my dog

Honey makes a spectacle of me on a daily basis whether it's her LOVE of HUMANS, training her tricks, her "I'm going to eat you all up scary monsters" or her crazy adorable way of walking so she's become a tiny celebrity and get's more "Hello's" from people she knows than I do .

Yup.. not quite for the same adorable reasons tho, but I am def made a spectacle of regularly

it also means that I'm probably known as "the crazy dog lady" so people will seek me out from time to time for some advice . I'm an introvert with an extrovert dog .

[delladooo]

you will both find it much easier to keep up and be successful if it feels "right" to you

This is definitely one of the down sides to a formal dog class - they tell you what words to use and some of them are just 'wrong'. For instance the class we're at tells us to say 'steady' when the dogs pulls and to stop but there is no way I could ever do that as it just feels wrong, I'd rather not say anything.

As for words he knows, this is probably not a complete list and some he knows better than others but we have:
sit
down
paw
shake (other paw)
spin
wait
touch
off
leave
with me (heel)
your seat (in the car)
bow
mind (move out the way)
watch
careful
come (ish, this is more to a whistle)
bed (kinda, we're working on it)

I'm also working on a sit pretty but we don't have that to words yet, although he knows the action
So actually, he knows more than I thought he did

[minkee]

This is definitely one of the down sides to a formal dog class - they tell you what words to use and some of them are just 'wrong'.

This is what happened at a (very short lived) class we tried out. They wanted to dogs to stay while we walked away, so I asked Scout to "wait" and she waited while I walked away.

NO NO NO! We want them to STAY not WAIT. WAIT is something different.

Umm but I just ask her to wait when I want her to.

"NO NO NO You must ask her to STAY. WAIT is when you want her to come to you"

etc etc. Not long after that they implied that Scout wasn't listening because I was using treats, not just that she was completely bored because their class consisted of marching up and down on the spot for an hour. We both just sat down and played on the grass for the last 5 minutes and never went back!

[minkee]

Oh I forgot to add - I've thought about this, but I have no idea what exactly it is that Scout understands. I speak to her conversationally and she mostly does what I ask or want of her (and if she doesn't it's usually because she's saying 'no thanks' rather than not understanding)

For example, if I'm feeding them, then I will put Scout's bowl in one place and Breeze's in another. It varies between kitchen, computer room and living room, and who goes where, but I can say to her "You go in the other room Scout" or "Yours is in the living room" or "This one is Breeze's" or really any number of things and she tends to get what I mean and go to the right place. With Breeze he just watches me and eats from the bowl I put down when I say "Breeze"

And that's just one thing, I do it with her all day long. Get in the back (of the car after she's jumped into the front when she gets in). Why don't you go outside? Do you want to come up with me? Shall we go to bed?

I really thing I'd be here all day if I tried to list everything I said to that dog I chat to Breeze too, but it's more of a one way conversation