Your dog's vocabulary!

Condatis · 07-08-2011 1:11pm #1

We have three dogs and have been talking about the number of words or phrases which prompt a reaction or behaviour.

Is over 30 high? Does anybody here have dogs who react to more than that?

Go to bed, Out, In, Up, Down, Breakfast, Party time, Park, Lead, Walk, Quiet,

Cunas, Sios, Suas, Stop, Sit, Stay, Catch, Paw, Shake, Ball, Bath, Mouse, Rat, Cat, Bird, Garden, Stick, Stone, Car, Where's? (6 people by name, run excitedly to look for them),

sunshiner · 07-08-2011 1:24pm

probably wouldnt reach 30 words ,i have 2 dogs and they respond to

swim,river,forest,mountain,car,spin,walk,out, in,bed,kiss,pig,treat,ball,frisbee, stick, no, up, here, and they know the difference between tennis ball, and football, they know each others name, the cats name, food, they know some tunes

some names of a few people

that all i can think off at the min, i have to spell things out nowadays which they have started to click on to like swim as they get so excited lol

i did see a program with a german lady who had a collie who knew i think over 100 words.

Davy · 07-08-2011 1:27pm

Few other ones; Rollover, belly rub, fetch, lie down, car, walkies, eat

Condatis · 07-08-2011 1:29pm

Yes – we have to spell out Park and Walk or they'll go wild.

mymo · 07-08-2011 1:33pm

Just off the top of my head my two dogs know 23+ words/commands, names of all the family and cats, names of doggy friends (at least 7 or 8 that I know get a response), and loads of phrases. (funniest phrase is where's the remote, one dog actually gets up and looks around)
Now I think about it that is quite a lot, I think most dogs know more than we give them credit for, I tried the spelling out words, they got them pretty quick, then we tried gestures (walking fingers for walk, hand to mouth for food, etc), but they got them after a short while too:rolleyes:

Condatis · 07-08-2011 3:50pm

If I so much as pick up my walking boots to clean them they start doing somersaults.

RICARDO1982 · 07-08-2011 3:59pm

my dog worked out what chicken meant himself, also if i ask my OH if she wants a cup of tea he gets excited as he knows the biscuits are gonna be brought out, also he knows peoples names and most of the above, dont they reckon a dog can learn as many words as a 3 yrs old child??

Graces7 · 07-08-2011 4:22pm

Never counted as am usually too busy fending them off when I have suggested walks. They see the wellies being donned and go crazy..

"field" they know as that means a good run,,,

Wee dog knows " see them off, " when the magpies arrive, and "where's the ball?"

But the best by far is the collie. If we " lose" her to running towards cars ( she cannot get to the road thankfully)( we try HOME and then, BYE BYE and head away.

Never fails to have her running back.

rainbowtrout · 07-08-2011 4:37pm

sit, down, speak, walkies, roll over, twist, over, under, through, wait, stay, in, bed, paw, left, right, beg, touch, circle, back, round, turn and back, leave, no close, up.
and for one of my dogs 'where's tiger' his first toy which he loved was a tiger, so now all his toys are called tiger

They understand plenty of gestures too, and like that if they see me take my keys off the table they run to the door in the hope that I'll bring them in the car, but if it's late at night and they see me do the same they don't move as they know I'm going to lock the front door.

Cherry Blossom · 07-08-2011 5:02pm

OP - have you done much training with your dogs? My 15 month old also knows the names of all family members, recognises specific sounds like the sound of my car starting which gets a different reaction to other people's cars, the sound of the treat jar opening and she's whistle trained she knows the general obedience commands she has been taught - sit, down, stay, wait, floor, outside, enough and so on. She has command words for doing her toilet business, a few specific to walking on a flexi lead. Some that are incorporated into games (fetch, bring it, find it (or a specific person). Some for tricks (paw, beg, take a bow, crawl) Some the kids have taught her (hugs, kisses, dance :rolleyes:). Then there are all the various agility commands, I've never counted them all up, I'm pretty sure I'd forget something if I tried? The kids include her in their normal conversations, and she seems to 'get' a lot of it.

Discodog · 07-08-2011 7:45pm

They claim that this dog understands over a 1000 words

http://theweek.com/article/index/211166/the-genius-dog-with-a-1022-word-vocabulary

Sigma Force · 07-08-2011 8:08pm

Don't think my lot are anywhere near 30. Their favourite words are nam nams, cookies, sum nice. They understand walkies, their names (obviously), they seem to understand each other names. Walkies, vets, go in the car as well. Although I don't usually tell them they're going to the vets coz then they don't wanna go. Get your ball is another one. Bound to be others, can't think of them right now. I love they way they understand when you point to something though, aparently most if not all other animals don't understand following the direction of a point.. not sure if that's true or not.

piperh · 07-08-2011 8:14pm

Mines the same as everyone elses i think except for 2 that i'm not sure i should confess to:o:o

My big clumsy lump also answers to Stupid and Dopey as well as his name:(;)

borderlinemeath · 07-08-2011 9:25pm

Never counted before but our setter knows a lot of words. A good few need to be spelled for covert ops! Lots of little phrases as well.

Sit, paw, rollover, rollies for rubs, (not a full roll!) show me, down, out.
All the following words for walks(walkies, go for it, quick one, go for one, run out, would you like to, fields, beach)
hups, swim, dipsy, brekkie, into the car, mammy, daddy, and about 5 other friends/family members.
are you ready?, head start, ball, frisbee, tennis, throw, apple (or balls that fall from trees!)
treat, markey, chicken stick, bones, mixie, nuts, chicken, tea, rice, lickedy lip - (when she gets to lick the plate), supsy (drink)
cats, bow wows, friends, birdies, buzzybees, get them, leave it, no, yes.
snuggle in, under the wing (sits up beside you and burys her head under your arm), get them done (go to the toilet), beddybyes and night nights, into your bed, slippers, socks.

Also when somebody is arriving we have electic gates so our friends ring. She knows that if the phone rings and you hang up quickly and get the keys, she runs to the front door or out to the gate to see who's arriving. "who is it" also gets her really excited with this as well.

When she's bold and you ask her "did you do that" she knows that she's bold, she rolls over and puts on a sheepish look. This is usually after she's robbed socks or slippers.

Everybody does say she really focuses on us when we speak to her, and also how she notices words even when they're in the middle of of a sentence.

Going for the walk is hard- trying to sneak around getting ready without her noticing is hilarious. Because she's very vocal when she realises. She knows the runners, the fleece even before you go for the lead.

There's probably a few more words and phrases.

Cherry Blossom · 07-08-2011 10:10pm

I wish people would stop posting stuff trying to make me get a setter

borderlinemeath · 07-08-2011 11:27pm

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

I wish people would stop posting stuff trying to make me get a setter

Their just brilliant dogs. I have a thing for gundogs but setters are just my favourites. And great conversationalists.:D

Cherry Blossom · 07-08-2011 11:32pm

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Their just brilliant dogs. I have a thing for gundogs but setters are just my favourites. And great conversationalists.:D

Well, I'm not just sure I have the time at the minute to dedicate to a gun-dog. I'll have a go at ruining another agility dog first and then come back to it

Voodoo_rasher · 07-08-2011 11:33pm

'bow-wow', 'woof', 'yelp', etc ha ha.

DBB · 08-08-2011 12:14am

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

I wish people would stop posting stuff trying to make me get a setter

Right there with ya on that one! I LOVE setters. I can't think of one thing negative about them. Definitely on my bucket list!:D

I had the privilege of meeting a dog (a Parson Jack Russell) some years ago that had an extraordinarily wide range of commands, cue words etc. His owner could tell him to "Go find your dinosaur/kong/sheep/blue bone/yellow bone/frisbee/lead etc etc", and every time, off he went to whatever room and got what he was asked for. I don;t know how many words he had, but between those "Go find" cues and his huge repertoire of
obedience-related cues, he must have had well over 100 words.
There was a collie featured on a documentary last year (after the Crufts final... if anyone can remember the name of the show or find me a link to it, I'd be eternally grateful:D) who had 200+ cues, along the lines of the Parson I talked about above.
The owner of the Parson didn't sit down and teach her dog each and every word.. he just... got it! Amazing.:o

mikemac · 08-08-2011 12:18am

Comebackyafeckerya

There's one he doesn't understand

carwash_2006 · 08-08-2011 12:22am

Oh! We met 3 beautiful (and very well behaved) setters of different colours on the beach today

My guy has a fairly good vocab, but I'm not sure how many he would know. I think with a lot of these things though they are understanding tone of voice as much as the words. When it comes to walks I'm convinced dogs can actually read minds too. I remember years ago in my mothers house, sitting at the computer and thinking to myself, must take the dogs out now, seconds later both her collies came tearing into the room from being comatose in another part of the house. It wasn't like they had a regular walk time either, they got taken out whenever someone have time or felt like it.

Wibbles19 · 08-08-2011 12:27am

Condatis wrote: »

Yes – we have to spell out Park and Walk or they'll go wild.

Spelling out Walk worked for about 2 weeks, then the yorkie worked it out and let the 2 springers know so back to square one. Now we say something from the dairy group (Milk, Cheese, Butter etc), reckon he's taking notes so will prob have to move on to another food group soon

Discodog · 08-08-2011 12:28am

Some video here of Chaser learning her 1000 words - I still find it almost unbelievable.

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/04/5765867-dogs-vocabulary-makes-her-a-star

Some more video from the BBC Horizon program featuring a Collie in Austria

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8441974.stm

borderlinemeath · 08-08-2011 11:07am

DBB wrote: »

Right there with ya on that one! I LOVE setters. I can't think of one thing negative about them. Definitely on my bucket list!:D

Oh! We met 3 beautiful (and very well behaved) setters of different colours on the beach today

Setters get at bit of a raw deal, they are described at best as "flighty" and "puppies til their five", and at worst "hyperactive" "stupid", and "impossible to train"

I have had dogs all my life, mutts, mongrels, terriers, retrievers and the most intelligent is our setter. Ease of training, focus, behaviour, and such a great temperament, so so eager to please.

borderlinemeath · 08-08-2011 11:13am

Discodog wrote: »

Some video here of Chaser learning her 1000 words - I still find it almost unbelievable.

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/04/5765867-dogs-vocabulary-makes-her-a-star

Some more video from the BBC Horizon program featuring a Collie in Austria

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8441974.stm

That collie in austria is brilliant, I remember seeing that programme and she knows all her different toys.
Coco can differentiate between "ball" and "frisbee" and differentiates between her different balls to a degree, but she does get it wrong at times. We don't buy her fluffy, squeaky toys any more it's just too expensive to keep replacing them:o.

Amzie · 08-08-2011 5:27pm

Humm my samoyed understands, sit, stay, speak, rollover, up, down, chair( get up on chair) on the mat, chicky(chicken) dindins, down to bed, leave, quiet( sometimes works:D) out, give the paw, other paw, umm cant think of others!!:p

spur · 08-08-2011 11:19pm

My collie has a few obedience commands - sit, down, heel, here, come. Walk/walkies etc are all referred to as "w-word" or outing in conversations with others! He understands that one goes for a walk, so all references to going are out unless we want to drive him - "go" is enough to have him twisting his head to listening - "where you going" is like asking for a dance routine! Where's your lead is same! We do a training class once or twice a week - when he "goes to school" - we have 2 dogs and on training nights, I don't feed the dog going to training as he'll get all his dinner in treats that night, so as I feed the other and try to avoid the hurt brown eyes, I tell him he's going to school later! He gets totally excited about that - way too early!! I wear same clothes to class all the time - and once that jacket comes out, cue mad dog! He knows going to bed, going for a spin in car, knows my husband's name and the trainer's name - to the point of getting a reaction, rather than he'd go over to them. We only have the 2nd dog about a month and I think he's now learning his name. He knows his toys - ball, slipper, sock and will pick up the correct one most of the time.
He does know "speak", but for a very noisy dog normally only gives a very timid half bark for this command. He also knows "birds" and "buzzy bee" - with "birds" he races out to the back and stares up at the roof. For "buzzy bees" he looks all around to see where it is - a "zzzz" sends him off in a frenzy. And if we pretend to call a cat, well he races to the front window and tries to see where that blasted cat is now - we don't have a cat, but one often wanders around the front of the house to his utter annoyance! After being at my parents house, he'll react to their dog's name for a few hours, but forgets about him after that.
It's amazing what they can learn. We have him just over 2 years and got him as a rescue - that time he didn't even know his own name, not to mind anything else!!!

Condatis · 09-08-2011 7:59am

It got the stage where said in Irish that we'd go for a walk – it didn't take them long to catch on.

Your dog's vocabulary!

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