# How many words does your dog know



## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

Hi

Jenny, the Weimaraner who I look after, is clearly very intelligent. She knows words such as walk, lead, pee pee, sit, breakfast, dinner etc. 

Yesterday, I thought I would try and teach her some new words. For her breakfast yesterday, she had scrambled egg and salmon. I repeated the words several times and kept opening and closing the firdge door, in order for her to "make a connection". 

This morning, I asked her if she wanted eggs and salmon. Amazingly, she went to the fridge. 

I wonder how many words a dog could have in their memory. 

Russell

Here is a pic of Jennifer taken a couple of months ago.


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

Hi Russell 

Lady Muck or what :wink: 

SUITS YOU  

Chris


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## Briarose (Oct 9, 2007)

If I go and sit at your fridge tomorrow can I have eggs and salmon.........talk about a dogs life :wink:


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## carolgavin (May 9, 2005)

Neo knows letters as well even though brains are sadly not his strong point     He can spell w a l k you only have to say Neo w and he goes and gets his lead. He also knows 'oi give me back my dinner' as he runs off into the sunset. Strangely he also knows 'malteser' and expects them to be rolled along the floor for him to catch. Who is teaching who I wonder. Finally he knows sherry make of that what you will :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## patnles (Oct 26, 2006)

Elsa, our labrador knew quite a few eg. dinner, cheese, milk, biscuit, walk, leave, heel, sit, come, down, wait, stay, off, wee wee, car, bed, garden, water. She knew family and friends by name and she also knew all of her toys by name. I say knew, as she is 14 now and very deaf but I also taught her a few hand signals when she was young and learning to retrieve and they come in handy now.
I've always had labs but Elsa is definitely the most intelligent I've ever had.
Both her parents were working dogs and she has a lot of field trial champs in her pedigree which contributed to her being very high maintenance as a young dog but an absolute joy to train. 
Russell....I would imagin Weims would be much the same being gun dogs. 
Jenny is very pretty BTW.
Edited to add photo using Zebedee and SandJ's instructions. Thankyou both


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

Rapide561 said:


> I wonder how many words a dog could have in their memory


My black lab Ben could answer questions. Only two, but nevertheless correctly.... :-

Me: "What goes on the top of a house, Ben?"
Ben: "ROOF"

Me: "What does sandpaper feel like, Ben?"
Ben: "ROUGH"

Bet your dog can't do *that*.

Dougie.


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## patnles (Oct 26, 2006)

asprn said:


> Rapide561 said:
> 
> 
> > I wonder how many words a dog could have in their memory
> ...


 :lol: :lol: 
I think maybe she could but I never seem to ask the right questions.


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## takeaflight (May 9, 2005)

Charlie not only understands words but sentences to, however for most of the time he choses to ignore them. :?


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## annetony (May 1, 2005)

My old dog Rusty can add up, Tony can ask him various additions using numbers up to 10 and he will bark the correct answer---- funny it doesn't work for me :lol: :wink: 
He also knows words like food, walk, kitchen, bed etc, 



Anne


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

Jabulile understands too many words  even when spelt to confuse her :wink: She even knows when we are talking about her!

I see jenny is being thoroughly spoilt


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Dogs*

Hi

They are a smart lot, are n't they?

Jenny is having a traditional doggy breakfast today - boring old biscuits.

Russell


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## johnandcharlie (May 2, 2007)

This dog seems to know 200 words

I haven't counted how many Charlie knows, but he knows, and usually responds to, sit, stand, up, down, off, out, wait, come, pub, crisps etc, and also phrases like "be sensible" and "be silly"! He also does "left turn" and "right turn" when walking to heel, and it doesn't matter which side of me he's walking on, so he does just about know the difference between left and right. He also recognises various sentences, sometimes responding to the whole sentence, and sometimes recognising individual words in it. When we are at the end of a walk and I say "let's go back" he immediately turns round and flies off in the direction we came from. Try saying "would you like" and the response is an enthusiastic yes, even if I ask if he'd like to go to the abattoir and be made into sausages! He also knows hand signals for most of the basic commands.

A lot of the times he responds to events around him. He often knows the time and what is likely to happen, however hard I try to fool him. He used to tell me when it was Friday lunchtime when we regularly went to the pub then!


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## vardy (Sep 1, 2006)

- Still missin' mine, but one very hot summer she came up to me at the PC puffing away - and I muttered 'Go and have a drink of water you silly old bat'. - Head on one side for a second or two, then trotted straight off for a drink. Definitely not coincidence, and interesting to note she could pick the one word out of a complex quietly uttered sentence.


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## ksebruce (Nov 5, 2006)

What I'd like to know is...if our dog was fast asleep in a different room we could go to the fridge and take out milk, butter, eggs and the dog was still snoring away. If we took the cheese out even an unopened packet, turn round and he was sat next to us with his tongue hanging out 8O So how did he know?  :?


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## Waggy (Jan 15, 2006)

patnles said:


> Edited to add photo using Zebedee and SandJ's instructions. Thankyou both


Nice photo Patnles. Is that the Wolverhampton 21?


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

My Mums cat understood about 5 commands. "Go to bed" which meant he had to go upstairs and jump on my parents bed on his very own blanket at the foot. "Indoors" which most cats probably understand. Can't remember the other 3 so perhaps it was only one or two then. 

p.s. .... maybe just the one. :roll:

p.s.s Oh yes. And when she told him to go to bed, she had to carry him up the stairs. 8)


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## dbh1961 (Apr 13, 2007)

asprn said:


> Rapide561 said:
> 
> 
> > I wonder how many words a dog could have in their memory
> ...


I had a goldfish that could do maths.

If you asked it what 10, minus 6, minus 4 was, it said

nothing!


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Dog senses*

Hello

My mum and dog had a dog and she knew when a thunder storm was coming. She was absolutely terrified of thunder and would start panting hours before the storm.

Russell


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## Mikemoss (Sep 5, 2005)

Roxy knows the names of most of her toys and all the usual commands, but I have a small confession to make and I'm trusting you lot to keep my secret.

While out on walks, she ranges out far and wide (as border collies are pre-programmed to do), careering round in huge circles before settling down and waiting for her ball to be thrown. At each change of direction I put on an elaborate display of curious whistling sounds so it looks to passers by as though she is obeying my every instruction, whereas, of course, I'm just following hers.

Her favourite sentences include 'find those humans' which means she knows there are visitors somewhere in the house, probably enjoying a lie-in, and 'last night wee wees' which means mad dash into the garden followed by equally mad dash upstairs to pinch my side of the bed.

How do people live without a dog?


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## 106986 (Sep 12, 2007)

My retrievery Poppy is a nightmare if I just open my wardrobe door now.

Its wear I keep my old grey joggers I wear to take her and our springer spaniel out for walks. It used to send her into a frenzy when I put them on, now all I have to do is open my wardrobe door!!


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## Groper (May 17, 2007)

*Chester with the Boss*

Our dog Chester knows lots of words only problem is he only responds to the ones he fancies like Tuna fish,Markies,Bonios,teatime etc.
Also knows days of week and time - Mon to Fri 1400 hrs time for walk,arrives and pesters incessantly until boots and coat are collected.
Sat & Sun - lays snoring until 1600 hrs then its time for a walk, just when the football is starting on the television.


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## LynneKen (Jan 19, 2008)

Hi, nice dog!! they say that they(dogs) have a vocabulary of 75 words,but in my experience its about 175 and still learning they know all the important things even if you -- spell, whisper, mouth and think, I am sure that they are mentally telepathic and very intelligent of course,and they all have very acurate watches, as soon as you get her to answer back let us know LOL.


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## 88870 (May 10, 2005)

Hmmm, bodie is a bit of a word watcher. If I look at her and specifically talk to her she concentrates on my face. 

With certain words that she recognises, her ears go up. If I specifically talsk about something she wants, her body goes still and she focuses on my eyes when I say that word, she'll stay there till I back track and mention it several times! 

Words include

Chicken
Bed time
Breakfast
Tea time
Dinner
Treat
Ball
Ragga
Cheese (no longer allowed due to feet chewing!)
Bone
Blanket
Eggs
Bacon
Beef
Sit
Stay
Leave
Backoff
Play
Touch it I dare you!
Say please
Bed
Wanna pee and poo?
What you done? (seriously contrite!)
Here (good at this one)
Walk
Fetch it (exceptionally good at this one - hates leaving ball behind)
Yoghurt
Toast
Where's ollie!

Weirdly enough, put her on a lead she pulls as she knows we are behind her. Leave her off the lead she walks glued to heel to keep track of us! We stay on a farm so it is not an issue but it is really hard to make her wander off when she is off a lead (not been on a lead for at least 6 months) unless I utilise a ball thrower (I throw like a girl otherwise!)

Leigh


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## 88781 (May 9, 2005)

There is only three little words a dog needs to know! :wink:


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## 109154 (Jan 10, 2008)

My 2 know what they mean and know what to do, but unless involves food they suffer from selected deafness !!!! 

Laura + Dave


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## patnles (Oct 26, 2006)

Waggy said:


> patnles said:
> 
> 
> > Edited to add photo using Zebedee and SandJ's instructions. Thankyou both
> ...


Do you mean the lock ? I'm not really sure. It is just above a road bridge which is Bridge 59.... Bridgnorth Rd, Compton..... I seem to remember the lock was rebuilt in the 80's....does that help.
I should know it quite well since it's the only lock that I have ever been *in*
A stupid big fat labrador took a fancy to Elsa as we walked past and it did a standing leap (across) into the lock. 8O The water was down at the time and the silly animal couldn't swim or it just paniced. The owner was nowhere to be seen so I had to go in and keep his head above water until help arrived as he must of weighed 50kg (dry) and I couldn't get him up the steps.:lol:
Lesley


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## Waggy (Jan 15, 2006)

patnles said:


> Do you mean the lock ? I'm not really sure. It is just above a road bridge which is Bridge 59.... Bridgnorth Rd, Compton..... I seem to remember the lock was rebuilt in the 80's....does that help.


Ah I know where you mean. I was thinking of the flight of 21 locks from Aldersley Juntion to the centre of Wolverhampton.

Lucky for the dog that the lock was empty 8O


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

Apart from the usual words, my three understand

*Side * ( they get to my right ,handy for roadwalking )

*Car coming* ( i can get whippet & crested to heel within a couple of seconds with this one even if they are some way ahead , wouldn't work with lurcher though :wink: )

*In the van * ( yippee we're going out )

*Manners * ( this is for when they are wanting to rip the face off a 
passing dog  ,it is not always effective so will be getting proffessional help with that one )

Chris


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## patnles (Oct 26, 2006)

> Car coming ( i can get whippet & crested to heel within a couple of seconds with this one even if they are some way ahead , wouldn't work with lurcher though )


Elsa was like that with the "leave" command. I could say it very quickly and quietly and her reaction was always instant. It still is but I have to yell it at the top of my voice now :roll:


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## suffolkian (Jul 25, 2007)

My old Bitzer, Raffles, understood a wide vocabulary. Some were words that meant the action eg dinner, bed etc. Some were phrases, to her "One last ***" meant go out and do a wee. "Right then" always got an excited response at it meant something was going to happen. She also knew the credits music to all TV and Radio programmes that ended at 8pm (supper time) She lived to almost 20 and the last few years we communicated by sign language. Dogs don't have a concept of deafness so she must have thought for a while that I had stopped speaking to her.


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

All dogs are 'tuned' into their owners all the time, so its no wonder they pick up so many sounds (words) and can put them into the correct context. Have you noticed how they pick up somethings much faster than others. These usually mean that they are going to benefit from what the sound means. For example my 8 year old learnt 'sausage' in 2 minutes, but still has difficulty with 'move' when he has just installed himself on the bed!
I think that the fewer good words/commands they learn is most probably better as it doesn't lead to wrong messages received. Unless of course you want a circus performer that concentrates its whole life trying to please you. You only have to watch a good sheep dog to see what a bundle of nerves they are trying to please the shepherd.
Dogs also are highly perceptive of body language. So although you don't realise it when yo give some commands you are most probably reinforcing the sound with a body movement, eg slapping your thigh when you call your dog to you. So that when they do go deaf in old age they have already built up a working vocabulary in body/sign language.
My dog always check what clothes I am putting on in the morning to decypher what I am going to do that day, also as soon as we pick up the shopping bags he goes to his bed as he knows we are going out without him, and its his chance to catch up with Classic FM!


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