Dogs pick up on a lot more words than we give them credit scores for. They are very capable of learning 100 to 200 words and some learn more.
In the book “The loved Dog” Tamar Geller encourages pet dog owners to show their dogs as lots of words as possible by saying words like “walk,” “drink,” “cat” or “play” over and over.
I made a list of every word I know my mutt Ace recognizes. I counted about 70 words, and they are provided at the end of this post.
Of course, Ace recognizes some words better than others. He knows words like “Ace,” “ball” and “come” no matter what. To understand other words, he has to be in a certain area because it only makes sense to him in certain contexts such as when we practice agility or when we get in the car. and some words like “crawl” and “stand” only make sense to Ace if he sees a hand signal. I also assume there are some I’ve forgotten and at least a few others my pet dog recognizes without me even realizing it.
It’s helpful to make a list of all the words your pet dog knows so you can try to increase the number of words on the list.
To help a pet dog learn a lot more words, Tamar suggests creating a pattern in the dog’s mind so he will learn to connect the pattern with the word. She says to regularly acknowledge “good” behavior by repeating the word for the action over and over when the pet dog is doing the action without being told.
For example, considering that I am trying to reinforce Ace’s understanding of the word “stand,” I will repeat the word stand, stand, stand when he’s standing still with all four paws on the ground. I’m not telling him to do anything. Instead, he gets attention and praise just for standing!
Teach dogs short words
When I made Ace’s list of words, I realized lots of of the “words” Ace knows are actually phrases. For example, “Get your toy” or “Where’s the ball?” or “Find Scout.” Al of these could be much simpler – toy, ball, Scout. When teaching Ace new words, I will make sure to be much a lot more precise.
Phrases can be confusing to a pet dog if the same words are used in multiple phrases such as “load up,” “get up” “hurry up” “table, up” and “back up.” Or how about the classic mistake of using “down” to indicate both lie down and don’t jump. Why not use the word “off”? Talk about confusing!
Some words I am working on with Ace ideal now include “back up,” “leash,” “Josh” “upstairs” and “which one?”
Ace normally takes awhile to catch on to exact commands. maybe he has a teacher who tries to rush him. He has a tendency to get either too ecstatic and lose the ability to think through problems, or he just stands there and doesn’t do anything for concern of being wrong. He waits for me to show him or to physically make him do the ideal thing.
My goal is to slow down, and as Tamar suggests, to allow Ace to think through the concept on his own. I don’t have to be so quick to correct, but instead I must encourage him to try. When I say a word and the wait a few seconds, I can see Ace thinking and I notice when it clicks. I love showering him with praise when he gets a command ideal for the first time.
I don’t learn very well when someone gives me orders or walks me through the motions. I need to try new concepts for myself, screw up a few times and think through the patterns.
Maybe this mutt and I have a lot more in common than I thought.
How lots of words does your pet dog recognize? What is the most special word she knows?
Words Ace recognizes:
Ace, Ace of Spades, Bad, Ball, Back up, Bang, Beamer, Bucket, Catch, Climb it, Come, Crawl, Down, Drop, Heel, Here, High five, Hug, Hungry?, Hurry, find it, get it, give me ten, Go long, Good, good boy, Go, Go lie down, go to your bed, I’ll be back, Jump, Kennel, Kisses, Leave it, Let’s go, load up, No, Off, OK, Out, Outside?, Quiet, Ready?, Roll over, say your prayers, Scout, Shake, Sing, Sit, Slide, Slow, Speak, Stand, Stay, Stick, Teeter, That’s right, Tire, Touch, Toy, Treat, Tunnel, Turn, Up, Wag your tail, Wait, walk it, Watch, Water, Weave, Where is it?, Which one?, Yes, You coming?, You’re staying