Dogs can, and do, learn some human words. And our Perfect Pet classes help you teach your dog the words they need to respond to. We show you how to teach your dog what cues mean, simply and easily.
How much does your dog actually understand?
“Sit, OK, I’ve got your treats, let’s go….”
“No, we’re not going anywhere yet, I’m waiting for you to look at me. Good, OK let’s…”
“Will you stop pulling? Get back here then we’ll try again…”
I heard these comments (and many more) on Saturday as clients arrived for their classes. I loved that people were focusing on their dogs and there was lots of chat – but few of the dogs were listening or responding to their owners. The speech was just background noise to these dogs.
Because, much as I hate to admit it, dogs don’t understand English.
I talk to Gus – sometimes as a dog and sometimes as a human
Now, I chat away to Gus all the time – mainly because no one else listens – and he lies patiently while I babble away.
But if I need to ask him to do something I need to be clear in my communication and simply say the cue for the action I want him to take.
For example, if I want him to sit, then I can simply say “Gus, sit.” And he (usually!) will. But if I said, “Gus, I’m just going outside for a sec, so I’d like you to sit and wait here,” I doubt I would get any response from him. There are just too many words for him to decipher meaning, even if he recognise the odd one.
I understand there is a dog in the Guinness Book of Records who knows around 1500 words, but only when these are given as single word or short phrase cues. Even the cleverest dogs can’t understand normal human speech.
Dogs can, and do, learn some human words. And our classes help you teach your dog the words they need to respond to.
What our dog training course will teach you about communication
In our Perfect Pet course we show you how to teach your dog what cues mean, simply and easily. Each week we build on what was done the previous week so that by the end of the course your dog will know all the key cues and be responding to them well. You’ll also learn how best to ask your dog to do something – and get the response you want.
The next courses start Saturday 14th August at Kircubbin, or Tuesday 7th September in Bangor. You can find all the details and the booking links here.
But, you say, I don’t need the full Perfect Pet course, I’ve just got one specific problem – I need my dog to come back when I call. Or I just want my dog to walk nicely on lead.
We can help with those too.
We have two Masterclasses coming up this month:
- Our Reliable Recall Masterclass is next Saturday afternoon, 14th August starting at 2pm
- Our Wonderful Walkies Masterclass is the following week, Saturday 21st August also at 2pm
We’d love to see you there – and using simple cues!
Keep training and stay safe,
Carol
