He can’t learn much he’s just a dog! Or… he’s too old to learn! Have you heard anyone say that? Has that thought ever crossed your mind? I mean really, how much can you expect from your four-legged friend?
Accccctuallly, their capacity for learning is endless. If your dog has learned her own name, then how much more she learns depends on YOU and the amount of effort and time you want to put into teaching her.
How big is your dog’s vocabulary?
What would be your best guess? How many words does your dog know? Does your dog know “Sit”, “Stay”, “Down”? Let’s see, do they know their name, Check! … “treat”, Check! … “walk”, Check! … “outside”, Check! … “car”, Check! … “vet”…hey, where did Fido go? Fido, why are you hiding under the bed?
I always knew border collies were smart…
A border collie named Chaser had been taught 1,022 words before her death in 2019. Watch this video to see her owner, retired professor, John Pilley, teach her a new word, MEOW! Besides proper nouns, she knows verbs, adverbs and prepositions. She was able to learn that common nouns identify groups of things, like “ball” means any round or bouncy object, “Frisbee” means a spinning disk or ring.
Chaser isn’t the only dog with a large vocabulary. If a dog is highly motivated, they can learn a lot. A dog named, Rico, learned over 200 words. Here’s a good article, Do Dogs Understand Our Words, you’ll enjoy. In it Julia Fischer, group leader at the German Primate Center’s Cognitive Ethology Lab explains,
“A dog’s use of human language depends very much on the willingness of the owner to establish a verbal relationship, to establish links between words and particular meanings.”
When Professor Pilley trained Chaser to identify objects at five months of age, he repeated object names 20 to 40 times each session to make sure she got it. (Do you have that kind of patience?)
Repetition, gestures, body language, and tone of voice all play a part in your dog understanding what you say.
What does your dog know? Maybe 10 or 20 words? Let’s build your dog’s vocabulary! I’ve been known to teach a dog (and her owner) a trick or two. Want a peek inside how I do it? Sign up for my newsletter and you’ll get a special invite to my next Tricks & Clicks Webinar This one is going to fill up quickly, so as soon as you get the next newsletter, open it up and hit REPLY to get into class. I’ll be looking for you there!
Also… my online Puppy Skills and Dog Skills classes will have openings soon. Contact me to get on the list. Discounts end Sept 15th.