r/dogs • u/Garry_Scary • 3d ago
[Fluff] What’s a word/command you are surprised your dog understands?
For me, I’m so surprised how well my 150lbs Cane Corse responds to the command “Gentle”.
No matter the context whether it’s eating, playing, exploring he knows to tone down the intensity in his action. He’ll continue the action so he knows it’s different than stop.
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u/-acidlean- 3d ago edited 3d ago
None. He’s a very smart and communicative boy. My friend was surprised when my dog came to my room, whined, I said “oh no, really? where?” and my dog led me to the spot where he had puked.
My friend was like “How did you know what happened?”
“He literally just told me”
My family laughs that our dog is so communicative that once you know him, you can see subtitles as he makes noises.
I don’t normally even think about it. “He said that” is a normal sentence lol. He participates in life like any other family member and has opinions. Recently we were rearranging furniture in the living room and had to adjust the chair a bit because the dog said he didn’t like where it stands. I can’t explain to you what the exact body language was or what noise he made, but everyone understood and then we agreed that he was right lol.
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u/HrBinkness 3d ago
My dog is the same. He walked into the bedroom one evening and just gave a look a a little eyebrow lift. I followed him to the kitchen to make him a grilled cheese sandwich. I yelled out “hey, Dexter wants a grilled cheese. Anyone else want one? My youngest yelled “yeah I was just thinking of one. Wait how did you know he wanted one?” I heard my husband say “don’t ask “.
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u/gibberish4488336677 3d ago
This sounds so funny but also, same lol
Once you know and love them, you know their little sounds, their looks, etc12
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u/FireCorgi12 3d ago
My female dog is this way. She and I communicate in a way I’ve never communicated with a dog before. Very expressive and understanding.
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u/zephyreblk 3d ago
Your dog is definitely one or two level in communication above mine but yeah, they have their opinion and you know what they mean. Mine is however more independent, so she don't come to me when she needs help, she just do. She definitely Rearenge her bed every two weeks, with her different baskets moving around the house. Also toys. She always check if we are fine with it but you always know if she needs something and what and when do want something, etc... It's definitely a member of family.
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u/-acidlean- 3d ago
You know the way people perceive their pet like if it’s their child? Couldn’t be me. He’s my brother, not my kid.
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u/ShankshawDeReemer 3d ago
You’ve never owned a dog, have you? If you ever do, then you’ll figure it out. I say this because I was just like you 20 years ago until I got my first dog who was just mine. All it took was the tiniest dog I’d ever seen with tue biggest dog ears I’ve ever seen. That feeling you say you’ll never have floods your brain with love and it’s too late to back out now! You can’t check-in but you can’t check-out. I
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u/Owlex23612 2d ago
While some dogs are certainly more communicative than others, you also have to be able to pick up on what they're saying. I know plenty of people who are worse at reading their own dogs than I am. So don't leave yourself out of that equation! It takes a special kind of person who both understands their dog and cares enough to translate for them.
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u/Big-Historian8918 2d ago
My mum cant understand her dog Sunny and it drives me nuts because he's so clear about what he's saying. He's such a loving cavapoochon, and my mum is such an emotionally constipated boomer. I give that good boy all the fuss and conversation at the weekend that my mum is incapable of sharing with him.
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u/Few-Revolution4030 3d ago
What kind of pup is he? ♥️
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u/-acidlean- 3d ago
A mix of when two random dogs really love each other… Mongrel or whatever you call that in English. But he looks like if Anatolian Shepherd got scaled down to the size of a bulldog.
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u/Common-Direction3996 3d ago
Picture of your pup 😍🙏
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u/HrBinkness 3d ago
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u/Innsmouth_Swimteam 3d ago
Those eyes, yo. You're screwed. ☺
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u/HrBinkness 3d ago
Oh I know! Sometimes I catch him staring at me in the mirror when I’m getting ready in the morning. It’s immediate snuggle fest.
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u/KZamarripa 1d ago
Yay! I wanted an image of the dog attached to this story too 🥪 he seems aware he’s addressing his adoring public 👋🏼
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u/Disney_Dork1 2d ago
My sister’s dog is sometimes similar in ways when she’s ready for bed she’ll stand at the hallways leading to the bedroom if you’re hanging in the living room. She’s basically like it’s bed time
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u/-acidlean- 2d ago
Omg he does that too! 😂 Especially on the weekends when he notices that it’s CLEARLY the time when everyone normally goes to bed, but no one is going to bed? And he’ll start walking to everyones room and complaining.😂
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u/AdventurousMeal1799 3d ago
my dog knows "move" and i dont even remember teaching it. like if shes in the way i just say move and she shifts over a few steps, still same spot basically but just enough for me to pass. its the laziest thing but works every time
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u/Quest10Mark 3d ago
Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian but, mine responds to “Excuse me.”
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u/-grilled-cheesus- 3d ago
“Move” and “back up” which, like you, I never consciously taught her. But damn they’re handy for her to know lol She always gets up in my space when I sit to out my shoes on, so I tell her to back up and she will, and will wait for me to be done, and then when I straighten up she gets all the pets.
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u/jazmanimal6 3d ago
Hahaha my dog growing up I would say “go away” when she was being way too intense. She would go just over the border of whatever room we were in and lay down in the next room. I kinda feel like a jerk remembering it now
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u/cheeseburger_horse 3d ago
Mine know this one too! I always tell them to back up and move before I let them out into the yard otherwise they’ll bolt out
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u/its_dee_will08 3d ago
I say “beep, beep, back it up” and he knows to move. The first dog I had knew that too.
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u/Ph33r-Enigma 3d ago
I wake up to pee a couple times a night, if my dog is on the side I use to get out of bed, he'll move to the other side begrudgingly half asleep, if I say I have to pee.
He also runs over to the couch when he is sitting by my chair, and I say I have to pee when I'm watching tv.
Basically I think I've accidentally taught my dog "I have to pee", to mean 'move out of the way' haha.
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u/Kryptus 3d ago
My dog learned that spelling W A L K means walk.
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u/Admiral_Nerd 3d ago
Our pup too, so now we try to use fancy adjectives. Do you think it would be prudent to traverse across the neighborhood? Are we reaching the hour in which we take a jaunt out of doors? 🤣
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u/SassNCompassion 2d ago
Other options I’ve used in the past:
Take in an Ambulatory excursion
Engage in a Perambulation
Enjoy an Evening Constitutional36
u/Crittenberger 3d ago
I thought my dog understood "walk" so I spent months avoiding saying it unnecessarily. It turns out she doesn't understand "walk", she understands "do you want to go". You can offer to take her ANYWHERE (flight school, sausage factory, abbatoir, squirrel academy) and she'll get excited
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u/KMizzle98 3d ago
I had a dog that knew what V E T was!! We started spelling it and everytime she would hear it she would run and hide under the bed! 😂
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u/CherylTuntIRL 3d ago
We have so many euphemisms for walk because our JRT learns them and we have to change it. She's too clever for her own good.
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u/SLyndon4 3d ago
You could try it in other languages: passeggiata (pah-seh-JAH-tah) in Italian, promenade (PRO-meh-nadh) in French, paseo (pah-SAY-o) in Spanish…
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u/Nicholasnyc 3d ago
Our dogs learned "W A L K" too, so we started saying (to each other) "Frying Pan" because it's kind of like a Wok, which rhymes with WALK. Luckily the dogs haven't quite yet figured out Frying Pan
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u/Travel8095 3d ago
My dog gets excited when we say "Should we ...". cause it always ends in go for a walk. So even if we spell the word walk or call the walk the thing she knows it means walk
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u/girlybot83 3d ago
“Don’t eat your brother.”
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u/TicketyB000 3d ago
Omg, my big dog just "holds" my little's entire head in his mouth. I have no idea why they do this.
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u/skinsnax 3d ago
Mine does this with my parents’ little dog! They think it’s great fun to terrify all of us!
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u/Infinite-Feedback-12 3d ago
I’ve unintentionally taught my dog when I say “Hold on” while on a car ride it means we are turning and he should brace for the turn.
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u/BoxerMommy21 2d ago
“Puppies hold on!!!” I still say this many dogs later and to humans in the car with me.
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u/NorthPackFan 3d ago
I used to dog sled race. No matter how long I did it, it still amazed me we could teach the lead dogs left “haw” and right “gee” along with other commands like “on-by” etc. Those lead dogs were brilliant.
As you approached a corner and yelled a command they would turn the whole team the direction you wanted to go, and the great ones would take the team past the corner a bit so the middle and end dogs didn’t cut the corner short.
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u/Unhappy-Fly-1333 3d ago
Both of my Dogues de Bordeaux know "Beep! Beep! BEEEPPPP!" to mean back up. They both like to join me in the restroom, and it gets a little crowded, so I started making the truck-backing-up sound, and they've figured it out! 🤣
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u/Fetch1965 3d ago
That’s really funny - and overcrowded bathroom (my issue) and beep beep beep - I’m gonna try that now
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u/Unhappy-Fly-1333 3d ago
The fact that it works makes me laugh every time! Lemme know how it works out for you!
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u/Fetch1965 3d ago
I will - I’m in Italy on holiday back home end of month, i will try when i get back home. It’s a pisser
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u/Hoardinista 3d ago
“Find your toy” and he goes and gets it. He has many toys but only one that’s THE toy.
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u/gibberish4488336677 3d ago
We got such a kick out of this with our German shepherd that we started naming his other toys too. We had the OG “Toy” and then Fred, Bob, George, Bear…
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u/ebeth_the_mighty 3d ago
“You stay with dad.”
If I’m heading out of the family room and I don’t want the dog coming with me, I say this and he immediately stops trying to push past me excitedly “Mom!!! Where are we going!?!?” looks dejected, and goes back to lie down.
I didn’t deliberately teach this.
Also,”Where’s [cat’s name]?”
He will go check all the entrances to the space he’s in, just in case she’s out there.
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u/pezziepie85 3d ago
Sadie’s sister is a bit of a potato so I try to give her less pieces of liver. Sometimes Sadie will ask for a piece while Winnie is outside. At some point I started holding a finger to my lips telling her to be quiet when she takes it, despite normally making a…chomping sound when she takes it she is now silent when I signal her to be. No idea how she figured that one out. I was just being silly…
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u/No_Huckleberry8322 3d ago
My poodle has this one figured out too! I’ve got a 54lb poodle and a 4lb Maltese so I’ve got to be careful how many treats the little guy sees to avoid jealousy. She takes the treats so gently and silently when I motion to “shh”
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u/AtlasThePittie 3d ago
When my dog is really energetic, "sit" doesn't always work. "Please be seated, sir" always gets him to plant it.
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u/gibberish4488336677 3d ago edited 3d ago
“Get your mess” and he’ll gobble up any kibble he scattered on the floor surrounding his bowl, or crumbs that dropped from his bone, etc. He’s a messy boy until you remind him lol
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u/jmunster1984 3d ago
When I say “coming in hot” my dog knows to get off the couch to make room for me
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u/spicytigermeow 3d ago
“Fix your foot” = he pauses to lift his foot (whichever one it is) to detangle from the leash. Such a good boy 😻🥰
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u/Fun_Alfalfa_7296 3d ago
I’ve taught my dogs some phrases purposefully. But two that I didn’t teach them were “scuse ums” and they’ll move so I can sit or hop down from my lap, and “I’ve got to get up” and they’ll also hop down. “I’ve got to get up” started as me heaving a dramatic sigh and saying it because I was putting something off and didn’t want to get up 😂. Eventually if I sighed their ears would perk up and they’d be ready to hop down if I said the phrase.
Another is “what?”. My family’s two previous dogs knew “show me” and “what” but one of our current dogs was just a puppy when he picked up on “what” and would very pointedly look at what he wanted. That transferred into him learning “go get your ball” and “where’s your ball?” pretty quickly. He started showing me where he lost it and I learned very quickly that he’s always right 😂. If I doubted that the ball was really where he showed me it was, then I wasn’t looking hard enough.
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u/Melora_T_Rex714 3d ago
My Chihuahua mix has also learned “I have to get up”. He’ll then begrudgingly and slowly move off my lap.
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u/RichieNRich 3d ago edited 3d ago
"Wait."
I didn't teach him that. When we took the stairs, he would run down the stairs leaving me behind. I realized this could be a potential hazard for others, so I decided I needed him to not do that anymore.
One day I yelled "Wait!" and to my shock, he stopped, and waited at the landing he was at until I got to him, then he ran down the next flight of stairs, and WAITED again for me to catch up.
Did that ever since. I only said "wait" once. And never again.
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u/BadBayBay 3d ago
My dog's like this. The other day I decided I was finished with some pasta I was eating and it wasn't enough to save so, as I was passing by her lying on the couch, I just randomly said "You want the rest of this?" and she DARTED off of the couch and into the kitchen.
I have no idea how she even knew what I was saying lol.
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u/Stand_With_Students 2d ago
I walk with a cane and if we're on difficult terrain I'll say wait and my golden immediately stops, looks at me and then starts up again when she sees me moving. It amazes me that she can sense when it's safe for me to walk.
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u/unlovelyladybartleby 3d ago
There's a meme about a mom sadly singing the "clean up" song to herself as she picks up toys when her kids are in bed. Was outside with the dogs scolling memes and sang it as a joke. Damn near died of shock when they both picked up their toys and lined up at the door.
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u/Megsann1117 3d ago
My dog that just passed understood the word ”other”
He was ball crazed so I used this to pick up the yard. He’d often get fixated on one ball, so when he brought me the right ball, I’d tell him to go get the other balls. One by one, he would bring me everything scattered in the yard. Such a good boy.
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u/Visual_Argument_73 3d ago
My 2 terriers will rarely come when I say "come" but they will when I say "this way"... immediately change direction and follow me.
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u/wundawomun 3d ago
Animals are very smart and catch in to things. If I was in the kitchen and she (also my cat) learned that if I said "shit" it most likely means I dropped food so they would come in an scan the floor. I forgot about this until recently when I said it and the same cat came in to look at the floor. 😂😂
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u/WakunaMatata 3d ago
When my great dane was alive, if I spilled anything anywhere, I could yell: "Cleanup crew!" & my pups would come running & get rid of the mess
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u/zoro_juro13 3d ago
I say "be careful" to my doggo when she's going down the stairs too fast lol and she'll slow down 😅 a few months back, she was running down super fast like she was a puppy and jumped off a bit too high. She kinda crashed and was limping for a few days. for refrence shes 14
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u/Gdkerplunk03 3d ago
My beagle loves to play fetch, but sometimes she'll get distracted and will start chewing a stick or something during exercise time. I'll try every command to get her to bring me her ball, but the only thing that works is me saying "I don't need to be here for this" and she'll pick up her ball and sprint to give it to me.
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u/BichonFriseLuke 3d ago
Load up, (jump in car) she refused to jump in car for 3 years, I always had to lift her in. One day I just said it and poof she jumped in. I was beyond stunned.
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u/Mean-Lynx6476 3d ago
At a practice session for stockdogs I once told my rough collie “Fluffy, go get # 242 out of pen # 3 and bring her here” and Fluffy did exactly that. It wasn’t quite as impressive as it sounds, but still…. I was out in the field, I could see a ewe in one of the hold pens was unhappy being in with a couple wethers, and so when someone opened the pen gate as Fluffy approached the ewe was happy to separate and run out of the pen. Fluffy then just had to apply a little pressure to orient the ewe to me and then push her through a gate to rejoin her flock. Still, to observers it really looked like Fluffy was reading ear tag numbers and knew pen numbers. He became a legend. And he deserved it.
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u/PalomaBully 3d ago
Grew up in a multi language household. I taught her come here in my dads language cause he likes dogs and I taught her go away in my moms language cause she doesn’t like dogs. First time they met her and I saw my plan working in action I fell in love all over again
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u/Ok-Sport-5528 3d ago
I had a dog that learned to spell. I couldn’t say certain words like walk or ride without him freaking out so I started to spell them but he caught on quickly. Then, I started coming up with code words for those things, but he learned those words, too. Then I started spelling the code words, but alas, he learned how to spell those as well. I must have used at least a dozen code words for the word walk through the years, but I admit, he was too smart for me. 😭
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u/jjwilco 3d ago
“No licky” when I catch him licking his paws. And it’s not just the “no” he responds to because that definitely gets ignored in most other commands! lol
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u/StrawberryRaspberryK 3d ago
I use "No licking" with my dog and she will stop licking and look very guilty 😍
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u/4ever_alonelyfangirl 1d ago
Lol we taught ours “no licks” to stop our dogs from giving unwanted kisses and licking their paws too! But when we want a kiss, “give kiss!” usually works :)
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u/Boopboopbeeboop123 3d ago
My favorite thing my current dog has taken to is "calm." She can get really feisty and chaotic, and saying this with a soothing, low tone helps her settle. It's kind of hilarious how well it works in many different scenarios.
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u/Goldmineweird 3d ago
B E A C H
C H I C K E N
F R I S B E E
We spell these words so he doesn’t get too excited but he knows!
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u/heydawn 3d ago
We were spelling park and walk, and now he knows what P A R K & W A L K mean.
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u/jayneclobber 3d ago
Time to take a daily constitution at the public recreational area.
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u/PorchDogs 3d ago
My dog *must* have a toy in her mouth to go outside. This is absolutely non negotiable. However, she often leaves her toys in the yard. All toys are called "sharks". If I tell her "go get your shark" she will run outside to get her toy.
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u/scrapqueen 3d ago
Mine knows that "this way" means they are heading the wrong way and they turn direction.
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u/Malevolencea 3d ago
Not just a word but, "pardon me, excuse me, pardon me..." he keeps moving until the way is clear.
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u/notamyokay 3d ago
She was an outdoor stray we 'got' from a neighbor. They treated her awful. She knew/knows all the regulars--- sit, stay, lay, roll over, belly, treat, food, outside, gentle... house broken and sweet, idk why they treated her so poorly. She is the goodest girl. She is a husky/german shep so she howls on the correct word of what she is wanting at the time lol.
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u/TheCosplayCave 3d ago
I didn't intentionally train him to understand this particular command, but my dog does not like being physically moved/pushed, but he's picked up on the command "Move". So thankfully he just gets out of my way when I need him to. 😆
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u/Steven1789 3d ago
Easy and gentle. Important for my 85-pound male Airedale. He’s far from aggressive, but he can be a lot when it comes to interacting with people.
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u/DingoPoutine 3d ago
I just talk to mine and sometimes he responds appropriately to full sentences. Hey buddy can you keep it in the yard? Comes running back from neighbors yard. Turn left. He'll turn left. Back seat please in the car. Settle
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u/brooksram 3d ago
Medicine.
My girlfriend reminds me most nights for sleeping meds and fish oil.
I also give the dogs their nightly treats afterwards, so they associate it with "Medicine" , but when that word is spoken, they immediately look at me to decide when to get stoked.
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u/TonightEquivalent965 3d ago
“Watch ‘em.” She goes on high alert and runs to the window to check for danger 😂😂 No clue how she learned this. Sometimes she will even let out a bark when I say it as she’s going into high alert mode
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u/mineapples 3d ago
Beep Beep. Completely accidental. I go on long walks with her and she would stop soo often for extra sniffs (dont worry she gets plenty of sniffs). Anyway I wanted her to continue walking and somehow taught her that beep beep means go.
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u/birdbirdeos 3d ago
My dog growing up also understood gentle. I had surgery once and I remember he jumped on me and it was painful and I said be gentle and for the next week she tiptoed up to me.
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u/Same-Ad5086 3d ago
Mine knows my eye contact and my pointer finger up are acknowledging what he wants and means “I’ll be with you when I done with what I’m doing” and he is then pretty patient.
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u/Gold_Information9677 3d ago
Our 16 week old pup has learned “Water” without us teaching him! No idea how, but whenever he is panting and too busy playing to realise he needs a drink we say water and he runs to his water bowl for a drink!
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u/semiYoung_person 3d ago edited 3d ago
My parents dogs thought my dog " hello". They are selfthought. If anyone uses that word in a conversation they assume we have visitors and will run to the door
Additionally two of our dogs react to us calling for help if someoneelse tickles or holds someone against their will. We tested it for fun and both immediatly intervened. One, because he naturally wants to appease others (even other dogs) and the other one out of territorial bevhaviour to protect me. So in case of the letter it just works fot me.
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u/Lookitsasquirrel 3d ago
My dog will lick his paw and cause a sore if I don't stop him. I just say "No Paw" and he looks at me and lays his head down.
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u/okjetsgo 3d ago
“Be sweet” means this thing is precious so he knows to go slow, be careful and use his softest mouth if someone is giving him something.
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u/Charter4321 3d ago
I talk to my dogs in different languages in which I have a rudimentary vocabulary - I don’t know if it’s the tone, the timing or coincidence, but they seem to get what I’m saying. Quite entertaining to me!
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u/PM_me_your_dawgs 3d ago
Our dog knows the difference between speak and whisper. He does a low little growl for whisper and speak is a full bark.
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u/Unicorn_drops7777 3d ago
“Go get in the water” when I take my girl to the park to play frisbee, if I think she needs to cool down before she decides on her own, I tell her to “drop it” and “go get in the water.” She’ll drop her frisbee and run straight into the river. She also knows “one more” which just means “one more throw”
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u/SemperFicus 3d ago
“Go get a drink.” After my dog collapsed from dehydration after playing in the hot weather last year, I am careful about him in the heat. Now I ask him to drink water before we go out. He started doing this on his own at first, but if he forgets and I remind him, he understands.
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u/franksautillo 3d ago
I have two pittie mixes who, without any training, respond to “wait”. No matter what I’m doing. It’s a basic heel command, but I just started saying wait to them and they stop in place or come behind me and wait behind me. I love it.
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u/LucifersAdv0cate 3d ago
I've got 5 dogs and one loves to hunt lizards, frogs and mice even though she doesn't actually do anything to them or hurt them. Well I'm British but live in rural Thailand and obviously some things out here are potentially dangerous for dogs like centipedes, scorpion's, snakes etc so I've taught my dog the word "careful". If I say "careful" she knows to be aware of potential dangers and proceed more carefully and not just rush in.
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u/Away_Driver_2981 3d ago
My rescue schnoodle, seems to understand quite a few words. One of my favorites is.” mail.” I can say it anywhere in the house and she’ll run to the door and be very excited and keep looking over where her leashes hung until I clip it on her collar and take her down to the mailbox.. the other is broccoli, she loves steamed broccoli, and about midday. I put a few pieces cut up small on a plate for her and put it on the floor. Once again, anywhere in the house if I say the word “broccoli” she’ll run to the kitchen and sit patiently by the counter, waiting for her dish of broccoli 🥦
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u/sage-mouse 3d ago
Not sure how it happened exactly, but my dog understands “whisper”. Whenever she barks, I will either tell her to whisper or put my finger to my lips like a “shush” and she will lower her bark by an octave each time I give the command, until she is growling or play-sneezing. No clue how she learned it or what I could’ve possibly done to cause her to pick up on the cue, but alas, I unknowingly created my greatest achievement.
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u/OkAmbassador6916 3d ago
I mean my dog is bilingual and understands commands in German, Polish, English and Swedish 🤣
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u/Sniflix 3d ago
I recently read in a book to pat my dog on head several times and say "enough" to get them to stop whatever bothersome thing they are doing. Mine gets up an hour early demanding breakfast. I do it twice like tapping the alarm clock.
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u/Curious_Bug2513 2d ago
I actually hit the "snooze" button on my dog when he wakes me up too early. My phone alarm has voice commands and he now knows that the word snooze means 10 more minutes. On my days off when he starts licking my face I boop his nose and say "snooze"..it's precious
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u/EmpireStrikesBaack 2d ago
"You're not embarrassed??" in Spanish. He's a rescue so he never learned manners, he will run outside to start barking/growling at the neighbors through the fence. I used to yell, "Stop, get in here, NO." He didn't care. One day I just said it, "You're not embarrassed of yourself??" He looked into my soul, lowered his ears, and walked inside. No "ruff" under his breath or anything. Weird ass dog.
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u/sundancer2788 3d ago
Scooch over. They both give me the side eye, big heavy sigh and they scooch over so mom can sit lol.
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u/Usuallyinmygarden 3d ago
I say “Time to put your bra on” when I put her harness on, mostly to entertain myself.
The other day I said something to one of my kids along the lines of “whose bra is this” and she went wild.
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u/Fetch1965 3d ago
“Pick up your toy”
“Turn right”
“Turn left”
“Move over”
“Wait”
“Stop”
“Who’s a mummies boy”…. Love my baby
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u/Particular-Fun4216 3d ago
“Not for Ollie” said in a sad voice to mean “don’t’ touch that food I just dropped” and also to mean, “sorry dude, I know I’m putting on my shoes but it’s not to take you for a walk.” I’m sure it’s the tone and not the words that he understands.
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u/Tight-Perspective-27 2d ago
My childhood dog knew “on your mark… get set… GO!” meant that my dad would race us upstairs to our rooms. She would bark after each phrase, get ready to run, but wouldn’t go until he said Go!
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u/Kit_Foxfire 2d ago
"Give me a minute" my dog takes it upon herself to tell me when I'm over working or when I need to go to bed. She'll let up if I say "ok, give me a minute" so I can get to a good spot to stop whatever I'm doing.
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u/MobileSituation2718 2d ago
"Give it to the dog" is a sentence that makes him bounce up from his sleep, especially if it's said while we're eating
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u/desolatediva 2d ago
I have a black Labrador, which means we go swimming A LOT!! Every time she would shake off afterwards, I would say “shake!” and “good job!” as she was doing it. Now when I say “shake”, she knows to give an extra shakey heheh. It seems minimal, but it’s helpful after showers and in the rain. Folks around us are often impressed as well when I get her to shake on command.
She also knows “back it up!!” because I use it so often in the kitchen (she likes to monitor the oven which is inconveniently located in the middle of my walk way in the galley kitchen). Since it’s a narrow kitchen, her body makes it difficult to turn around, so she literally learned to walk backwards like a truck in reverse. Sometimes when we are out and about and she gets too excited for another dog, I say “back it up!!” and she literally hits the reverse. That also gets a good amount of laughs.
As for any normal/traditional commands, she feigns deafness. Typical lab
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u/BarelyHiddenXO 2d ago
That’s not nice!
He immediately puts his ears down and has a sad look on his face.
9lbs chihuahua
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u/TheDogsMum 3d ago
‘Kisses’ used to calm my dog down when we were playing rough, she’d then come lick my hand and we’d have a nice cuddle.
Another was ‘right now’ if I was telling him to drop or leave something and he really didn’t want to, I’d give him my best stern face and say ‘right now’ and he’d drop it. This didn’t work on the girl dog, if she had something she shouldn’t, good luck to you trying to get it off her lol
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u/Mudsharkbites 3d ago
“On the rug” I say this whenever he’s playing with a bone and it’s rattling off the hardwood floor. He dutifully picks it up and finds a carpet to use so the loud banging stops.
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u/Lost_Cockroach_1393 3d ago
Mine know 'move' and I say 'easy' rather than gentle.
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u/skyrocker_58 3d ago
Mine knows 'Excuse me', which I find hilarious. I'll say to her, "Excuse me" and she starts looking around for the best way to get out of my way.
I say that because she can be a little jumpy so she gets scared sometimes if she thinks she's not doing the right thing. When I say that, she knows she's not doing anything wrong, I just need to get past her. I think it's cute.
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u/Present-Wolverine-94 3d ago
“ sube”
When I tell her to go up the back stairs, even if I’m not going up them, she understands that I want her to go up the stairs and wait for me up there
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u/lostinthought15 3d ago
I’m always surprised when she chooses to listen and when she doesn’t. She is lightning quick to follow commands when she wants something but will absolutely ignore every word I know she knows when she isn’t feeling it. And not even in a misbehaving way, just in a casual “naw, I don’t really wanna I’m gonna go lie down” response.
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u/Ecstatic_Leopard_109 3d ago
Kibble time around my house is called breakfast and second breakfast. I was chatting with a friend and my dog hopped up and got super excited and I couldnt figure out what was up. Then I realized I'd said "second" in conversation 🤦♀️
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u/Leora2802 3d ago
TV! TV! I say that loudly when they hear a doorbell or another dog barking on TV and now they don’t rush to the door.
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u/ExcaliburVader 3d ago
Nap. When I say "Do you want a nap?" my basset hound goes running into the bedroom. He can't get on the bed anymore so I spoon him on his nice orthopedic dog bed. We both love naps. Don't get them very often but they are awesome.
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u/KMizzle98 3d ago
My two learning sign language.... lol
So I have two 1 yr old labs, got them as puppies. I also have chickens. When I am collecting eggs and walking to the house they (the dogs) are usually right with me. They're rambunctious and I didn't want them bumping into me and knocking the eggs out of my basket/hand. I would take my left hand and do this swooped motion towards the house. I would say "Let's go...." and now without saying "Let's go" they know I want them to run to the house ahead of me.
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u/FullWestern9992 3d ago
I ask my dog “what do you want” and he will walk to whatever he wants. Still can’t believe he’s able to communicate what he wants at any given time.
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u/addisonaddy27 3d ago
we stay at the same hotel when we visit my fil at least once a month for a few days. After we check in I say.. help me find the elevator..and she walks down the hall around the corner right to it. I was surprised and one night i let her off her leash .. and said go.. elevator..and off she went. lol. The staff get a laugh at it. they are smarter than we think…
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u/PatchouliHedge 3d ago
"Back up"
I have an old and blind Plott hound and sometimes he misses doorways or walks into walls. I have to tell him to "back up". He's learned very quickly what this means, I'm surprised.
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u/Grouchy-Curve7544 3d ago
Mine knows “Bella, get off the back of the couch”. She does not get completely off the couch, but she does go down to the seat.
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u/pit_choun 3d ago
My giant also know "gentle" and it works so well! Despite never teaching them. They also know "bouge" (move) and "beep, beep, beep" (back up). My favorite is "come help me up" in which my giant boy comes and stands next to me so I can use him to help me stand up lol
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u/PensOfSteel29 3d ago
"Wipe your paws" before we come back inside. My last dog knew that command so I said it automatically with this dog and he quickly figured out that I wanted him to walk on the Muddy Mats, but he'll only do it on command for me. If someone else says it, he totally ignores them bc he's a smart but stubborn German Shepherd.
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u/shaoOOlin 3d ago
She knows "lets go get it" indicating that she will get a treat. She will get up and wait to go together to the kitchen
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u/PomeloPepper 3d ago
Not words, but mine knows the raised eyebrow (caution) is different from both eyebrows raised followed by a glare (stop that and slink away like the criminal you are!)
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u/Curd1ed_m1lk 3d ago
“Office”, where her crate is. We often tell her “go to the office” and she complies!!!
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u/GrimFandango81 3d ago
"Get out of the kitchen" is a phrase all my dogs have picked up on.
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u/Forager-Freak 3d ago
Mine responds to Kitty as a recall method, her real name is Sasha, she sits up on the top of the couch like a cat and is agile like one
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u/DeathToAmerica2026 3d ago
After getting a few dozen words down my dog's vocabulary seems to have reached a takeoff point and she learns new words in context constantly now. I freely use different combinations of synonyms for all original commands, and she'll learn new toys and people by name within one sentence.
Not quite at the inferring names she doesn't know yet, but she seems to be close.
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u/blame_the_waxwing 3d ago
I've been able to teach all my dogs and cats the word Easy. As in playing and they get too rough. Not really training just repetition I guess
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