Does my dog speak Spanish?

Question

Ok this is a really weird question. Thanks to anyone who can help.

I recently adopted a 1 year old rescue dog who I was told had no training. However he does understand the word "No" perfectly, he's potty trained and he walks very nicely on a leash.

The other day he was going nuts barking at the neighbor out the window when I was practicing my Spanish and I told him "Calmate!" and he immediately sat down and stopped barking. So I'm thinking maybe he does have training but the problem is he doesn't understand English!

I've tried what I think other Spanish commands would be with him but I'm not sure I'm saying them right. Sit (Sientate?), Come (Ven?), Stay, Lay down, etc.

Can anyone provide a list of what the most common dog commands are in Spanish?
When I say Seintete and Ven he just stares at me blankly, but I'm hoping I'm just using the wrong words.

It is not the words but the tone of voice that all animals respond to. - ray76, Dec 18, 2015

Thanks - I'd still like to know what native speakers say to their dogs. The words wont hurt if that he undertands. - 00353cbe, Dec 18, 2015

I think they do hear words a bit. Platz, the German word carries very well for 'down/stay', I prefer it to any other. - annierats, Dec 18, 2015

Ray is 'spot on', animals, dogs and horses in particular, I have noticed are sensitive and respond to their owner's tone of voice! :) - FELIZ77, Dec 18, 2015

I believe that, like with children, it is only effective if you have taken the time and trouble to build up a relationship of mutual trust (2 way) and respect ...otherwise why should they respond to you, their owner?! - FELIZ77, Dec 18, 2015

http://www.livescience.com/48920-dogs-hear-words-and-emotions.html - bosquederoble, Dec 18, 2015

Anyone who has owned a dog will tell you they understand words. They do undrstand signals and tone, but they definite know words. Say "treat", "walk", go for a ride" to my dogs and they will go nuts, whatever tone you use. - 00353cbe, Dec 19, 2015

Answer 1

Animals indeed learn commands in the languages of their owners. California Highway Patrol Officer Dogs obey commands given in German. I knew CHP officer who had a narcotics-smelling dog who only understood German.

Here's a link to a whole bunch of commands. They come at you one at a time and even give the pronunciation. A little Google searching will probably give more results.

Spanish dog commands

Thanks Daniela -- do you know if these are the real words? I'm just asking becuase some sites can just provide the straight translation, but a real spanish speaker might actually use other phrases. - 00353cbe, Dec 18, 2015

I checked these out, they are good, and pronounced correctly. My dog is a Gringo. We all speak to him in English :) By the way I'm from Rota Spain, so I'm a "real" Spanish speaker. - Daniela2041, Dec 18, 2015

Awesome! Thank you so much for your help! - 00353cbe, Dec 18, 2015

:D - jrschenk, Dec 18, 2015

Are you a really really real Spanish speaker, Dani? I ask because you did not capitalize "Spanish." ;-) - Winkfish, Dec 18, 2015

We Spanish speakers do not capitalize languages. This only proves that I goof in my English once in a while. jejejeje. ♥ - Daniela2041, Dec 18, 2015

The names of the countries are capitalised but not the languages themselves, ex's: Spain = España but Spanish = español; France = Francia, but French = francés. - FELIZ77, Dec 18, 2015

Yes, I knew you all would find a loophole!! ;-) - Winkfish, Dec 19, 2015

Answer 2

¡ Ven! Come here! ( I also hear ¡Venga!)

¡Siéntate! ( Sit!)

¡Echate! ( Lie down!)

¡Junto! ( Heel! Actually, I have never heard this, but it is the normal translation but not that many Spanish owners take their dogs out for walks, I've hear ' no tires', for don't pull, rather than ' heel'. )

¡Callate! ( Be quiet, shut up!)

All these can be followed by anumber of insulting terms, of cours, or the dogs name, or a tit-bit can be handed out, this all depends on the handler. The most commonly hear, and the one I mostly use myself, is ¡ ven!. It is frequently ignored.

I live in Andalucia, the place is over run with dogs, everybody has at least three dogs but I have actually never, ever heard ' Junto!'' . Still, I vouch for the others as being in everyday use. - annierats, Dec 18, 2015

Well I've tried several of these on my dog - seems like he only knows No, Calmate, and I think he knows Callate (or he might just stop barking because I'm talking to him) I guess who ever his owner was before just wasn't very nice in English or Spanish. - 00353cbe, Dec 18, 2015

Hi Annie , thanks , whatever word you use with most animals they sense the tone , it is no use saying " callate" with the same voice as "good dog" . - ray76, Dec 18, 2015

"¡Siéntate!" (Sit). Saludos! - LuisCache, Dec 18, 2015

Thanks Luis. And of cpourse, Ray, the tone is most important, personally I believe horses cannot distinguish words but are sensitive to tone, whereas some dogs understand some words. - annierats, Dec 19, 2015

And I've decided to start using ' junto', it sounds more threatening than ' heel'.. - annierats, Dec 19, 2015

Answer 3

For anyone's interest,and I am not going to weigh in on any side of this:

http://www.livescience.com/48920-dogs-hear-words-and-emotions.html

In the trial, the researchers played a clip of the owners saying the words "Come on, then!" but with the emotion electronically stripped out of their voice, and with the sound changed so the voice itself could no longer be identified, Ratcliffe said.

But other times, the dogs heard the owners say the same phrase, but with words garbled so they could not be understood. This emphasized the intonation and emotional content of the speech.

The researchers found that dogs turned their heads to the right when they heard words without the emotions, suggesting the left hemisphere was processing that speech. By contrast, the dogs turned their heads to the left when they heard the emotional words, suggesting the right hemisphere was processing that content. And when they heard pink noise, a kind of static, the dogs didn't turn their heads in either direction.

Parallel processing

Just like dogs, humans process language in the left hemisphere and emotional content in the right, suggesting that dogs and humans have at least some similarity in language processing, Ratcliffe said.

"We can say at least that they seem to be getting both the verbal and the emotional, because they have biases for both," Ratcliffe told Live Science.

However, it's still not clear exactly what the dogs understand. As a follow-up, Ratcliffe said, the team would like to give the dogs other commands with different types of information removed, and then see what they actually do. For instance, if a dog is told to stay, will it actually sit still indefinitely? (Those types of tests can be tricky because dogs may understand commands but choose not to follow them, Ratcliffe added.)

Though fascinating, the findings aren't all that surprising, Marc Bekoff, author of "Rewilding Our Hearts: Building Pathways of Compassion and Coexistence" (New World Library, 2014), wrote in an email to Live Science. Humans and dogs go way back, and humans and dogs have coevolved.

Very interesting -- Ive heard dogs have the equivalent vocabulary to a 3-5 year old depending on the breed. They do understand body language and tone alot better than words, but they do know words. - 00353cbe, Dec 18, 2015

I agree, and the words are language specific. So now I've rendered my opinion even though I said I wasn't. going to. Oh well. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 18, 2015

I agree too, but they vary, depending on breed, greed etc. Wolfie understands but ignores, my Spanish greyhound is very scatterbrainded but clever as regarding her own comfort. - annierats, Dec 19, 2015

Answer 4

Actually -- I had done a google search on this and found a few sites that gave different answers. So thats why I posted, but after I asked the question I went back and looked a little deeper into the Google search and found an old Spanish Dict thread on the same question -- http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/122982/dog-training-commands

I guess thanks to all the people who answered the question in 2010 but If anyone has any other suggestions let me know. Thanks!!

You can place that sentence ( or any that you need )the box below "Ask a Question " and old posts will come up. - - ray76, Dec 18, 2015

Thank you That is very helpful advice. I didnt know that I will check before posting next time. - 00353cbe, Dec 18, 2015