Probably yes, or at least they recognise the sounds.
Over 30 years ago, I first read the amusing stories by P. G. Wodehouse (and re-read them numerous times ever since). In one story, the woolly-headed Lord Emsworth addresses a dog with the words “Go away, sir”. I am still unsure whether this is the correct form of address, or whether Wodehouse was just trying to be funny …
My dog definitely knows the word dinner!! I think dogs can learn to associate certain words with certain actions (e.g. sit) and they also recognise tone of voice and body language (e.g. is my human excited and pleased with me, or are they cross). I don’t think I could ever have a conversation with him though. But my dog is great at communicating – whether he wants food, a walk, me to play with him, or tummy tickles – you just have to learn to speak dog!
Dogs can deffo learn different languages. My sister’s dogs are both originally from Spanish shelters and the commands like “stay”, “sit” etc when they first arrived they looked at you like you are a crazy person but if you said it in Spanish they would respond straight away. They are now both bilingual with their commands 🙂
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Clare commented on :
My dog definitely knows the word dinner!! I think dogs can learn to associate certain words with certain actions (e.g. sit) and they also recognise tone of voice and body language (e.g. is my human excited and pleased with me, or are they cross). I don’t think I could ever have a conversation with him though. But my dog is great at communicating – whether he wants food, a walk, me to play with him, or tummy tickles – you just have to learn to speak dog!
Amber VW commented on :
Dogs can deffo learn different languages. My sister’s dogs are both originally from Spanish shelters and the commands like “stay”, “sit” etc when they first arrived they looked at you like you are a crazy person but if you said it in Spanish they would respond straight away. They are now both bilingual with their commands 🙂