Do dogs really know their names? Will they respond if you call them some other names?

Answer 1

Some dogs will come no matter what you call them and some will come if it sounds like their name. It depends on the dog and how their trained. Obviously they know the words we use because hunting dogs and the like won't even budge unless you give them the proper word. Police dogs will only respond to a police officer and not a civilian which proves their knowledge. Dogs are smart enough to know when you mean them and when you are just messing around.

Answer 2

The dog doesn't know that the word is their name.. What they know is that when you say it enough and they respond to it by coming to you they get praised. If you change the dog's name, it won't respond to it right away, because he doesn't know what you're saying. They love the tone of your voice when you call, and they learn that a happy tone mixed with the word (their name) gets an even happier responce when they come to it. If a dog has had a bad experience with the name, they will not come to it.. Example: A dog has the name oscar... the previous owner would call the dog, dog would come, owner would abuse or punish the dog excessively... Oscar gets adopted out to a new owner, they keep the name... The owner has a problem because the dog will not come when they call, nor respond to the name.. They change the name to Calibur.. Dog is happy, learns the name.. Problem solved.

Answer 3

They do know there names. If you call a dog by a name that is not theres yes they may respond partialy but you will not get the attention that you want from them. They will probably just slant there head to the side and thats it. When you call a dog by it's name you will most likely get all of there attention, unless you have a dumb dog that is.

Answer 4

I believe it's more they recognize the sound of their name, and probably the tone of voice you use as you call it. If you use a name that sounds a lot like their 'usual' name, and use the same tone of voice that you usually use, I'm pretty sure the dog will respond to you.
Out of two puppies I 'babysit,' only one of them responds to their name so far, but he also responds to at least two other nicknames. His sister, however, doesn't respond to her name very much.
I think they just have to get used to it.

Answer 5

They know their name and a lot more. A news story on TV recently showed a dog that knew and would retrieve 200 toys when asked for by name. The scientist looking at this brought additional toys to fool the dog. They asked for the new toy. The dog was smart enough to know that it had not heard that name before and retrieved the new toy.

Answer 6

Dogs know their names, but they also respond to the tone of your voice. If it sounds like you're calling them they may come regardless of the words you use.

Answer 7

I don't know ... but my fiances dog will do whatever I tell him even though I speak a different language to her than the one she is used to.

She knows all the commands in English ... but when I say them in Czech she will still do what I want her to do, which is a little bit strange.

But then again most of the words sound similar like sit = sedni ... or lie down = lehni ... on the other hand get the ball (prines micek) doesn't sound anything like it but she'll still get the ball .....

She is just sooo smart :)

Answer 8

Dogs respond to the sound of the first letter in their name. For example my dogs name is Daisy, she also comes to Doo, Dooshie, Dummie, and a few other d names. They don't necessarily "know" their name persay, but they do reconize the sound of the first letter in their name.

Answer 9

Yes I believe that Dogs know their names. My dog's name is Sabrina and sheturns or looks at me when I say it even if I am not calling her.

Dogs I believe will answer to other names or "nicknames" if you call them that often. Sometimes I will call Sabrina 'Mutt'. My sister's dog's name is Lizzy but she will come to 'Floppy' or 'Slizzy'(started to get on to one of them almost said Sabrina but changed to Lizzy at the last moment so Slizzy was what I said)

Music4life_always

Answer 10

Yes, they do. After Repitivly calling them that, they get that that's what they are called. It's the same thing with saying 'sit' or whatever, after the repitivness of saying sit and then them sitting, they understand what they're doing is 'sit'ing. My two dogs will also come to their nicknames. Such as the one's name is winnie, and sometimes we call her pooh bear, and she responds to it, and the other one is Bailey, but she is starting to respond to Bales.