2007-01-06 01:08:32 · 20 answers · asked by Kerrin M 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
They may recognize a word or phrase, but in general they haven't a clue as to what you are saying. They mostly respond to the tone of your voice.
2007-01-06 01:11:17 · answer #1 · answered by cat m 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not Really, though what my dad tells me is they are like humans but not that intelligent. They understand you by your tone of voice. They can also understand you by looking at your facial expressions though their eye sight ain't that good (they are colorblind). But, from my point of view (I am 14) he understands everything I say. I tell him every single secret to him and I wish he never speaks cause if he will then maybe all of my secrets come out. I also wanna give you an example, I was sick and I was advised bed-rest by doctor and I serve my dog food. Because I was advised bed rest I couldn't serve him food. My dog kept lying on the side of my bed and did not eat food for 2 days until I acted all normal and gave him food. This shows if they don't understand what we are talking they surely have a sixth sense. Another example is when someone has parked the car outside our house and is about to come upstairs to the second floor he starts barking like crazy so we know that there is someone coming upstairs.
2007-01-06 01:39:03 · answer #2 · answered by Chromey 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not completely. But they gain enough information from voice tone, facial expression, and emotion to form a relatively simple idea of what you are talking about. So if you say, "NO WALK" in a growly voice, the dog will understand that you do not want to go for a walk. Equally, if you said "Walkies" and expressed positive emotion towards a known associated action, then the dog would comprehend what you are talking about. But if you took it to the second level and said, "Walkies" then said "No Bad Boy, SIT!" the dog would be confused..... err, and so would I....
2007-01-06 01:13:04 · answer #3 · answered by SupperMan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By repetition and association they learn tone of voice and certain 'key' words. If you say "do you want to go out?" they probably have picked up on the word "out" so it seems they understand the whole sentence. Same with "want to go for a ride in the car?" they know 'ride' or 'car'. Also what you do with your hands without even realizing it, trains dogs too.
Try saying to them "I am so upset with you right now I'm angry" but say it in a happy, upbeat tone, positive and see how he reacts. Got eye contact with a wagging tail? he has no clue what you said but your tone was happy and thats good enough for him.
2007-01-06 01:21:45 · answer #4 · answered by Janet C 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They can, you just need them to memorize the word.But don't say the word constantly. For instance when you call a dog you just met by a name that you made up it won't know that you are even talking to it. But if you have had a dog that you have owned for a long time, and you call its name it will probably reconize its name. So yes, dogs can talk if they have memorized the word.
2007-01-06 01:25:01 · answer #5 · answered by Michael (the) Williams 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer is yes at least with my dog. If we are talking about money trips or the news he tunes out. When we are talking about something of interest to him he will tune right in and it has nothing to do with our tone. We will sit at the table and talk about taking him out or clipping his nails or taking him for a ride or going to the vet and there he is looking at us. He even has become a great speller. I once had a cat who was deaf and did sign language for her and she understood, well most of the time.
2007-01-06 01:20:06 · answer #6 · answered by Deb 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with the first answer and of course they understand if you take the time to work with them you will realize they do because for instantance say you tell your dog to shake and it is trained. It will shake. Or sitting or laying so on... They understand just like us humans but in a different way. They communicate in there own laugage as in we talk in different laugages sometimes as in spanish, chinese an so on. Hope this helps
2007-01-06 01:12:49 · answer #7 · answered by blazin_cripz_2006_0wner.sheena 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes in a way, by the tone of your voice, and when you say certain words that they recognize and the expression on your face, if their eyesight is good enough.
2007-01-06 04:27:39 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think when he cares, he tries to figure out if i am talking about him, or feeding him, walking him, taking him for a drive, clipping his nails, giving him a bath, etc. it's more a tone of voice thing, though there are about 10-12 words that he can pick up really really easily. like "bath." he hates them. or "walk." he loves those!
2007-01-06 01:11:58 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dogs 'understand' voice tone, and inflection -
They can be trained to certain behaviors when certain 'voice' commands are given.
2007-01-06 01:11:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋