How well do dogs understand the human language?

Answer 1

A very smart dog can understand up to 200 words or commands. You need train or speak on their level though, not yours. The word 'no' is really too generic to use. Words like sit, stay, off, drop work best. These are distinct monosylable words that can easily be understood.

You might want to try using the book "playtraining your dog" to understand how your animal thinks.

Answer 2

How well do you understand theirs...? (and humans are supposed to be smarter!)

Dogs learn by response / reward (or punishment) and not by and rational process as we would define it (hey, Fido, sorry but you will have to prove me wrong by calling me up on the phone without any help). Some are simply more intuitive then others.

(what's that Lassie? Timmy has fallen down a well on the Johnson property and has been treading water for HOW long? - good girl!)

.

Answer 3

I heard that dogs can learn to identify around 200 words. I believe they reserve these words for things that mean something to them. My dog will perk her ears up to almost any word pertaining to food. She also jumps off the couch and runs back and forth if I spell S-N-A-C-K. She also can pick the words walk, ride, car and leash out of a sentence and come to immediate attention from what appeared to be a sound sleep.

Answer 4

a dog understands very well. i used to have a dog that would literally cry when i cried and would rub his nose with mine in a sense of comforting me. i loved that dog! ever heard the saying a dog is man's best friend....it's b/c dogs have human-like instincts, not only do they follow commands but they read your body language and knows when youre sick, angry, happy or sad.

Answer 5

if you are refering to our body language then they understand us better than most people think, if you are talking about our verbal speach they have the capacity to understand as many words as a typical preschooler, but this varies by breed, enviroment, and social interaction(training). many performing dogs know up to 20 command words used in various conbinations to get the desired effects on camera. any dog which has not been trained to recognise words will respond to no verbal information rather than the verbal language.

Answer 6

Not very well, they understand tone & body langauge better. Try this: say the most nasty, vile things to your dog in a happy, upbeat tone while petting them - they will react with joy! It is so funny.

They can learn some words, though. Their names & training commands, for instance. My dogs will always respond to 'cookie' & 'out', no matter if it is shouted or whispered in the next room!

Answer 7

watch the dog whisperer that man can make a dog listen and behave itself in 3 mins.

Answer 8

all animals learn from rote, which means doing it over and over. they do not learn the language per se, they learn from ur tone of voice and gestures

Answer 9

good they get used to it and start learning they're very intelligent

Answer 10

i have no idea