Those Amazing Dogs

Fun Phrases Dogs Know

Looking for a cute head-tilt? Ask your dog “DO YOU WANT TO…” and make it happen! Typically, it sounds more like “Do you wanna…?” and dogs seem to know that whatever follows is really interesting! Do you wanna treat? Do you wanna go for a walk? Do you wanna go outside? Go for a ride? Do you wanna eat? How did they learn that? It seems like they’ve known it since puppy-hood!

Here’s another one: “WHERE IS …?” Again, sound like “Where’s…” So many dogs know that means to look for something. Where’s the ball? Where’s daddy? When asked “where’s…?” most will prick their ears, go into high alert and start looking around before you even tell them what to look for!

Then there’s “Get..” as in “Get it!” Most often preceded by the word “go”, dogs just know what that means. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a dog that when told, “Go get it”, they didn’t try to go after something! Usually the nearest toy or ball.

Variation in Tone

Sure, it’s all in the voice. Your excitement and voice fluctuation when saying these things is probably all it’s about, but seriously… If you use the same excitement and say, “Big Bang Theory’s on TV ”, you just don’t get the same response… You might from your spouse, but not your dog!

I don’t know how many times we’ve heard from Holiday Barn customer’s that their dog knows what “Holiday Barn” means and will start doing the happy dance. Sometimes they just say “Barn” and their dog gets excited.

On the flipside, use the word “bath” in a sentence, and that creates a reaction all it’s own. As most dog’s would rather not get a bath, somehow, early in life, they learn that’s a bad word. Here’s one to try… “Do you wanna [slight pause] get a bath?” Watch the ears go up excitedly at “do you wanna…”, immediately met with drooping ears when “…get a bath” follows it. One of our customers sent us a video of his dog’s word recognition response. When he said “Holiday Barn”, the dog would get excited. He’d say, “Do you wanna go to the ‘Barn?” After repeating himself a few times… getting his dog all charged-up… he changed it to “Do you wanna get a bath?”, to which his dog immediately stopped and quickly walked away! Lol! Likewise, dogs sometimes learn the word “vet” and will run and hide if they hear their owner mention it.

Does your dog understand some words or phrases that surprise you? We’d love to hear them!