Understanding what your dog understands?
I know dogs have a pretty good grasp on human languages and that the average dog knows about 100 words, a well trained dog about 160 words and some exceptional dogs can learn even more words than that, but how do we know which words they actually understand and which they are merely "responding to" because they like the sound of the word or the word sounds like a word they already know.
Such as if I say shake, or or any other word remotely like "steak" my dog becomes excited for the word "steak" is his treats. I swear sometimes though my dog shows signs of knowing bits of my conversations with a friend or when I am on the phone. The mental case even reacts to the t.v. at times. I'm not sure though which he understands and which he is relating to a word, words or even terms and maybe even responding to tones of the voice he knows already.
Is there a way to test your companions intelligence for just pure grins and giggles?
Thanks in advance! =)
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
As a dog trainer we learn to recognize which words dogs understand and which words aren't comprehended and work with them accordingly. Your dog will read your body language faster than understanding your words, however the more time you spend talking to him/her and working with him/her, the more you will learn how to communicate with your dog. Do a google search for "testing the canine intelligence" and see how many fun things come up. It never ceases to amaze me how much dogs can understand while I'm training, you simply need to know how to watch them.
Dogs hear the words but they also listen to the tone we use and see our body language as we speak also incorporating smell and feel at times to understand us and yes they do comprehend whole sentences and bits of our conversations especially when it's about them. Since they're creatures of habit they also associate what we say with the time of day.
Dogs also have a great sense of humor and they have different moods just like we do.
Knowing this I don't think any test you give would be accurate.