What Language Does a Dog Speak?

In Europe, there is a joke about languages. It says that French is the language for love, Italian for food, English for money, and German……for dogs! It is a silly joke. Dogs understand any language equally, provided they can hear it in a consistent way and associate it with a specific gesture and tone.  Monosyllabic words are easier to memorize, but that does not mean disyllabic or multisyllabic words are out of dog understanding. If that were the case, Italian trainers would be jobless because Italian words have an average length of 2.5 syllables. My first dog was raised in a French speaking area, adopted by an Italian family and often in the company of an English-speaking friend. He would perfectly know what to do to get a treat: as-sis (French), se-du-to (Italian), or sit (English), and he would respond sitting nicely at the feet of the speaker, accordingly to the language of the command and independently from the number of syllables of the word.

Can We Define a Dog Vocabulary?

The vocabulary development of puppies depends on the growth of their brain and on the training they receive from the owner.

It is not until about three months of age that they recognize their own name, when 90% adult dog brain mass is present. When they are four months old, they respond to commands such as “COME”, “SIT”, “WAIT”, and “DOWN”.  At the age of six months, they respond to “HEEL”, “FETCH” and “STAY” and when they are nine months old, dogs can recognize names of individual family members. (IAMS 9)

With training, dogs can understand more than 150 words and intentionally fool other dogs and people. Boone, our neighbor’s dog, used to get very excited at hearing the word PARK because he associated it with a nice, long walk. To bypass this stage of inappropriate excitement, his owner started spelling the word park (P-A-R-K) when talking to her family members or friends about her intention of going to the park. This solution did not last long. After a few weeks of spelling, Boone understood that P-A-R-K was the place of his long walk! 

If you want to know more about dogs, their intelligence and their vocabulary, do not miss this video “How smart are dogs?”