Your Dog Doesn't Understand English

“Well of course dogs don’t understand English, I’m not an idiot!”, might be exactly what you’re saying to yourself right now.

And for most of you, this might be completely obvious, but for others, whether they’re aware of it or not, the idea that our dogs don’t come out of their mother’s womb knowing the entire English language (or the language that you regularly use) is a bit foreign to them.

This is not, of course, meant to blame or ridicule anyone, but to point out that sometimes the most obvious things in life, and particularly the things about ourselves, can sometimes be the most elusive for us to understand.

Take the example of a dog parent cueing their dog to “Sit” with little success.

How many times have you seen someone endlessly cueing their dog to “Sit”, with expectant eyes and a hopeful heart, and the dog is either ignoring the parent, looking completely puzzled, or both?

And while it’s entirely possible that the dog parent has expertly taught their dog how to sit, and in that exact moment, when someone was watching, something about the environment made it difficult for the dog to listen to their parent; a lot of the time, the reality is that the parent never taught the dog how to sit in the first place.

How is that possible?

It’s possible because, deep down, some dog parents believe that their dog should already understand what the word “Sit” means.

And this assumption can have real world consequences for the dog parent and the dog alike, because, quite often, when the dog doesn’t perform the desired behavior, the dog parent can label the dog as being defiant, stubborn, dominant, disrespectful, spiteful, etc.

In other words, instead of coming to the conclusion that the dog doesn’t understand due to a lack of training, a dog parent can come to the conclusion that the dog does understand, but is actively disobeying/ignoring them, just so that they can make sense of what is happening (or not) in front of them.

This then quickly leads to a frustrated dog parent that, because of their belief that their dog, “should know better”, gets angry, upset, and at times, violent, as a result.

And of course, this doesn’t just apply to simple cues.

I’ve seen someone literally getting within 2 inches of their dog’s face, who’d been getting pulled incessantly by the leash by their dog, and admonishing him with this exaggerated and threatening plea: "I’M GOING TO SAY THIS ONE LAST TIME, NO…MORE…PULLING!”

That said, I’m fully aware that people are just trying their best and using the limited number of tools that they have available at their disposal, never mind the fact that we all act a bit differently when we’re stressed, or at our wit’s end.

But do you see how the simple story that a dog should already know English, or more precisely, the meaning of the words that they’re saying in English, quickly dovetails into an emotionally-charged situation for both the dog parent and the dog?

So I invite you to get the idea that your dog understands English out of your head, and to instead resolve to do it the “right way”.

“How do I do it the right way?”, you might be asking.

The simple answer is to train your dog by utilizing positive reinforcement training methods that reward the behaviors you want and that tap into your dog’s way of learning.  

REMEMBER: Your pup is merely trying his/her best to figure out how to behave in our alien (to them) world, and is looking to you to teach them.

This mindset change will save you hours of frustration (or remove it entirely) and give your heart more room to love and adore your dog even more.

Happy training!