Teaching Dogs Commands That Don't Know English

Sometimes we get dogs in our care that have come from a home that speaks a different primary language other than English.  The language barrier isn’t too much of a problem if the dog knows hand signals for commands, but even if they don’t, “et-et” works well as a corrective tone to a bad behavior.

Pecos Bill

To communicate commands to non-English speaking dogs, as well as boost their training skills, use a dog that already knows the commands in English.  This dog, in effect, becomes your translator.  For example, take two dogs (one who knows English and the other who doesn’t).  Put them together and give the command “Sit” (hand signals in correlation with the verbal command is always a good idea).  Praise both dogs when they perform correctly.

[pullquote_right]Hands-down, dogs are the BEST teachers, for other dogs; they know their language better than we do![/pullquote_right]

There is just no greater way to reach a dog (that may be looking at you funny when you start to speak) than by using another dog to convey your message 🙂

Cheers!