Im teaching Kaiser commands like sit, stay, go, but with words in spanish, because everyone close to him, including me, is going to talk him in spanish, but an uncle told me that i should teach him the commands in english, since words are shorter an easier for dogs to learn/remember. I don't belive thats a fact/problem but it kinda makes sense. (he sent a dog to training years ago, i guess he learn that there)

So anyone has an opinion about this?

Thanks

I call BS on that.  

Dogs don't understand the meaning of words, at all, ever.  They understand sounds and tones.  

There is zero difference between Spanish and English to a dog.  

You could teach your dog "Gato" for Sit and "Monkey" for Down and there'd be no problems whatsoever.  

That said, "Sit" is better than "Nosotros" for Sit not because the word means Sit but because it is one syllable and sharp.  That's better for a dog, no doubt.

One syllable sounds are best.  Yes, English has more one syllable words, but you could just as well teach "fa" for Sit and "Do" for Down.

In your situation, go with Spanish.

I agree with Jeff. In fact, we've taught Layla commands in both English and German and she's picked them up equally easily. I would find it very hard to believe if you did a study and found it takes dogs taught in Spanish longer to learn commands than it does in English or another language. Dogs have no concept of different languages, so whether you teach them one word or another for a certain command, they will learn it just as easily.

Yep, I have to agree with Jeff and Liz. Living where I do (Mexican border in the US) I know several families where the parents speak only Spanish and the kids are bilingual - and so are the dogs. They respond to commands in either language and don't seem to have any idea that there's a difference.

seattlesibe wrote:

I call BS on that.  

Dogs don't understand the meaning of words, at all, ever.  They understand sounds and tones.  

I'm of this opinion and understanding. There are times I don't even use words with my dogs but they still do what I want based on the tone of the sound I make. It used to drive my trainer nuts because I wouldn't consistently say no when Kenzi would do the wrong thing in class. Sometimes I make an 'ack' noise in the place of no. She responds the same to either though because the tone is the same. Mine also don't need a word or noise at all since they are also taught by hand actions and respond the same way to a certain hand movement as they would if I had told them to sit or lay down.

seattlesibe wrote:

I call BS on that.  

Dogs don't understand the meaning of words, at all, ever.  They understand sounds and tones.  

There is zero difference between Spanish and English to a dog.  

You could teach your dog "Gato" for Sit and "Monkey" for Down and there'd be no problems whatsoever.  

That said, "Sit" is better than "Nosotros" for Sit not because the word means Sit but because it is one syllable and sharp.  That's better for a dog, no doubt.

One syllable sounds are best.  Yes, English has more one syllable words, but you could just as well teach "fa" for Sit and "Do" for Down.

In your situation, go with Spanish.  

Maybe i explained wrong, i meant the sounds/tones as you said, not the meaning of the words, thing is that if i teach him with "Sit" and everyone tries the spanish word "Sentado" maybe he wont obey (unless im there or they know that the keyword is in english) because the sound/tone, and also as you said enlgish and german could be better for the one syllable sounds.


Thanks for your opinions

One thing I know a few people who intentionally used a different langue with there dogs so that if they were in a training class or at an obedience thing the word "come" didn't mean anything to them so it was easier for the dog.

I honestly think it doesn't matter. I speak both English and Spanish. All of Lycus' commands were taught in English, but when I ask him to do something in Spanish, he still understands. As others have said, they understand the sound and tone more than anything. Other family members that only speak Spanish will talk to him and he will easily understand.

I think proper understanding and communication between the both of you will be the most important thing. As long as he understands the command with certain tones and sounds that you want him to know, he will be able to understand.

In my opinion, you should teach him his commands in which ever language you feel most comfortable with. Either way, he will be most likely to understand and listen.