Bilingual commands?

[AngusMcDubhsMom]

Dave and I are having a discussion about bilingual commands. There is a German man in our class with a GSD who gives the dog commands in German, not English. The instructor is fine with it and I think it's pretty cool. Dave however is of the opinion that if the dog ever needs to be corrected by someone else, he won't know what it being said. I'm just curious what people think. Sometimes, just for laughs, I'll give the dogs a command in French, but I think they recognize the hand signal as well and have no trouble with it. (since my Newfs and I are Canadian I thought it would be fun to have them know both words). :lol:

Opinions, anyone?

 

[DAWNMERIE]

I have heard of this....and what I heard is not a good story. As long as the dog understands both meanings I think it's a pretty neat idea.

 

[wrknnwf]

I agree with your husband. In an emergency, it would be highly important that your dog responds to ordinary commands from anyone. The only reason I can see to use foreign words is if you DON'T want the dog to respond to just anyone, such as a police dog who needs to respond to his handler and no one else.

We once had a gal in our puppy class that decided to use German. The problem was that she didn't pronounce the words correctly, so even a native German speaker couldn't have commanded her dog in an emergency. I'm pretty sure she was just showing off.

Now that doesn't mean you can't use foreign words (if it doesn't confuse your dog), but teach them commands in your native language first. Then you could pair that (English?) command with the foreign word, so your dog gets used to hearing both of them. Frankly, I think it would be too much trouble.

I also heard that the command for "down" is "leg dich" in German. I'm pretty sure I would pronounce that incorrectly and surprise or offend someone. And then there's "sit" in French...asseyez-vous (or toi). I can see me hollering "Hey you, asseyez-vous! Leg dich! People would think I was cursing at my dog! hahahahahaha

 

[TerriW]

Well, police dogs are routinely trained in another language, often German, for that exact reason: they're not to take commands from anyone else. But I have a funny story about my Scooter, whom I adopted. His original name was Snoopy (not too original, I guess) and when we got him that poor dog was as dumb as they come. He didn't follow ANY commands. He watched us intently, but just couldn't hack it. Then I found out he was owned by an Arabic speaking family. Poor Scooter! His new family didn't know HIS language! :lol: He is fine now. He particularly understand things like "Hershey's kiss being unwrapped upstairs two rooms away". :roflmao:

 

[Bär]

Bär was raised bilingual , english and german. He knows all comands in both languages . It can be done, just like children growing up with two languages .

 

[miriamstolle]

My husband taught our first dog commands in both English and Spanish, frankly, our non fur babies learned most of their Spanish from training the dog (English is our first language) It was fun to be able to do both. I have noticed that with our puppy now, that he hasn't bothered though. Sigh. I wish he had. I don't know why, but I just liked that our dog could do both languages, with or without hand signals.

 

[Milliejb]

Millie knows a few Portuguese commands just that basics... Oh and "give me a kiss" xx

 

[NewfieMama]

Zuzu's release word is French. I wanted something that you don't commonly hear so she doesn't release unintentionally, from me or someone else.

 

[Capri]

It is YOUR dog, not for someone else to command. I live in the UK and command my dogs in Finnish (mother tongue), and always will. It is important for me to be able to speak to my dogs in the language that I find most comfortable and that comes out with ease even in difficult, stressful and quick situations. I find it terrible listening to some commanding in a language other than their mother tongue. It is always forced, the tone changes much more than it would with a language that you spoke with ease.

In reality it does not matter what language you speak as long as it is YOUR chosen language. Not chosen by anyone other than you.

I have an Italian friend who has dogs and commands them in English because she wanted everyone else to understand and be able to command her dogs. I do not see the point in this and I feel terrible for the dog, because her vocal commands are very forced, unnatural and very variable.

 

[CMDRTED]

Jane I was laughing so hard while reading your post, I was snortin coffee.:coffeedrink:"leg dich" is pronounced with the emphasis on the "i" and the "h" sounds more like a "k" in emphasis. Best I can do, but I got it right away.:uglyhammer::goofy::lol:

I tend to agree with Capri. It's easier using the language your most familiar with, But I can see depending on the type of dog, where you would not want people to know how to command your dog. I have a friend whose dog takes 90% of the commands in english, and 10% in Russian. The Russian Commands are for in the house if there is an intruder.

 

[NewfieMama]

I tend to agree with Capri. It's easier using the language your most familiar with, But I can see depending on the type of dog, where you would not want people to know how to command your dog. I have a friend whose dog takes 90% of the commands in english, and 10% in Russian. The Russian Commands are for in the house if there is an intruder.

This. My husband and I have lived and worked in France, I did my Master's degree in French literature. I don't have any problem with Zu having one command in French. Our trainer actually suggested finding a less common word, one you'd be unlikely to say often in casual conversation (like OK, yes, good, etc.) - since we live in the States, using a French word worked for us.

If we still lived in France, I'd probably have chosen English - because the word is too common there.

My daughter took it without a hitch, and she has very little French.