How well can dogs understand the difference between commands?

I was just curious how well dogs can understand what us crazy humans are trying to communicate to them.

I realized that i was doing something possibly pretty stupid...

when i just want oakley to come by me (he is straying too far away, going upstairs when he isnt supposed to, etc)..i usually say "oakley, come back here!", or "get back over here!" which he is pretty good about responding to, and comes back to where i am, but not necessarily all the way to me, which is exactly what i wanted.

But now i realized, when i call him over to me, to come directly to me, i usually say either just "come" or "come here" (and a NOW gets added on to that if he is being a butthead and standing on the top of the stairs being like "haha, you cant get me"

and then he usually comes, and i can grab his collar, but with some extra "oakley, over here"s

Am i confusing the heck out of him, or can he distinguish between them...

is there a better command i can use if i want him to just come in the same room as me, or closer to me? or is that just unnecessary? Sometimes it is useful though when i am doing things that make it difficult for me to make sure he is coming all the way to me (i make sure i can get ahold of his collar)



Also, can dogs easily confuse "bow" and "down" or other similar words?

I know Oakley is a smart doggie, but i wasnt sure if there is a certain limit, or confusions that dogs may have when it comes to understanding humans

I'm the WRONG person to answer that, since I talk to mine like I would an intelligent being and they respond . . . I don't know that it's the words or whether they're picking up on some other level as sometimes they respond before I even say anything, but I really do believe that most dogs (or cats for that matter) rise to your level of expectations.

Most likely Oakley is understanding the Here and the tone of your voice changes as you become more insistent on him coming to you. It is advisable to teach hand signals to dogs, they seem to respond better to different commands when a singnal is involved. Also I notice you say you grab his collar when he fianlly comes to you. Instead try giving him lots of pets and loves and rubs on his body when he comes. By grabbing his collar when he obeys you you may make him shy of comming to you, lots of praise instead of grabbing!LOL! As for the knowing the difference of down and bow, same thing, incoroporate a hand signal in there so he isn't confused about what exactly you want. Hand singnals are great! Gunnar my seven month old GSD knows english commands, german commands as well as hand signals. Also remember tone of voice means a lot!

yeah, i am noticing that more and more...i talk to oakley in full sentences a lot, and sometimes he responds better, sometimes not.

I just want to make sure i am not going to ruin the "come" command, and have him think its ok to come just out of reach, and then when i need to get him, i cant.

So far i havent had that probably, i just want to make sure i am not going to develop it

Dogs are amazing! They can make us humans look so silly! One or two word commands are better that a sentence.. I always try to remember that I am teaching English to a 1 year old.. I tell my daughter that raising a child and raising a dog are the same.. Puppy and Parrots Teach them like a puppy and talk to them like a parrot..
Also try to give your dog a hand signel when you are giving the command. it really helps. My guy spirit can do just hand signels or both.. When I want him to come.. It is flat hand across the chest palm down and "Come" Down is hand up like a "stop sign or the old "How" in cowboy and idian movies. I use the peace sign for "Bow" and move my fingers from the peace sign "up" to "down" while saying the command.
But then there are the times when they look at me like " what the heck are you wanting us to do and why would we do that even if we wanted tooo"
Good Luck

Just save the "Come" command for those times when it's important for him to be at your side. Practice it periodically just like you did when he was learning it and you should be fine.

But do you get what I am saying about grabbing his collar when he comes? If you continue to do that he won't want to come. Why come when all that is going to happen is he is going to be stuck by you. Lot's of praise and love when they come, it should be the happiest moment of their lives when they come, not a bummer which it is if you grab him. Work on having him come and then releasing him immediately to go back and play so that come is a fun, fun, fun time Some dogs become "collar" shy and will discontine comming because there is no "great" reward!

ahh, lol, when i said i grab his collar, i totally said that wrong...i dont like harshly grab it at all. i just make sure he is close enough (cuz before, even when he was close enough, he would back away whenever we tried to get his collar to put his leash on, or put him back in the kitchen, etc) i always pet him and everything, and just at some point, will just touch his collar, or hook a finger, sometimes...i doubt he even notices, cuz i am petting him with the other hand...and he gets lots of praise too. I just want to be sure he is coming to me in such a way, that if it were so necessary that i needed to put a leash on him, or get ahold of him, that i can

i usually pat my thighs when i want him to come directly to me...or if he is giving me that look like "ehh, i would rather stay here, what are you going to do about it" i make the "come here" motion with my finger, lol

are those ok hand signals?

as for sit and down, he does have hand signals for those which he responds to pretty well sometimes with no voice, sometimes, he needs the voice, cause he is too occupied by the blade of grass that just may have moved funny... we also have hand signals for shake and high five...but you kinda have to have hand signals for those, lol

and thats about the extent of his tricks

oh wait, and stay too...he knows that with a hand signal, but usually wont respond to it fully without the voice (he'll usually stay for a little bit, but then get up...with the voice he almost always stays until he gets the okay)

I also speak to Teddy like I would speak to a person lol. The only thing that is different is I am very repetitive. He responds very well to these types of commands but he also responds well to single word commands. So I think it would be possible to teach him either way. Having commands that are more than a couple of words seems to have worked for others as well so I can't see it causing you any problems. Does he respond better to sentences or single words?

yeah, i am also trying to teach him "go play"...which i dont really know if he fully understands...but its my release to him, when i make him check up with me.


When he is playing in the sprinklers, and its been awhile since he has even bothered to look at me, i call him, give him some love, then tell him to go play...

i mainly taught him to come, when off leash, when he was playing with the sprinklers...something i know he loves doing, and wanted to make sure he didnt think the fun was over once he came...he got treats and praise, and then got to play even more! he had a blast

Whatever hand signals you choose are good as long as you stay consitant. When you say Oakley Come as soon as he gets there big rewards happy happy joy joy. Never call him to you and punish him, he will associate coming with bad things and won't come. Make the commands simple and help him get it right. Also it is a good idea to say the dogs name before the command, it is an attention grabber and he will know that you are talking to him and going to say something important to him.

That's funny, I was thinking about the topic not so long ago. I rarely say 'come'. I just say things like 'inside', 'come on boys' or just call their names. They come 90% of the time, even Tips. But my guess is that they are just used to getting tasty treats or attention when they come see me, so they just try their luck, lol.

With Gunnar I say here and rub my two fingers together, he comes flying everytime! I'm so proud of my boy ! I also think it is pretty cool that he responds just as readily to English, German, or hand signals. Can't wait to blow everyone away at basic obediance in Sept.!