They can probably understand way more words than you think
(Edit: typo)
I can understand people talking foreign languages about 70% of the time, using body language and tone.
That being said, my dog understands more words than I think, places especially. Double if he’s met bitches on heat there.
You’d be surprised how much dogs understand. My sister’s dog really seemed to understand my sister was pregnant and would point at her belly when asked where the baby was
The spirit of what you are saying is true, but no Dogs can understand a lot of words if they need to/are trained too. It is just far more useful most of the time for a dog to read your body language and tone than memorize a word.
Chaser, the dog who knows 1000 words, would like to bark at you. 🙃
It certainly depends on the dog.
I have two dogs and one clearly understands a certain degree of words, where as I think the other goes off of vibe. I can ask the golden if she wants water in a casual flat tone and she’ll look straight at her water bowl and ponder if she does.
Meanwhile, I can say “obbu do booboo?” in an excited upward inflection to the terrier and he thinks he’s getting a treat lol.
Even one of my cats understands the word “play.” I used to keep their toys in a closet and wanted to test her understanding, so instead of using the normal cat voice to say the phrase, I spoke in a flat tone: “Do you want to play?” She ran to the closet, just like always.
Um…yes, largely. That’s how the dynamic works.
What if the dog is autistic?
Oh you mean like every daschund ever?
The autistic missile.
