Does a Dog Really Know Its Own Name?

1 Overview

So the question is: does a dog really know its name? To understand, we have to start from the beginning.

Words = commands

Some dogs can remember at least 200 words – border collies, for example.

Sadly, dogs don’t know the true meaning of each word. Take an untrained dog: before dinner you say ‘eat’, your partner says ‘supper’, and the dog is confused – it doesn’t know which word predicts the meal.

But if you both say ‘supper’, then every evening at that time – even if you meant to skip the meal – saying the word alone makes it prepare to eat: pleasing you, sitting straight, and so on.

Why is that? A few reasons:

1. Consistency

When everyone in the home uses the same words, the dog learns them faster. So the advice is always: whether punishing or rewarding, the whole family should stay in sync. (Unless you don’t actually want a well-behaved dog, in which case, ignore this.)

2. Word choice

Dogs may not know a word’s meaning, but they analyze the behavior tied to it and draw a conclusion – so using words correctly is very effective.

In English, dogs remember harder-sounding words more easily – T, R, P, and the like. Softer sounds like S, F, Z are harder to learn.

Chinese is far more complex than English, so many trainers pick short, simple words for training and naming, which dogs remember more easily.

That’s why more owners say ‘NO’ instead of the Chinese word for ‘no’ – ‘NO’ sounds firmer and sticks better.

A dog’s name

If you followed the above, what comes next is simple.

We all know dogs don’t grasp word meanings, but they act through association. So to train more efficiently, try changing how you use words.

How? Keep it simple.

Take a dog named Baibai. To call it over, most people say ‘Baibai, come!’ – some owners even say ‘Baibai baby, come let me hug you!’

The dog doesn’t understand ‘come’ or ‘come let me hug you’ – it only knows: when someone says ‘Baibai’, get to that person fast.

So next time, just call its name. Dogs remember short, simple words best – names and training cues alike.

So how long until a dog learns its name?

People change names; some dogs get renamed too. Following the rules above, a dog learns its new name in about two weeks.

Puppies learn faster; adults take a bit longer.

One more question:

Any other tricks?

Speak loud and high-pitched and it gets excited even if it doesn’t know the words; speak low and deep and it’ll likely look scared.

Why? You naturally speak that way daily; the dog remembers your volume and tone and reads them with your expression to guess what’s next.

So: simple words plus the right volume and tone is the perfect recipe for training success.

If you still don’t get it: if someone called you to ‘eat crap’ at dinner you’d think they’re crazy or picking a fight. But say ‘eat crap’ to a dog every dinner and in time it learns that phrase means dinner – it has no idea of the real meaning.

So while dogs don’t grasp literal meanings, they use their own association to read the behavior behind the words.