# German words for German Shepherds



## Vitai Slade (Sep 7, 2011)

I know it may sound silly, but I've always been a big fan of the German language. Though I only know a few words and phrases, I'm always eager to learn more when I can. Eventually, I plan to get a German Shepherd myself (when I move out of my apartment and into a house) and I'd like to train my dog using German key words only. Of course, I want to use the right German key words when I do (ie: 'sit' in German for sit, 'heel' for heel, etc.). Does anyone else do this? And if so, what words do you already know that you can share?


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## Big68stang (Oct 23, 2011)

This website is good for the commands as well as the proper way to pronounce them. 

Dr. P's Dog Training: Commands in Several Languages


Viel gluck mit seinem deutscher Schäferhund!


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## Sir Bear (Mar 9, 2012)

I speak German so I thought it would be a nice thing to do as well...problem is...nobody else interacting with Bear speaks German, and GSDs really pick up on word variation so it needs to be pronounced consistently. So unless everyone giving commands to your dog also knows it...I would avoid it. You want your dog to be able to respect the commands of others.

You could teach him German and English! I would just avoid teaching german exclusively.


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## SarahMichelle (Apr 8, 2012)

Bentley is trained in both German and English. English is for like around the house type stuff since everybody knows them and I use German during training time. Like "lay down" = just clam down and relax while "platz" is lay down but be ready for the next thing. 

I also use German for some tricks. Like I used to use the word "guard" for the trick where he goes and sits between my legs but I soon realized that most people dont like to hear someone telling their big black dog to "guard" in public, lol. So i switched it to Pass auf (guard in german).
http://www4.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/wav2/g-pas_auf.wav


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## Vitai Slade (Sep 7, 2011)

Big68stang said:


> This website is good for the commands as well as the proper way to pronounce them.
> 
> Dr. P's Dog Training: Commands in Several Languages
> 
> ...


Thanks for the link! I'll definitely be keeping it in my favorites.



Sir Bear said:


> I speak German so I thought it would be a nice thing to do as well...problem is...nobody else interacting with Bear speaks German, and GSDs really pick up on word variation so it needs to be pronounced consistently. So unless everyone giving commands to your dog also knows it...I would avoid it. You want your dog to be able to respect the commands of others.
> 
> You could teach him German and English! I would just avoid teaching german exclusively.


That's just it though. I don't really want anyone else giving my dog commands. Though if I were to teach him in two languages, how would I go about doing that for a single task? Teaching him two keywords for the same thing...



SarahMichelle said:


> Bentley is trained in both German and English. English is for like around the house type stuff since everybody knows them and I use German during training time. Like "lay down" = just clam down and relax while "platz" is lay down but be ready for the next thing.
> 
> I also use German for some tricks. Like I used to use the word "guard" for the trick where he goes and sits between my legs but I soon realized that most people dont like to hear someone telling their big black dog to "guard" in public, lol. So i switched it to Pass auf (guard in german).
> http://www4.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/wav2/g-pas_auf.wav


Heheh, I like 'Guard'. I'll have to teach my dog that trick. Does he actually guard you though? Or is it just a fancy trick? If he does actually guard you, how did you train him to do that?


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Vitai Slade said:


> That's just it though. I don't really want anyone else giving my dog commands. Though if I were to teach him in two languages, how would I go about doing that for a single task? Teaching him two keywords for the same thing...


There may be times when it's convenient for your dog to obey other people. Will you ever board him? Will he ever be left at the vet's for surgery or a procedure? Will you ever have a petsitter or leave him with friends or family when you go out of town?

It would be confusing to your dog for one cue to have several meanings, but many people train more than one cue for virtually the same thing, sometimes with minor differences. My dogs will respond to both a verbal cue and a hand signal for sit and down - two different cues for the same thing.

I also have formal and informal commands, and I use different criteria for each. You could do something like that with German and English commands. German would be very formal and specific, English would be less formal and more relaxed. "Come!" means one thing, (an immediately recall in front with an automatic sit) "C'mere" means another (usually used around the house), even though both require the dog to move towards me. "Heel" means one thing, "C'mon", and "Let's go" (walk with me in no particular position, usually off leash at the park, for the former, and my loose leash command for the latter) mean another.


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## jb_pwrstroke (Jul 9, 2007)

My female gsd knows both german and english and my pup us learning german now


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## Manny (Feb 6, 2012)

My male knows German, English, and hand. I speak Germenglish (my version of German) while the rest of the family speaks English and we all use the same hand signals. We are doing the same with our female. They are extremely smart dogs. Make sure you use a very large vocabulary.


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## Vitai Slade (Sep 7, 2011)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> There may be times when it's convenient for your dog to obey other people. Will you ever board him? Will he ever be left at the vet's for surgery or a procedure? Will you ever have a petsitter or leave him with friends or family when you go out of town?
> 
> It would be confusing to your dog for one cue to have several meanings, but many people train more than one cue for virtually the same thing, sometimes with minor differences. My dogs will respond to both a verbal cue and a hand signal for sit and down - two different cues for the same thing.
> 
> I also have formal and informal commands, and I use different criteria for each. You could do something like that with German and English commands. German would be very formal and specific, English would be less formal and more relaxed. "Come!" means one thing, (an immediately recall in front with an automatic sit) "C'mere" means another (usually used around the house), even though both require the dog to move towards me. "Heel" means one thing, "C'mon", and "Let's go" (walk with me in no particular position, usually off leash at the park, for the former, and my loose leash command for the latter) mean another.


This post definitely made me re-think my position on the English/German. I really like the formal/informal cues. It makes me wonder how to make it clear to my dog though. I'm guessing you have to train each word individually and then get stricter with rewards on the more formal commands? It would definitely pose some hurdles, but I'm sure worth it.


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