# In what language do you call your commands?



## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

Just curious 
My dad is German so he'd get a kick out of me talking to the dog in German but is it just personal preference? Or does it vary from club to club?
Would it confuse the dog to know the commands in both languages?
These are all questions I was too embarrassed to ask at the club for fear of looking like an ignorant idiot :blush:


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

The vast majority of SchH people give their commands in German. Why? I have no idea. It seems like it's acceptable to give commands in any other language than English. As I live in the States and speak English, my dog gets commands in English and I refuse to do the - what I consider silly - German thing.


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## Asche-zu-Staub (Apr 25, 2010)

Jax's Mom said:


> Just curious
> My dad is German so he'd get a kick out of me talking to the dog in German but is it just personal preference? Or does it vary from club to club?
> Would it confuse the dog to know the commands in both languages?
> These are all questions I was too embarrassed to ask at the club for fear of looking like an ignorant idiot :blush:


I trained my dogs in german, they're not super trained or anything amazing, i just dont want other people telling my dogs what to do. I call them good dog in english then say it in german sometimes too...they get it either way and dont get confused at all. Some people may find it dumb or whatever....its just also something fun to do and i learned a bit of a language doing it . Plus its funny when a stranger tells my dogs to be quiet and they continue to bark until i tell them to stop. lol.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

When we train in SchH I teach German commands. Others that have Mals in the club do French...some English.
My family members ask for commands in English, Karlo knows both languages. Kacie and Onyx do too, but aren't versed in German as they don't train in the sport~but... I say Platz and they do!


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## Myles (May 23, 2010)

It woudent confuse the dog just be sure the words dont sound too alike. You could teach a dog to sit when you say apple it dosent make a difference


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Or Pickle to crate up!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

in what language do you call 
your commands?

i never call my commands.
i only give them to my dog
and take them from my GF, :laugh:.

get it, i never call my commands,
call my commands. ok, never mind. :crazy:

that would be english. :smirk:


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## Ruthie (Aug 25, 2009)

I do the main commands in German. We did this for two reasons. First, because Moose's commands are all in English and it is nice to have them different. Secondly, because I don't speak German in day to day speach, so it is very clear to him when I am giving a command.

As others have mentioned, it doesn't matter what words you use. You teach the dog what the word means.


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

Myles said:


> It woudent confuse the dog just be sure the words dont sound too alike. You could teach a dog to sit when you say apple it dosent make a difference


True, but is it accepted on the field?


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## My GSD (May 17, 2010)

I use telepathy, in my dreams as I dont have a dog


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## VaBeachFamily (Apr 12, 2005)

Cullen is trained for home/basic things in English, but Schutzhund commands in German. First off, because I can teach him to COME when called, but he doesnt have to line up in front of me for a perfect sit... but HEIR is the perfect come.. two different commands technically for two different reactions.

I was also told that when you ented Schutzhund competitions under some organizations, the rules state that they have to be commanded in either YOUR native language ( meaning, living in America, would be English), or in the Dog's native language ( ours of course being German). belgian malinois would be English or.. Dutch I believe?


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

Elaine said:


> As I live in the States and speak English, my dog gets commands in English and I refuse to do the - what I consider silly - German thing.


I chose to teach Emma most of her commands in german BECAUSE I live in the states and speak english. If I was in germany, maybe I'd choose english  

I get very irritated when people give my dogs the wrong command and mess up their understanding of the word. I had some roommates that would constantly tell my dogs down when they meant anything BUT a proper down. It drove me insane and completely confused Logan who then had trouble knowing what I wanted when I asked him for a down. So, Emma doesn't down but she does platz. I am teaching Tessa new commands in german, and changing over some of the english ones to german by using the same hand signals while replacing the word. 

I am so glad I decided to change, I no longer have to get frustrated at people messing with all the work I put into training!


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## Jessiewessie99 (Mar 6, 2009)

I do english, well neither dog is in schutzland so.....lol. But if people want to use German they can, if they want to use English, they can.


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## HMV (May 17, 2010)

I'm English living in Germany, If I was to give the dog commands in English at my club I would feel totally ignorant, I would probably be asked to leave the club and I would definitely be DQ from trials. If I was to live in an English speaking country I would probably give the command in English. My theory is it's best to give the dog commands in the language you feel comfortable with, your brains not trying to translate all the time therefore you can give the commands quicker, you sound more confident and the dog responds better.

I'm surprised to read some people are using hand signals, over here hands signals are considered to be reinforcing a command, in principle it's the same as saying sit twice. You say sit and you do the hand signal. When it comes to trials you get points taken away for it.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

You can't use signals over here in SchH either.

I speak English to my dogs except in protection where I use "hier fuß" for the call out of the blind and "hier" for the blind search.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

German and English. For example sit and sitz are so similar I just use sit. I also say "search" to track instead of "such". Everything else is heir, fuss, platz, aus, voran, voraus, pass auf...


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

HMV said:


> I'm surprised to read some people are using hand signals, over here hands signals are considered to be reinforcing a command, in principle it's the same as saying sit twice. You say sit and you do the hand signal. When it comes to trials you get points taken away for it.


I was talking about commands in general and not specifically schutzhund commands, but I had mentioned hand signals. What I was talking about though is using a new and unlearned verbal command with a known hand signal to transfer the knowledge of what is wanted when the hand signal is done to the new word. 

My working with Tessa isn't schutzhund, its service dog work. So this doesn't apply to schutzhund at all but I prefer many of the commands done with just hand signals. Its nice to be able to stick my hand under the table at a restaurant, or in front of her at a movie theatre and give her the command to down without having to open my mouth.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

> I'm English living in Germany, If I was to give the dog commands in English at my club I would feel totally ignorant, I would probably be asked to leave the club and I would definitely be DQ from trials.


To me it would not be you that is ignorant but the ones that'd ask you to leave just because you are talking in your native tongue. 

Do you know how many english speakers I have taken to my club to get their dogs some training? Nobody ever asked them to leave, instead they were welcomed with open arms and the trainers talked in english with them and also accepted english commands if the dog owner wanted to stick to english.


As for handsignals, I only use them in Agility...


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I taught Hondo in English. I was stumbling a bit with Hubby as he was always using too many words when attempting to get Hondo to respond. Ex: instead of 'come' - hubby would say, _"Come over here right now before you step in that mud puddle and drag the mud all into the house making mom really pissed and then you'll ruin the entire night for me!"_ And of course, Hondo would run into the mud. 

Then, Mrs. K gave us the opportunity to ask her to translate some commands from English to German. Now hubby thinks he is some sort of super spy and uses the German command words like a drill sargent. Hondo responds quickly and everybody is happy!


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

Formal commands are in German. Formal commands always have rewards and consequences attached to them so that they don't get sloppy. Less formal commands are in English. I have all the standard SchH commands but at home we have Walk, Come, Go to Bed, Crate, Wait, Go Lay Down, Let's go...all more informal commands that do not have super specific requirements attached to them.


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## jesusica (Jan 13, 2006)

JKlatsky said:


> Formal commands are in German. Formal commands always have rewards and consequences attached to them so that they don't get sloppy. Less formal commands are in English. I have all the standard SchH commands but at home we have Walk, Come, Go to Bed, Crate, Wait, Go Lay Down, Let's go...all more informal commands that do not have super specific requirements attached to them.


Same here. If I say platz, no matter where we are or what we're doing, he better drop like a ton of bricks in a perfect sphinx position and be completely focused on me, ready for the next command. But if I say lay down it's completely casual, roll onto a hip if that's what you feel like, heck lick your balls then fall asleep belly up for all I care. I know people who have two sets of commands for this very reason but they are both in German. I'm a lazy handler and don't pronounce the z at the end of sit. They sound the same anyways. Around the house we use relax as the sit command. With his relax command I don't care if he decides to lay down five seconds later.

Funny short story, when coming up with an informal sit command we first thought chill would be pretty cool to use but right away every time we said it he ran to his crate. Then we realized he was hearing the emphasized L sound in chill and confusing it with the L sound in kennel, his crate command. To this day we can say anything with a strong L sound at the end and he runs to his crate! So then we came up with relax.


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## Lin (Jul 3, 2007)

I had a problem trying to switch Tessa over to steh for stand. It sounds too similar to the english stay that we use.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

We use German commands for formal training, like the others said, uncompliance means consequences (corrections).

While a "come here" or a "lay down" is used in everyday situations and a stern look or a "ah ah" if not obeyed is usually as far as the "corrections" go. I do have a specific word for "come" though that I use in an informal way which is "heya". It means get over near me, close enough that I can grab your collar if need be. Most people when at a park or in an area with other dogs, you will hear 10 different owners saying, "Spot come", "Buddy come", etc.. while, "Stark HEYA!" gets some attention. I have yet run into anyone who uses that command and I love the fact no one else uses it, it also is a high pitched noise and kinda a fun thing to say so the dog gets excited when he hears it.


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## HMV (May 17, 2010)

Mrs.K said:


> To me it would not be you that is ignorant but the ones that'd ask you to leave just because you are talking in your native tongue.


I lived here that long now Mrs K it's jacke wie hose which language I speak. My wife is German and my kids (now young adults) was born here. The funny thing is when I visit my relatives in England I often find myself stuck in mid sentence trying to think of the English word.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

HMV said:


> I lived here that long now Mrs K it's *jacke wie hose *which language I speak. My wife is German and my kids (now young adults) was born here. The funny thing is when I visit my relatives in England I often find myself stuck in mid sentence trying to think of the English word.


Alright, you've been Germanized. 

As for that:


> find myself stuck in mid sentence trying to think of the English word.


I know that feeling. Same thing happens to me in German. Even though I am German, still live in Germany (but on an American post) I talk in english, I think in english and dream in english. So when it comes up to German I have to stop myself and actually think what I am trying to say. :wild:


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