alt.hn

4/16/2026 at 7:26:03 PM

German Dog Commands

 https://www.fluentu.com/blog/german/german-dog-commands/

by rolph

4/16/2026 at 7:50:23 PM

Humorous or not, there was a video of a dog trainer that trained his (you guess it: German Shepherd) in German commands, partly so that when he worked with client's dogs, he could use English, and his German-speaking dog who would be in close proximity (useful for reactive training) wouldn't compete with the client's dog.

by justinator

4/16/2026 at 7:58:39 PM

Reginald Foster, a great Latin expert whom I once got to study with, emphasized that Latin isn't inherently difficult as a spoken language, as evidenced by the fact that it used to be lots of people's native language and used for all kinds of ordinary daily purposes.

One of his slogans for this was "in Roma antiqua, etiam canes Latine locuti sunt" ('in ancient Rome, even the dogs spoke Latin').

by schoen

4/16/2026 at 8:09:08 PM

"latine" with an e on the end is ablative, first declension?

by jjtheblunt

4/16/2026 at 8:29:13 PM

This ‑e is an adverb ending. The belonging adjective is «latinus» ‹Latin›.

by amelung

4/16/2026 at 9:15:27 PM

that makes more sense to me, because i asked thinking it was a typo on ablative with implicit lingua

by jjtheblunt

4/17/2026 at 1:21:09 AM

Yes, one way of referring to Latin is "lingua Latina" or just "Latina", but there's an old custom of using adverbs to refer to use of languages. So Latine is "in Latin" or "Latinly" (and there are similar adverbs available for other languages).

Interestingly, the language adverbs are also used in a construction with scire (to know) or intellegere: "Latine scit" (he or she knows Latin), "Graece intellegit" (he or she understands Greek). In English we would definitely think of this as needing a direct object, but Latin allows it as an adverb, to understand "in a Greek way" (perhaps it would make sense to think of it as something like "in a Greek manner" or "from a Greek perspective").

by schoen

4/17/2026 at 2:45:30 PM

yep totally understand, had four years of latin in the 80s, some Greek, and many more. it's interesting to see how an idea gets phrased slightly differently across even related languages, i have to admit.

by jjtheblunt

4/17/2026 at 5:25:13 AM

So we're doing the opposite. As we're in the German spesking part of europe, our dog listens to English to not interfere with daily talk. It's IMHO one of the best choices to take a foreign language for your dog. You can also use different languages for different setups (e.g. to differentiate fun, working). Dogs anyway don't speak the language, they just listen to the voice, but as an owner it's easier to set context by moving to a different language.

by chrisandchris

4/16/2026 at 8:31:49 PM

The evil of global mutable state strikes again.

This is why I only train my dogs in a pure functional language.

by jancsika

4/17/2026 at 8:03:24 AM

Just don't be confused if they then follow the commands side-effect free.

by mckirk

4/17/2026 at 12:40:04 PM

"Reduce!" ("Reduzier!")

"Map!" ("Bild ab!")

by Hackbraten

4/17/2026 at 6:31:23 PM

I don't think you can entirely remove the side effect of getting treats.

by bulbar

4/17/2026 at 7:47:43 PM

Treats are without a doubt the only true universal language.

by justinator

4/16/2026 at 11:36:53 PM

It's merely the software architectural mistake of only constructing a broadcast channel.

Security by obscurity is fundamentally weak, this use wastes bandwidth, and can be destroyed by statistical analysis where the other dogs learn German.

by yencabulator

4/16/2026 at 8:09:58 PM

I think if I said sitz to my English-trained dog, she would sit.

by badc0ffee

4/16/2026 at 8:25:15 PM

Maybe your dog has been taking German classes while you’re at work…

by Esophagus4

4/17/2026 at 6:13:14 PM

Turns out if we say any word with the same inflection as sit, our dog sits!

by arjvik

4/17/2026 at 7:49:57 PM

I think it's partly because "sit" is one of the first commands they learn so if they're not sure what to do, they'll default to sit as that often gets the treat.

That's also why you teach "sit" first before, "bite the face of the person in front of me" (talking German Shepherds again)

by justinator

4/16/2026 at 8:24:01 PM

We do it with our herding dogs so you can give the different dogs different commands.

by BoredPositron

4/16/2026 at 9:21:45 PM

Now I’m dying to know what kind of herding you do that requires this separation of powers

by tomcam

4/17/2026 at 2:03:07 AM

Just sheeps and it's a small herd we have for fun next to our vineyards. One dog could probably handle thm alone but it's more fun with two ;)

by BoredPositron

4/16/2026 at 8:02:15 PM

I think this is a great idea in general - security through obfuscation, kinda.

by sudb

4/17/2026 at 3:06:21 PM

> German-speaking dog

Impressive!

by vardump

4/16/2026 at 8:17:22 PM

Used in Schutzhund, German dog sport/training: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutzhund

by dole

4/16/2026 at 9:11:35 PM

Also, it seems like some police dogs in the USA that were probably trained in Germany use these German dog commands too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlntC-WAbd0

by layman51

4/16/2026 at 9:13:38 PM

you have eluted, the hidden point.

informed is stronger than ignorant.

stay safe.

by rolph

4/16/2026 at 8:18:50 PM

I have one of these lol (a dog with competitive parents). Get a load of our breeder's website, its a trip back in time. https://www.glaurungkennel.com/

Our little buddy is the silver collar here, https://www.glaurungkennel.com/LitterK.html

by whalesalad

4/16/2026 at 8:23:39 PM

Definitely a trip back in time, I did a website almost exactly the same for Bernese mountain dogs except without the flame background.

by dole

4/16/2026 at 9:24:15 PM

But with the batwings I hope

by tomcam

4/16/2026 at 9:36:11 PM

Nah, those were a classy touch. IIRC it was some Thomas Kinkade-lookin' bullshit.

by dole

4/16/2026 at 11:55:15 PM

ah man I can totally picture that. very on brand for a big ass BMD living in like maine or vermont

by whalesalad

4/16/2026 at 9:23:52 PM

I totally want a batwinged attack dog now

by tomcam

4/16/2026 at 7:57:54 PM

Do they have other languages? My dog is an immigrant and it would be nice to use his native language.

by daft_pink

4/16/2026 at 8:07:09 PM

Teach him Rust

Oh wait, wrong Thread!

by NoiseBert69

4/16/2026 at 8:24:35 PM

My dog doesn't know Rust, but he is fluent in Ruff!

by GuB-42

4/17/2026 at 6:36:14 PM

> Oh wait, wrong Thread!

Pretty sure actual Rust advocates will disagree.

by bulbar

4/16/2026 at 9:13:10 PM

I'm told (but have no direct knowledge) that many police dogs in the US are trained to german commands. This is because previously (and in some cases still) police departments used dogs trained in Germany and they have continued so that there is continuity of commands (ie you don't have to know which dogs speaks which language).

by advisedwang

4/16/2026 at 9:21:01 PM

Sometimes it's Dutch instead, but that's true.

Many agencies, especially those new to having K-9 or small departments that may not be able to spend time dedicated to training from puppies, get dogs from Europe that are partially or fully trained. The lineage of the working dog breeds is much better in Europe because many breeds have bloodlines that haven't been bred for generations to be pets (like here in the US).

It's also why agencies pay so much for the dogs. Last I heard (I used to be more involved volunteering with my local PD) a fully trained dog was around $25k, USD, a partially trained was something like $8k - $10. It sounds like a lot until you realize a fully trained dog is 18—24 months old when acquired and has been training every day during that time.

by edwhitesell

4/16/2026 at 9:20:25 PM

Yes, this is true. Many personal protection dogs as well.

by whalesalad

4/16/2026 at 8:14:07 PM

Haha nice one. As a kid I had these friends in the neighborhood (Netherlands) whose dad trained Malinois shepherds and sold them worldwide to security services and police units.

In my city are four day marches in the summer where also international military participate. Before dawn, all these soldiers walk from the forest - where they sleep - to the starting point. It was customary for us as kids to wave to the soldiers and wish them good luck and ask for some souvenirs/stickers.

One day my friends had their dog with them and we learned the command 'luid' (loud in English, laut im Deutsch) so the dog would bark. Early in the morning, exhausted soldiers that did not even had their morning coffee, very quiet outside, and then the dog would bark them to shock with our little whispers of 'luid'. Good times.

by rambambram

4/16/2026 at 8:24:48 PM

> 2. Drop it / Let go — Aus. In German, aus is a preposition meaning “out of.”

It also means "off" and – in sports – "offside", which I think is much closer to what "aus" means in this context.

by codethief

4/16/2026 at 8:31:26 PM

"Aus" means the dog should let go what’s in his mouth.

It means something like "Spuck es aus", "Spit it out"

by croes

4/19/2026 at 6:06:08 AM

What do you say when it should go outside?

by graftak

4/17/2026 at 3:33:08 PM

There are many cases where people use it and the dog does not have anything in their mouth.

by codethief

4/16/2026 at 9:06:10 PM

"Es ist aus" can also be translated as "It is over" (a game)

The meaning in dog schools is "Spit it out", but given aus's versatility within human language, it's often used as a general "stop" command. As in "aus", stop playing.

by stephbook

4/16/2026 at 8:33:35 PM

Not really, offside is Abseits.

In this case Aus means out like in spit it out or out with it, "raus damit".

by kuerbel

4/17/2026 at 12:39:34 PM

I've only heard "Abseits" in football but "Aus" definitely exists in tennis.

by Quanternion

4/16/2026 at 8:52:33 PM

"Aus" in a sports context means out.

by grasbergerm

4/16/2026 at 8:12:24 PM

These would be fun for voice control in a video game.

Which would be called Castle Woofenstein.

by kazinator

4/16/2026 at 8:54:17 PM

I grew up speaking German and still use "zu!" with my (otherwise English-trained) dogs for "get out of the way!".

by frankus

4/16/2026 at 7:54:39 PM

I've never seen a GSD actually obey the drop/aus command without you having something to trade for

by mrjoe3332

4/16/2026 at 9:31:55 PM

The GSDs I grew up with would do it pretty immediately, but I had to occasionally praise them when they did it so they wouldn't lose the habit. They're pretty damn smart and will figure out some pretty complex behaviors just from positive reinforcement. I once taught a GSD in one session to sit patiently 10 feet away from the vehicle gate at my childhood home when I arrived home by stopping the truck every time started walking forward. By the 3rd or 4th time of my inching forward he had figured out that the only way to get me to pull in and get out of the truck was to sit patiently and I never had to train him on it again.

by throwway120385

4/16/2026 at 8:25:33 PM

Crappy owners. The GSD I have is like a cyborg, yet very friendly. WFH help the training. Most owners do not train their dogs and the alpha in GSDs come out easily.

by system2

4/19/2026 at 11:38:35 AM

Decades ago, the GSD we had, kept both myself and then-babymomma "together" – cyborg is a good attempt to capture their routineness, but they truly are 2nd-command pack-leaders, and will step in as alpha when necessary. Absolute loverdogs.

"Charlie" would plotz [sit] among the goodest of boys #RIP

Never have I experienced love like I did from that GSD. I still have a photograph of him on my mantle (despite have had many great animal friends, the only doggo pictured). He kept two humans alive at their lowests... one bowl of chow at a time.

by ProllyInfamous

4/20/2026 at 3:04:45 AM

RIP Charlie. <3

by system2

4/19/2026 at 2:42:15 PM

[dead]

by cindyllm

4/16/2026 at 9:07:31 PM

I've never even taught it to my dog, as she just drops toys at my feet after fetching them. She just enjoys the though of the stick being thrown too much to waste time on holding on to it.

by torginus

4/16/2026 at 9:28:22 PM

What do you do when she picks up some food on the street? There are people who place meat interlaced with poison where I live; so having a surefire way to make mine spit out whatever he’s got in his mouth is essential

by 9dev

4/16/2026 at 9:39:43 PM

Dunno, I just yell at her, and she drops it and looks at me :) I haven't heard about poison meat, but she sure loves to find and eat the most disgusting stuff, up to, and including, poop.

by torginus

4/16/2026 at 8:23:44 PM

This tool is incredibly effective. ive zapped myself with it to test. feels like a very very strong static shock. Our dog Solo has been zapped only a handful of times. When he wears the collar now we don't even really turn it on or use it - just knowing it exists is enough for him to drop his frisbee/ball/etc. https://www.ecollar.com/product/ez-900-easy-educator-1-2-mil...

by whalesalad

4/16/2026 at 11:16:21 PM

Some of them will know you're doing it and get pissed off

by mrjoe3332

4/17/2026 at 4:59:39 PM

In Germany, using shock collars on dogs is even verboten.

by minusLik

4/16/2026 at 9:04:59 PM

As someone who speaks German, it feels puzzling to me why I would teach my dog German commands (even though I have a GSD), these are just the regular words/phrases for things but in a different language.

by torginus

4/16/2026 at 11:44:14 PM

It's better with dogs to use commands that sound harder for hard commands - stop, down, wait, etc. Which German's love of crisply pronounced consonants tends to lend itself to.

by EdwardDiego

4/16/2026 at 9:11:41 PM

its a weak authentication. if you use a dog for work/husbandry, law military, it does two things.

1] regionally unfamiliar language, dog will obey your commands, but not commands of regional language.

2] parrallel handling, different dogs trained in different languages dont step on each others task,in response to the same cue command.

e.g. left dog, sprech im ze deutsch - right dog, govorite po russki

by rolph

4/16/2026 at 9:31:04 PM

I hope your Russian is better than your German...;-p

by cjbenedikt

4/16/2026 at 9:41:24 PM

i spoke both conversationally with my grandfather before he passed, he was russian/german i spoke english as native language, but later began learning a few others.

i get them mixed up when cold, but if speaking for a while i can get in a zone.

my spelling is atrocious i think i see where you complain:

Sprechen Sie Deutsch %:P

by rolph

4/17/2026 at 7:36:05 PM

When I was a kid, my neighbors had a doberman pinscher they named, "schatzie" ("sweetheart").

I remember them using the "sitz" and "platz" commands.

by RyanOD

4/16/2026 at 8:48:32 PM

Platz. That’s the one German command I give to my shepherd.

I trained her over 11 years ago using Michael Ellis videos and picked it up there. If she was younger I’d incorporate some more of these.

by nyjah

4/16/2026 at 8:47:21 PM

"Sitz" and "platz" sound too similar, so to make it easier, some german people I know use a mixture of german and english.

"Sitz!" for sit

"Down!" for down.

by lukan

4/17/2026 at 7:13:47 PM

The 2004 film 'Catch that Kid' informed me of dogs being trained in German

by bytepanels

4/16/2026 at 8:28:09 PM

The most important one is missing:

Fass!

You better know what it means when a dog owner points at you and says "Fass!".

There is a hilarious episode by German comedian Gerhard Polt about this word where he plays the owner of a Kampfhund (the genuine grandson of the great-uncle of the dog of Adolf Hitler) who goofs around alternating between "Fass!" and "Nicht Fass!" not realizing that the dog is not capable of distinguishing between the two.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=I5sFagE-zqw

(In German, obviously - the Bavarian kind)

by weinzierl

4/16/2026 at 8:48:16 PM

The list goes to 48 (!), in case you’re fooled by the self-promo and “PS” after number 20.

by wvbdmp

4/17/2026 at 11:20:09 AM

All German sounds like dog commands

by coldtea

4/16/2026 at 8:20:05 PM

TIL: Phooey is actually a german word, Pfui.

by SirFatty

4/16/2026 at 9:16:43 PM

*Dog Commands in German

by 867-5309

4/16/2026 at 8:11:35 PM

[dead]

by vunderba

4/16/2026 at 8:23:39 PM

I have an ultra-trained GSD, and I find German commands cringe and pretentious.

by system2