Do you think your pets really understand what you say?

Yes! Cats, dogs, other animals. As with humans some process and remember better than others. They can also figure things out. Hence treat boxes that are also puzzles they have to figure how to get past obstacles to the treats. Then there was the cat of my Mom's that watched a dog food commercial where food got poured into bowl on our console tv that had about 6 inch legs. She kept looking under the TV expecting it to have landed on the floor. After the third time she actually walked around the tv looking under each side.

When i was a kid we had a cat that would never try to steal fish from us when we had catch in bucket of water on the dock till ready to gut them. But when friends, neighbors fished off our dock she seemed to feel they owed her a tithe. One elderly neighbor would actually give Muffy the first small fish she caught.

My beloved Boo cat would give me space when i was sick, cause cats isolate when hurt or sick. But once when i was quite sick i told her it would comfort me if she cuddled and she did. She also knew that i would tell my daughter when i was going to bed and didn't follow me every time i went down the hall every time to the bathroom, only when i said i was turning in for the night.

My Aldrin watches tv with us. Really likes 'Space' videos and happy animal ones.
 

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My little dog understood milk bone when I would offer and he would go right to the cabinet where it was and wait for one. He understood when to go outside and run to the door to wait to put on his leash.

My cats understood a lot of words and would meow sometimes as they wanted what was offered. I had one cat meow for me when selecting lotto numbers. It was so cute and I would use those numbers that went with his meows.

They knew about vet visits and would brake their little legs to go into the carrier and meow all the way to the vet's office.
 
Ted01 said:
I asked my cat and she said, that my voice is like a river, winding through the valley of her indifference.
And that she only sips from it when I thirst for novelty, but mostly I watch it flow, unmoved.
Then she had the audacity to say, that language was my leash... while she was uncollared, unbound,
and uninterested in your semantic struggles.

I'm taking that to mean "No".
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This is awesome, hilarious, beautiful and true!

papa tiger said:
Our 3 petz glam around us when we talk with each other.
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Yes! Our cat would always come from wherever he had been hunting, to lie in the yard in front of us when we all went to sit on the porch to chat. I think he enjoyed that river of sound at the same time he was indifferent to it's meaning.

outlander said:
It changed the way I viewed animals forever and because of them I am now a vegetarian.
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It was chickens that made my son a vegetarian, too. He subscribes to a chicken magazine, "United Poultry Concerns."
 

Before my dog died when I lived in Virginia, I swear my dog understood what I said to her. I read a book on Beagles that stated dogs can understand people by their demeanor and tone of their voice. When the owner gives commands, dogs act on the sound of the word. Sit, shake, rollover all have a different sound and the dog acts on it. When the owner says shake and holds out his hand, the dog reacts to both the sound and the action of holding out my hand.

Made sense to me. I still havenā€™t decided if I should buy another dog.
 
Sometimes, but they read my body movements and my facial expressions. more than what I say or don't say. I tested this by sitting quietly and saying "do you want outside?" Neither one of them moved. If I stand up and start walking towards the door and clear my throat, they will run to the door like I said "outside"! In fact I can say anything while getting up and going to the outside door and they will react.

They read my facial expressions and my body movement. What I say is irrelevant, except when I call their names...
 
When I began to first date my ex, my cat, Mike wanted to go outside.. He was at the door and he meowed "Go out". If you didn't know it was a cat, you'd think someone said, "Go out". I was on the phone with my ex. She said "Who's there?". I said nobody- Mike is still meowing, "Go out". She said, "Well, WHO said 'Go out"? If you're a guy, you know that tone of voice- it's "how many bimbos do YOU have stashed in your closet?" Now, I have tell her it's my cat.
 
This is a little off track but I have witnessed the neighborā€™s cows gather when they hear the truck or tractor coming with the hay roll. Truck or tractor being used, depending where the hay roll gets placed.

If it gets cut and rolled down the steep hill, they use the truck. Nevertheless, the cattle recognize the sounds and know food is coming, so they gather patiently waiting.
 
Well I think yes they understand certain words mean certain things. But they are very much tonal inflections. I explained this to my mother and she asked me for a demonstration.

So I got my big dumb dog out and started to yell that he was the greatest dog ever, I loved him dearly and I would never trade him for anything! Well of course he kind of looked at me and cowed down like I was mad.

I then kneel down and started telling him he was the most worthless piece of crap in the world, that I'm sorry I fed him and I wish I'd never seen him. But I did it in a gentle soft tone. And he sat there and just wagged his tail believing that he was forgiven for whatever sin he did not commit.
 
All of my animals - cats, dogs, horses - have understood what I've said. It doesn't matter if it was a command or a conversation. Some were better at listening than others & I believe there were a few with selective hearing & did what they wanted. They all had their own way of communicating to us.

I have a Standard Schnauzer now & he is the most talkative dog that I've ever had. He talked more than my Miniature Schnauzer ever did. If we have our back to him in the kitchen or he feels he is being ignored, he starts to talk. His sentences are made up with growls, grumbles, woofs, snarls, sighs & a few other unique sounds. Ask him a question & he'll respond in like. He definitely wants to be in the middle of everything.

A few of the hummingbirds that come to the front porch in the spring are standoffish. We just talk to them & they settle down to eat ignoring us. What's funny is that for a long time now in the spring at least a few come & stare at me through the kitchen window in the back of the house to let me know it's time for the feeder to be put back up. And then later do the same if it's gone empty & needs to be refilled.
 
There were Rhode Island Red Chickens residing in the woods next to an apartment complex I lived and I would buy food for them at the store. They would come out of the woods when they saw me and I would feed them. People in my apartment complex would comment on them greeting me for food. They were finally captured by the animal protection agency and a women took them to her farm to keep. They were very pretty chickens.

It was made public in the newspaper and on local news. Not me, just the chickens.
 
@Disgustedman that had to be a head rush, verbalizing in the opposite of your physical motions.

@Lilac, Duke my alpha horse was the one who had selective hearing lol lol. Except at shower time at night. I would open his stall door and tell him to pick his spot under the overhang. He would go out by himself every night, stand and wait for me to turn the water hose on him and not move until I had him all squeegeed off. I would then point and say get in your stall and he would turn around and go in. That was the best I got out of himšŸ˜‡

This video is my oneriest horse I have ever owned. When I got to where I couldnā€™t ride, I did useful liberty things with my horses and surprisingly this fella was the best. I could be at the other end of the barn behind him, ask him to whoa, step back, get in your stall, and he would.

This video was around 2021. Both horses in this video have since passed and are laid to rest on this farm. This fella was almost 31 when he passed and had been with me from a 2-year old. The other horse was 27 when I lost him to major colic.

Horses are great at learning short repetitive phrases. Some faster than others.

 
i think repeated phrases, your body language and tone are what speaks to them. however, your emotions also come into play with them as they pick up on it.

however, i've seen the videos where someone will say hello and they're cat will meow hello. so idk. i think they understand more than we give them credit for at times.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
All I had to say was "Din -dins" and the three cats beat their paws into the kitchen. I'd make an appoint for the vet , and next day I'd wake up and they would all be hiding. I used to make vet appointments at work, so the cats wouldn't hear me.
Do you think your pets really understand what you say? :unsure:
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I know my dog is a different species. I choose to believe that he understands everything I'm feeling or saying. He even talks back. I appreciate that he can't possibly, but I still choose to act as though he's every bit as intelligent as I am.

Fun fact - the average dog knows around 90 words. Some know hundreds! Cats can learn as many as 50!

Still, it's going to be a short conversation, I guess. :D
 
@WheatenLover said "He understood words so well, that we started spelling some of them. He caught on to that, and we used synonyms."

My daughter's Pekingese, Meja, was like that. She loved bananas, we went from spelling banana to calling them nanners to spelling nanners, to saying 'yellow tropical fruit' which lasted longest--maybe a couple of weeks before we resigned ourselves to giving her a small piece and saying "that's all you get".
 
I think they learn to associate certain words with actions. I am not convinced that they actually understand everything you say though.
 
I think they think we're a bunch of blithering idiots sometimes. We ask them a question and then we answer it ourselves. Day after day.

Here's what I think a dog is thinking:

Me: "Who's a good boi? Who's a good boi? Who's the bestest boi in the world? He is! Yes, he is! He's the best!"

Dog: "If you knew already, why did you ask me?"

Me: "Does he want a treat? How about a treat? Would the good boi like a treat? Yes he would! He sure would!"

Dog: "You seem to have all the answers, lady. Why bother asking me?"

Me: "Walkies! Who wants walkies?"

Dog: "Well, there's only two of us here, and you're the one holding the leash. I believe I have already indicated my interest in the activity by doing the 'walkie dance' for you. The answer should be obvious, Einstein."
 
feywon said:
"He understood words so well, that we started spelling some of them. He caught on to that, and we used synonym
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my dog understands the word walk like that - so rest of sentence goes over her but she hears the key word.

which is ok if you say " going for a walk now" - but we got caught out a few times saying to each other " I'll go for a walk after tea" - and all she heard was "walk" and thought now.
 
They do.

Sometimes Pixel will run to his eating spot when I say it's time for bed. I think that's when he hears what he wants to hear.

(fr, he's probly telling me he's hungry)
 

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