COMMAND OF LANGUAGE - 5 minutes How many commands does your pet understand?
This is both a learning test and a memory test. Your pet learns your words, phrases, body language and vocalisations so that it can understand us and can guess what we're going to do next. The number of commands that an animal can understand is to do with both its ability to learn and the size of its memory.
Step 1: Go through all the commands your pet responds to, including verbal commands, vocalisations such as whistles and hand signals. Roughly how many commands does your pet know?
Results:
A - More than 25 commands
B - 11-25 commands
C - 1-10 commands
If option A - Your pet is obviously skilled at learning and remembering commands. When it learns a new command, your pet is associating the sound or body signals that you create with one of its own actions. Your pet's learning and memory has probably got a lot to do with your own training habits as an owner. It looks like you've given your pet plenty of opportunity to learn.
If option B - Your pet has learnt and remembered a broad selection of the commands that it finds most useful to pay attention to. When it learns a new command, your pet is associating the sound or body movement that you create with one of its own actions. Your pet's learning and memory has probably got a lot to do with your own training habits as an owner. They may be able to learn more commands with the right encouragement.
If option C - Your pet has learnt and remembered a small number of commands. When it learns a new command, your pet is associating the sound or body movement that you create with one of its own actions. Some pets are better at doing this than others, but your pet's capacity to learn and memory has also got a lot to do with your own training habits as an owner.
