[Closed] Do dogs know their own name?

Yes, I think they do. My son had a rescue dog and he responded when I call his name.

And how do owners know their dogs real name?

Is there a Rottweiler named Marybelle which is only aggressive because people keep calling her Growler?

My dog is called Harry.

He's responded to Gary, Barry, Marry, Carrie....
Idiot 🙄

Ours was called Dora when we got her, but we changed it to Lola. She took to the new name very quickly but she was still quite young at the time.

Mine all seemed to reply to 'walk' or 'walkies' or 'get your lead boy'.

Our dog's called Cupar.
If anyone calls him Cooper he runs away.

Hope that helps 😉

Our current dog was between 3-5 years old when we got her and we did not know her previous name.
It took a couple of weeks for her to pick up the new name but she is very dim.

Yes she recognises her name if other people call her. I don't think she knows her surname though.

Our dog was called Fenton.  Didn't really respond even to us calling it

Yes of course they do!

We have two rescues, one was called Bingo but is now Badger although he does still respond to both names even after 3 years. The other was called Troy but is now Redge, he has no idea who Troy is but knows he is Redge.

Depends. I've known Labs with such a large vocabulary they picked up words even if you spelled them out, but greyhounds often don't understand a single word you say, they do best-guess based on context. And yes that can include their own name...

👏 @scaredypants

My current dog is a ball of anxiousness, he'll only respond to people calling him if he knows them and actually likes/trusts them otherwise they get completely ignored. My last dog would listen to anybody as strangers which just friends he'd never met.

Bella responds to Bella, Bell, Bells regardless of who calls her name. She doesn't like the vets so when her name is called there, she hides under the chair. Pretty sure she knows her name. She also knows her favourite dog walker by name and gets very giddy if she's mention. So we gave the dog walker a code name. She figured that out pretty quickly.

My dog is called Harry.

He’s responded to Gary, Barry, Marry, Carrie….
Idiot 🙄

My name is David, I’ve responded variously to Mave, D, Ravey, Dave, Wavey, Sexy, Plophead, Oi, Bollockchops and Tosser.
Wally 🙄

My dog knows me variously as a number of names also. What a pillock.

Yes of course they do!

Poor Oakley... he looked so put out waiting for his call. Steeler and Gadget are clearly inseparable.

Inca responds to Inca, Dinky, Stupid, Stinker, etc. - I'm putting this down to her being very clever and recognising more than one name!

She doesn’t like the vets so when her name is called there, she hides under the chair.

How the hell to dogs just know that going to the vets is never a good thing?!

Because you do. And they can read you.

Because you do.

True... it's always bloody expensive!

Recently switched vets. She was fine inthe car. Got to the car park and she didn't want to know. There must be a common smell they recognise.

She doesn’t like the vets so when her name is called there, she hides under the chair.

How the hell to dogs just know that going to the vets is never a good thing?!

Our dog knows both his vets on a first name basis and his ears go way up when either of their names are mentioned 😆

Dogs, and cats, pick up on the sound on the name rather than the exact name.

For example one of my cats is called Betsy. If I call Betsy, Pepsi, Bopsy, Itsy she will run in. If I call Tom, Stan, Brenda etc,. she does not.

She doesn’t like the vets so when her name is called there, she hides under the chair.

Our old Whippet was the same, I used to have to pick her up because she would not walk in to the consultation room on a lead. One day she put her paws either side of the door frame as I was carrying her in so I had to turn around and walk in backwards.

Our current Patterdale is as dumb as a stump and just walks in wagging her tale, in her mind everything in the world is great.

Dogs, and cats, pick up on the sound on the name rather than the exact name.

So the exact opposite of that video above? Where she appears to use the same tone for all of the different names?

So the exact opposite

Well the exact opposite would be that dogs know words. And I don't believe they do. All the word stuff in their brain is taken over by smell translation.

Saw a programme on telly the other day, this fella taking his labradors out into field - throwing or hiding toys for them. They weren't allowed to go fetch until he said their name. Was very clever. But I still don't think they know words. Words are part of human communication only as far as I'm concerned. 😀

So the exact opposite of that video above? Where she appears to use the same tone for all of the different names?

Haven't watched the video, just saying what I see in my experience of 25 years with cats and dogs (currently have 4 cats and two dogs and have had 6 cats at most) so quite a lot of testing to come up with the statement I made.
Don't bother trying it with chickens though as they really haven't got a clue what their name is.

I wonder if in these videos they just train the dogs to move in sequence, the name itself doesn’t actually matter.

My resident idiot responds to Nala, Nala-Bear, Bear, Booboo, dumbdumb, dumbarse and fatdog (she isn't). The cat just ignores everything we say.

So the exact opposite of that video above? Where she appears to use the same tone for all of the different names?

Probably depends on the amount of time spent training them and to an extent the breed. You'd have to train them to each new command, and if you said something similar to a command they'd probably make a best guess just like people would.

A friend has an 18month old Rough Collie that's so well trained to do so many things he picks things up before you even realise. For example like a lot of dogs he has a habit of relaxing on his back with his legs spread wide. This has drawn comments about his balls. Cue a trip to the vets and a slightly awkward conversation where the vet uses various technical and euphemistic terms for his nuts and his owner says "you mean his balls"? Followed by the dog rolling on his back on the table and spreading his legs on command.🤣

It was one of the first things tested at dog-training classes.

My auntie's dog could be made to run to the window and bark a lot if anyone said 'kittycat!'. Didn't matter who.

My wife's family dog would come running if I said 'walk' despite barely knowing me, and it would also do the same if you said double-you eh ell kay.

but greyhounds often don’t understand a single word you say, they do best-guess based on context. And yes that can include their own name…

I think you're confusing ignorance with wilful ignorance, certainly judging by mine.

Tone and context definitely comes into it though, he can tell the difference between "bugger off and stop trying to eat that", "if it wouldn't be too much trouble could you come here some time this side of the weekend" and "okay here we go, bring on the nonsense".

He definitely recognises his name though, he just chooses not to respond when it doesn't suit him.

Words are part of human communication only as far as I’m concerned

But that sounds as if you’re more concerned with your beliefs/‘concerns’?

Whether or not dogs or other animals can learn to recognise and act upon words (sounds which convey an instruction, emotion, need, object etc etc) of human invention is surely a different question as to whether or not they are employing ‘true language*/true communication’*?

*undefined here.

I think generally they know their owner’s voice rather than their name, per se. One of our previous dogs not only knew his name, but also the names of a number of different toys. We’d hide them about the house and he’d go and find them to order 🤣 he’d ignore the others that we’d also stash and bring back the one as requested.

I think generally they know their owner’s voice rather than their name, per se

I've done a fair-amount of dog-sitting and dog-walking over the last two decades for approx eight or ten different dogs, and my experience is that they react/answer me even as a relative stranger (with a different voice to their owners)

One of our previous dogs not only knew his name, but also the names of a number of different toys. We’d hide them about the house and he’d go and find them to order 🤣

But would they be able to correctly identify those different toys by someone else’s voice?

I wonder if in these videos they just train the dogs to move in sequence

In that one - yes. A couple of the dogs move before they're called.

I would say largely yes. Our two greyhounds seem to.

My wife's a dog walker, and all of the dogs she walks respond to their own names. Although it's amazing how many think they are also called 'what's this?'

As others have mentioned, training must play a big part in it. A friend hadn't even taught their dogs to respond to calls for dinner!

I think generally they know their owner’s voice rather than their name, per se.

Nope. I don't know of a single dog that doesn't respond to (by looking at) a stranger calling their name. It's fairly simple to train a dog not to go to a stranger calling them, but much more difficult (not impossible) to train them not to acknowledge a stranger calling their name without at least a quick look in their direction when at ease rather than mid instruction from their owner/trainer.

I wonder if in these videos they just train the dogs to move in sequence

Maybe, but they're not very good a queuing then! Or the owners could be behind the camera gesturing to them in addition to their names being called. Who knows. It's cute though.

In that one – yes. A couple of the dogs move before they’re called.

Then the next question is did they initially train the dogs to respond to name or sequence by touching them, or by calling their name?

ie did the dogs

A. First learn to recognise their name and then to naturally pre-empt* the sequence? (assuming the names are always read out in sequence)?

or

B. First learn to count/sequence (and the name is immaterial or at best a trivial cue?)

*IME dogs are impatient when made to wait and have to be very well trained not to be.

My sister's two dogs knew their names and were trained to ignore anything not directed at them. So long as you started the command with their name, you could easily have one dog coming, one staying or one fetching, one walking at heel.

They knew their toys too - tell them to get ROPE or BALL or TEDDY and they'd bring back the correct toy. Usually took them a couple of days to learn a new toy.

I don't have a dog and I don't know the answer but..... this is a great thread and has given me a good laugh.

Dogs are really not that clever, they just learn by association. Even Border Collies have to be whistled at.

I’ve known Labs with such a large vocabulary they picked up words even if you spelled them out

My 10 month old lab knows his different balls and toys by name and will bring me the specific one I ask for. Ridiculously clever dog.

But that sounds as if you’re more concerned with your beliefs/‘concerns’?

They're the only ones I've got. Apart from facts. And there ain't no facts on here.