How many words does a dog understand?

Question

my husband says that a dog only understands about 20 words is this true? I think that dogs understand more then that al ot more.

Answer 1

According to this website, the average trained dog can understand around 160.

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/do...

Answer 2

Your husband gets ten points.  Twenty, maybe twenty-five.

Answer 3

its not that a dog can understand words they recognize the sound of the words , and relate them to their training they've had. so if you keep training the dog keeps learning.

Answer 4

It depends on the dog.

This article is interesting regarding dog's learning abilities:

http://www.wordinfo.info/words/index/inf...

Answer 5

It depends on how much training and time is spent with the dog. If a dog is tied outside all day with no social interaction it will understand nothing. If a dog is kept indoors, taken to obedience school, and socialized they will know more.

Answer 6

average trained dogs know about 160 words  

Answer 7

It varies by dog, but I have heard that the average dog can understand around 50 words and especially intelligent dogs can recognize 200 or more. I believe this to be true.  I know my goldens know far more than 20 words.

Answer 8

they understand the sounds, and words, but their not people.

Answer 9

I think the amount of words a dog knows is how much you teach it. My dog know about a 130 maybe even more, so it depends on the dog..

Answer 10

it varies from breed to breed and dog to dog.  There is a border collie in germany that knows over 200 commands/objects.  My neighbors maltese knows like 5 commands.  

Answer 11

They do not. They only associate SOUND to action.  

Answer 12

It depends on the dog and how much training they have had.  Dogs can understand a lot of one and two word commands if they have been taught what those words mean.  As for general conversation, the dog responds to the tone of voice used, and does not understand sentences.