How to TALK to YOUR DOG - Robert Cabral - Dog Training Video 

I showed my dog this vid , he partially agreed,but had some good rebuttle

My dog is deaf unless I am saying something he wants to hear. My husband taught him that.

I had a dog that would come to me & make a sneezing sound to get my attention & then while staring me in the face & I would ask her what she wanted. I looked right back into her eyes & went down a list of possible things she might want (Do you want some food? Do you want to go potty? Do you want a treat?) and she would simply continue staring at me still & unflinching until I finally said the thing she wanted which would become clear because the moment after it was spoken she would spin in a circle which communicated her desire.

My dog loves when I hold him and sing about how much I love him and how cute he is.

“But my dog understands EVERY word I say...” 😂

I had a dog that understood 200 words...She would go all the way upstairs and get my slippers and bring them down to me when I asked her to..She learned every word through verbal praise only. We had a great life together.. She was smart, fun, happy and very, very loved...She understood what I would say because I took the time to teach her and praise her. She is proof that dogs can learn what we are saying if taught with love and praise....verbal, hugging, petting, enthusiastic praise.

I've been talking to my dog his entire life. He knows exactly what I say. He talks to me as well. He looks at me and I know what he wants.

Words or not, I'm convinced my dog is telepathic with me, but he does often interpret my mood by the quality of tone or strength of my voice.

I have 2 retired S&R k9s. They know sign language in the field . Both are rescue k9s . Aussie is blind , Springer has seizures . Taught each other to search as a team . Air sniffer , ground sniffer . I swear they can read minds

My dog keeps the best secrets! She never tells anyone! 🥰

My youngest daughter would yell at me for talking to my dog, she would tell me that my dog didn't understand me and I told her she was wrong. And I am right, my dog does understand me because she has learned by simple hand gestures or my tone of voice or the deflection of my words what I want from her and she is and always has been very smart and willing to please me. She knows and understands what I say to her. She has always been quick to learn and easy to please. I have never yelled at her or reprimanded her in a loud manner and I have never ever struck her in anger. I just don't get angry with her I tried to understand her and what she needs. We have great communication and I love my dog she is a wonderful companion. I take her everywhere I go. Before I retired I used to take her to work with me.

Very clear and correct advise. My dog has shut off from my words when we are out - she will not come back to me when I call her. She is a rescue greyhound, and I have tried giving her food treats when she does come, but even then, if she does not want to come, she will not! I only let her off where I know it is safe. I just need to keep rewarding her when she does come back to me, and maybe one day she will surprize me when she does come back when I call her?! xxx

I love watching dog training videos that actually make sense. People ask me why I need my dogs to be robots, I’m pretty sure they enjoy the training as much as me.

Dogs benefit greatly from auditory stimulus. I trained my doberman from an electric wheelchair without physical contact, any kind of collar, clicker or treats. She is advanced enough in her training to pick up objects that I drop onto the floor. First verbal commands, then translated to hand signals and now to facial expressions (my body, but not my face, is slowly becoming paralyzed). It took time and patience. My doberman is happiest when she hears my voice.

I"ve seen a few dog trainers on youtube, at least 10, and Robert is in my opinion the most qualified one. Many thanks for all your advice !

My dog understands everything I say. We have long conversations and she enjoys our chats.

This has to be the best dog psychology/training video on YT. Beautifully explained, too. Nice one, Robert. Subscribed.

Simple, but great stuff. I never thought about it that way before . . . .keep up the great work Robert !!!!!

Show your dog - don’t talk to your dog in a language he doesn’t understand, makes sense! Thank you 🙏 🌈

I have taught my dog words. He comes to me and whines. I say, you have to potty, nothing. You hungry, woof!

The hardest part of dog training is teaching owners in as concise and simple as humans need to hear and grasp new concepts .thank you for Explaining as easy as possible its One of the most important dog training points to make clear. My clients can hear it fast, concise and within their capacity to understand instead of just nodding their head to appease me. The dog is much easier to train, it’s truly my job to communicate with the owner. I’ll quote you as this is as clear and concise as it has to be.! Thank you for teaching by example

I have different tones when I talk. There's the "I'm talking to people." tone which is normal. There's the "I'm just having fun, nothing I'm saying matters." When I use a slightly deeper/sterner tone, it's "Time for listening. These are command words." I found that having "Time for ____." really made my dog more obedient to certain situations. Like Time for Bath. No matter what happens, the bath happens because it's time for it. So even if he's reluctant, he'll get into the bath himself even but eventually bath time is over and there's the celebratory "You did it!!" More importantly was "Time for medicine." where he, like most animals, hated medicine. But he'd obey because it was me doing this to him, it was time for this to happen and I was merely making it a better experience for him and if I didn't do it, someone else would. Also Time for; Walk, Ball, Bed, and Belly-belly. (The dog usually dictated when it was time for belly-belly.) No one should really expect to have a conversation with a dog though. I generally used modified words I'd never use in regular speech (baby-talk?) so the dog could identify the words as much as I was talking to him (like people. Not commands.) Mark becomes Marky, Mike becomes Mikey, Mom becomes Mommy. Cookie. Lots of single words that ended with E sounds it would seem. Combine words they hopefully (and do) know like "Find Mommy," "No Bark!" and "Go Inside Laydown." - Generally I cut out words that you can't really teach a dog like "is, the, a" ect. I find it all worked out for me but some dogs might be stupid or lack the personal attention needed to know the difference. Edit: Oh, yeah. "Time for Learning." - Then I'd clearly say the new word. Then direct them in different ways to get them to perform a specific task. I find that teaching them to stop barking, I first had to teach them to bark intentionally. Then add "No" in front of the words to get them to NOT do that while they were doing it. Seemed to work for me.

My dog understands words and sign language. I can use either to make him do what I want him to do. It’s a great bond when the dog understands you.

I have taught my dog simple words. My dog understands her name, if I say wait she waits for me, if I say kitchen then she knows food time. I have a dachshund and she uses her nose to point at things that she wants. She looks at me then points her nose to the TV then I know she wants to watch the TV.. You have to be in tune with your pet

Does make sense, yes.

Well I have had several dogs and I have talked to all of them. Mine were the best trained dogs of all my friends. I talked to every one of them AND they understand full sentences. Not when they are puppies but by 2 years old we have great VERBAL communication.

Your straight forward, sensible advice has given me practical tools to shape the behavior of both the shelter dogs I work with and their adopters. You've had a very big impact on many. THANK YOU

U r such a blessing..trained my dog to sleep on her own bed with your videos

I agree with 90% of what you are getting at. My dogs are my family. I talk to them as such. Commands are different. You're the best out there !

Only 7% of human to human communication is verbal, the rest is non verbal and para verbal. I knew that and even so I was talking way to much to my new puppy. Thanks for all the helpful videos!

I found that talking to my dog was useless! But he's a great reader thou!

Word.

Hi Robert! Thank you for sharing what you know. Your teachings and instruction are clear and concise. My Malinois and I are better off because of your videos. Thank you! I got Bodie from a shelter at three months old. I didn't know what I had until I got home. When I realized what a Malinois is and the character traits, I made a commitment to give him what he needs. I began working with him, training him, giving him tasks, marking behaviors, rewarding the good behaviors. I have to admit that this do g is completely capable of learning anything! Any character flaws of this animal lay squarely in my lap. The biggest thing is technique and how to communicate to the animal what you want and what is expected. I want to tell you that you and the AKC were the most valuable resources I found. Thank you for helping me learn the best ways to communicate with my K9 companion! Bodie is amazing and without your instruction and insight, I might have given up on this hyper, energetic, ballistic, dynamo that is my best friend! Thank you brother! I grew up near you and now I live in Joshua Tree California. Bodie and I are better off because of your videos. Is Goofy still alive?

One of, by far, the greatest dog videos I have ever watched. THANK YOU

I love this training style cuz I don't like talking out loud to myself. It's weird. I'm using Robert Cabrall's techniques and taught "speak" in a day. So much easier and less stress. I like the hand signals better. It's like our secret language and appears so much more advanced than it is🤣

Thank you...

All things dog. I talk to my dogs. While training. I believe they are tuned in to sounds around them. They are listening. They recognize and associate my voice in its tone, repetition and volume. ❤

Very clear, good video, thank you!

brilliant simple really so true thanks..

Good advice.

I chat with my dogs all the time, except when training. Then it’s one word commands, breaks and praising. I also have to be aware not to be over exuberant in praise, or over demanding with my voice to allow my pup the space to be focused and present with as little stress to enjoy and look forward to working. When I do chat, I show my silliness in my body movements, and just how I think they are the best. At the same time, when they really do a blooper, after a serious scold, I won’t even allow them to look at me letting them know I am disappointed. I don’t k ow if this is completely wrong, but it works. An example is one of my dogs nipped at a 6 weeks old pup in resource behavior putting that pup at real risk of possible future injury. Mama bear came out of me. I launched in the air literally to intervene and correct her. All dogs and pups scattered all over the place. I called the offending dog back to the dish, and gave her a deep command of no, made her lay with belly up. I then proceeded to tell her from the center of my being if she ever harmed a pup she’ll regret. No, she didn’t understand and of my words, but the No command. She definitely understood my intention of protection toward that pup. I reduced future occurrences by feeding hard kibble in different rooms, and the mash in the kitchen. Anytime a pup and the dog approached the same water bowl, in a low and serious tone, I would say , be good. My dog knew why. I’d praise her with a good girl when she played nicely with pups, and a , settle down if she played too rough. I never left a puppy around her unattended. She loved those pups and was more affected when they went into their new families than mom was. Hadn’t I got on her, she could have easily turned to injuring pups or worse. My methods is very unorthodox due to my momma bear syndrome, but she seemed to have learned from it non the less.

Ok, I got my male GSD, watched many trainers/videos and I have to say Robert Cabral is the guy I settled on for a consistent fair and non fluffy approach. My boy (2yr old now)is a pet dog, and certainly not perfect, but I can say he is a good well mannered dog. I’ve learned a lot from Robert, Thank you.

I trained my GSD with your videos love them I have the best behaved girl I could wish for we walk play train with ball and treats every morning for two hours glad I waited till I retired to get my first GSD have all the time in the world to enjoy our time together so thank you

This is reassuring. I always feel bad for NOT talking to my dog. I feel like im ignoring them or something....is that weird? I pay attention to them of course, but I like to narrate what im doing cuz I felt it was reassuring to all my animals to know I was home and talking to all them since I cant exactly pet 5 cats and 3 dogs all at the same time, esp when one is a pup and is VERY demanding of most of my attention these days

My dog and I both learnt the German commands at the same time. it made it incredibly easy for me to set one word to one action! I couldn’t believe the results from the structure it gave me👍🏼

What a brilliant way of explaining it, thanks.

Robert Love the way you put things into simple words on training our dogs, Thanks for all your advise 🐕

Show him is so true, I know some breeds are best shown than talked too. One word is best than 3-5. I do have a question, how do yo get him to stop barking at the windshield wipers? Really it is so difficult. I think he sees them as a threat and there is no way to get him near them he can understand they are ok.

I don’t agree, my dog understands many things I tell him and the most simplest word he knows is TREAT !!! Go outside and dozens of more and Iv never ever have yelled at my dog, he’s a Pitbull and he’s sooo smart and seriously the most loving animal Iv ever known !!! Iv never ever had an animal like mine who wants to be touching me up close like my boy !!!

Lure, show, mark it, thanks! 🔥

Wonderfully explained.

Dogs don't understand verbal nonsense, they feel the emotional intelligence behind it. Fully agree, there's too much commands and verbal communication in the modern dog training system. The foundation is structure , purpose of hunt that leads to heart development and matured vision.

I am always amazed how many people speak to their dogs.....

Best advice ever

Man, this is hard. I am home, alone with my dog all day. I love talking to him. But I love him, I need to find a balance.

You are truely a doggie hero ! Your wonderful I'am working my way thro your videos and when I'am done I'll have a more wonderful communications relationship with my German Sheppard. She's so smart and she wants to learn and be a good girl but I was doing everything wrong by just spoiling her. Thank you God bless 🙏💜

Some very funny comments! However, my last dog (a GS mix & the best dog I ever had) learned fairly early that "where are you supposed to be" meant go lay down by the door because we're going to eat now. Of course I first conditioned her with a "Down" & "Stay" command which she learned to obey fairly quickly as a pup. Dutchess was such a sweet girl, I still miss her 20 years later.

My two border collies understand everything I say. They have a vocabulary and sometimes you have to spell words out.

Dogs are intelligent creatures. It's us that do it all wrong and then people think the dog is stupid. Great training advice thank you!

I like how you explain things, even though it seems very simple, thank you for your information

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent advice. Training my now 11 week German Shepherd puppy. She is progressing very nicely with luring and shaping her behavior and putting the 1 or 2 word commands she now knows what I am asking her to do. She is as smart as a whip.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, the lessons are really resonating with me, I understand them, you make sense and I can put the advice into action.

My experience has been that dogs do understand speech and they do so vibrationally. I understand cats and dogs, don’t ask me how, it’s just something that I do without thinking. If I can try to explain it, I’d say that listening isn’t necessarily done by just the ears. There are other ways of understanding/hearing that I believe animals use more acutely than humans. It could be vibrational, energy, but I definitely know that they understand it’s more us that aren’t always listening. Obviously no two dogs are the same just like no two humans are the same and you’ll always find that some are more vocal, more eager to please, independent etc.

Love all your advice, it makes so much sense. Sadly I don't think I'll manage to fully do this. I talk to my rescue dog all day long like he's a human but will try and be clearer with instructions. Thank you.

So good! Thank you !

I love that your putting out more videos. I cant tell you how much I have learned from you and your videos and I've only been a dog owner for a little over a year now

This is wonderful. I do use confusion though. Many of the dogs I work with have severe problems and sometimes, a bit confusion can be helpful. Depends on how it is used.

Very logical point

Great informative video! Thank you! I couldn’t help but like, save and share it!

Super important. We forget this and humanize the dog becoming chatty with it. Great message!!

I wish I'd found you when puppy training our first dog. Now I've improved the relationship between me and our current dog. Now I'll be able to better train our next pup too.

I learnt something I think I already knew many thanks robert

Yeah, I know you're right but my dogs are literally the only people I have to talk to! LOL!

Sir Robert, I'm with You. Always. The car have to wait. Regards Bartek Kondrat

My chihuahua can do 8 commands with my hand signals alone. But we started with words and hand signals. I talk to him, he may not fully understand but it's good therapy for me.

Thanks for the knowledge

Out for a walk and off the lead our young sheltie would immediately become deaf on seeing another dog off the lead. We weren't supposed to let him off the lead outside, but I did. One day I was really scared to lose him and had a bright idea: I called "Walkies!" his favourite word. He came straight back and sat down quietly in front of me to put his lead on, just as he did at home. Never had a problem after that.

Guys he saying first use action then add words. He not saying words don't work he just saying they are harder to learn. Great vid. I owned a dog I picked up from the pound . No1 new his name or age. Between 3 to 5 we guessed. I never named him. This dog learnt to sense my presences so much that he could read my emotions to the tee. If i was happy his tail went crazy , if i was sad he would not leave my side and have constant contact, if i was mad lol he would keep 3m between us. Even if he wad lieing down eyes closed almost asleep and heard me laugh his tail would start going nuts, as soon as I stop his tail stop lol. If we heard a noise he would look straight in my eyes to the direction my eyes were looking. If it lined up with were he heard the noise he would wait until I looked at him and as soon as I looked back to were noise came from he would launch into that direction. Anything out of the norm was dead lol. On paper his name was jack... Jack Russel he was😏 though he thought he was a trex. Coolest lil dude ever

Something we have in common and I do understand. I came to America when I about 3 years old and only spoke German at the time. My great grandmother was visiting us in North Carolina and was babysitting me. I was asking for water in German and she just did understand what I was saying or asking of her. She told my parents when they came back home that I was saying something but she did not understand and that I became so frustrated. My mother asked me in German what I said and then translated to my great grandmother that I was asking for water. I think I may have tried to show her but I would have to ask my mother. Robert, your explanation makes sense and I believe it's true because I am an aspiring dog trainer experiencing these scenarios. Keep up the good work!

AHHH! Thank you, this is just what I needed to hear today! New to me 8 yr old Mal girl. Now I have to learn how to show her what I am teaching. Best dog in the world!

You are only partly right. If you want to teach a dog something, you must first get its' attention. Body language first, words second. Dogs are super intelligent & want to please us. This pre-dispises them to learn, but teach one thing at a time, not moving to the next thing until the first is firmly fixed in your dog's mind.

I love watching you...I have learned so much!!! Thank you, thank you! My dog thanks you too!!!

Nicely said. Love watching your videos.

And before I get grief for my post, let me tell you about my 13 month old golden. Took her home 3 days before 8 weeks old. Second day home, she asked out to potty. NO poop mistakes ever. 5 piddle mistakes, mostly my fault. 3 1/2 months, put her cage away and gave her full run of the house. She sleeps in my room on the floor. NO chewed up anything ever. When she does something bad like digging, I open the door, say "are you digging?" and she runs into the house, sits by me and looks contrite. Dog park visits, I never have to call her. She stays in sight. So don't tell me they are stupid and can only understand single words. I will put my dog's behaviors up against anyone's and I talk to her constantly.

My Doberman can hear me put my socks on in the bedroom when he's in the living room, and he then knows it's time for a walk, so he comes running into the bedroom, jumps on the bed and puts his paws on my shoulders; it's amazing, funny and sometimes bothersome because it makes it difficult to get my other sock on with his paws on my shoulders...Hahahaha. I love him!!!

Hi Robert, I'm teaching a 13 week male sable GSD from an old working line and just wanted to say thanks for sharing all your insight and wisdom, it's very much appreciated!

Thank you

I get what you are saying re showing rather than just saying commands. But I would find it really weird not to talk to dogs in general. Most of the time I don't expect anything when I talk to them, I might just make a remark about something, or ask them a rhetorical question. I know they don't understand, but I think they also know I don't want anything from them, so I am not convinced that this sort of talking would be confusing or stressful to them. If I want them to do something I think this is clear in my tone of voice.

Amazing video. Honestly have to say never thought of it this way. Been learning a lot from your videos.

I agree and.......I don't. I've never trained any of my dogs commands or tricks (except paw desensitization for nail clipping), but I've always talked to them like I would anybody else and they pick up on a lot. They'll sit, lay down, come, ect on command because they just naturally pick up on it. I'll tell one to go lay on the couch (because he's throwing a fit at the door) and off he goes. Never guided him to the couch once but have talked to him about being lazy laying on the couch. I mean don't read them Shakespeare and expect a reaction, but talking to them naturally works.

You didn't know English until you were eight? Wow, you have no accent. Amazing. Love your videos.

Mister Robert Cabral, you help us every day with your videos. Thanks.

I love your explanation of this! 👍 thank you for teaching such common sense ways!

What a great explanation I really appreciate that. I am going to share this because a lot of people don't get it and people do it all the time

Strange. I’ve always talked to my dogs and they understand. I can ask “who did this?” and I know which one did it because she will very slowly stand up, walk away and not look back. 😂 Also, she had a way of talking to us. She had a “half” bark. If she needed to go out, she’d stand at the bottom of the stairs and do her half bark. We’d know she was “talking” to us. I could also ask her what she wanted and she’d lead me to it. So, I’m not sure I can fully agree with this. Oh and this is funny…I once mimicked her playing bark. I matched her pitch when she was playful. She had a very surprised look, hunched down with her bottom in the air, tail wagging and got really excited because apparently I asked her to play in her language! Lol. That was hilarious!!!

Sir. You are the best, most common sense, and most easy to follow trainer of dog-owners. One wonders how many dogs' lives you have managed to save.

Thanks

I recently adopted a female dog, an old dog, about 10 years old, and it seems to me that the way she was trained was with a LOT of negative corrections, and I battle that everyday to restore her happiness, and everytime she shows a bit of happiness I'm so excited and yet the road seems long. Maybe you have some tips for me to make the process shorter and faster. Thanks

Thank you for all of the awesome videos, great instruction and advice Robert. I have a 21 month old Belgian Malinois who is my best buddy and you have helped me so much with him. Thanks again, and keep up the great work sir.