German Training Commands for Dogs

Training a dog in a foreign language has its advantages. Shutzhund, a popular sport in America that vigorously tests dogs with three phases, originated in Germany and uses commands in German. Even though it is no longer specific to breeds, the sport originally started with the evaluating of German shepherds.

  1. Obedience

    • Pets require obedience training and most dogs pick up on these commands easily. In Shutzhund, the obedience phase is comprised of a variety of tests, including owners walking their dogs through crowds, a gunfire test where shots are fired and the dog is commanded to stay ("bleib" in German) as well as retrieving and jumping. A few of the common commands used and their German translations are: "sit" ("sitz"); "heel" ("fuss"); "fetch" ('brings"); "come" ("hier"); and "down" ("platz").

    Tracking

    • By nature, dogs are skilled and natural hunters who have been used over centuries to track outlaws as well as prey. The German command for "search" is "such," pronounced with a long "u" and a soft "ch." During Shutzhund tests, dogs must track and find certain objects typically on dirt and grass through varying courses of length, size and age.

    Protection

    • One of the primary reasons for having a dog is for protection. Whether it's for home protection or as a guard dog at a business or even an attack dog working with law enforcement, dogs can be commanded in a variety of phrases and words to protect and attack. In German, "bite" is "fass," "grab him" is "pack ihn" and "out" is "aus."

    Praises and Criticisms

    • After a dog has been commanded and has obeyed, they typically deserve praise for their hard work. A typical praise in German is "braver hund," or "good dog." Similarly, "so ist's brav" translates from German into English as "that's good." On the other hand, if the dog does not obey, a simple "nein" or "no" can be used or "bad hund," which translates into "bad dog."