4 ms·

Many animal trainers (be it for circus, dogs, etc) use german because (supposedly) their animals can perceive and memorize its sounds better.

pandaman 9y ago
Also could be a safety measure e.g. in Russia service dogs are trained with most commands in Russian except for the "Attack!" which is German's "Fass!". I figure you don't want a dog to hear a word from a conversation and execute as if it was a command.
- yorwba 9y ago
  Most German dogs are trained in German as well, so the "security through obscurity" aspect is probably more of an afterthought. My personal guess is that an influential dog trainer happened to be German and followers of the method adapted the commands without translating them. Unfortunately I couldn't find out who that might have been.
  - nunobrito 9y ago
    Indeed could be the case. What I find is that German is good as an authoritative language. Makes the voice expressions deeper and doesn't include "niceties". This is also a fruit of the culture, Germans very seldom (if ever) apologise. I wasn't taken serious when arguing in German because I would apologise often (Portuguese culture) and often say: "I'm sorry, but you are wrong", just to get a rebuke such as: "So you apologize, you recognise you are the one wrong". Even translating from German to English or other languages you see how direct the language really is. For example, to convince someone to something else we usually start with "If you wouldn't mind, can you please do (...), thanks!", while Germans will often shorten to just "Bitte machen (...)" where the bitte portion is not really heartfelt and doesn't end with a thank you. You'll hear them replying when inquired if this isn't rude behaviour: "It's her job, no need to thank".
    - hashmal 9y ago
      I appreciate this aspect a lot when I travel to germany. It's not so much that they are rude and don't apologize, it's mostly that they're very direct and to the point. no politeness decorations.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- hashmal 9y ago
  I think accidental orders are not actually a problem, it's not just a sound in a conversation that can trigger it, but also how you say it, with body language and context.
  - pandaman 9y ago
    By conversation I mean the dog handler giving orders to an adversary as an example and not somebody chatting his friends on a phone. Gesture commands are also trained but to pass training the dog has to be able to execute commands entirely by voice because in situations these dogs serve the handler might be unable to move.
cafard 9y ago
A neighbor's dog was trained to respond to commands in Japanese, though neither of them spoke it. This was in Washington, DC, so I guess that it greatly reduced the chances of the dog responding to somebody else's commands.

pandaman 9y ago

Also could be a safety measure e.g. in Russia service dogs are trained with most commands in Russian except for the "Attack!" which is German's "Fass!". I figure you don't want a dog to hear a word from a conversation and execute as if it was a command.

yorwba 9y ago
Most German dogs are trained in German as well, so the "security through obscurity" aspect is probably more of an afterthought. My personal guess is that an influential dog trainer happened to be German and followers of the method adapted the commands without translating them. Unfortunately I couldn't find out who that might have been.
- nunobrito 9y ago
  Indeed could be the case. What I find is that German is good as an authoritative language. Makes the voice expressions deeper and doesn't include "niceties". This is also a fruit of the culture, Germans very seldom (if ever) apologise. I wasn't taken serious when arguing in German because I would apologise often (Portuguese culture) and often say: "I'm sorry, but you are wrong", just to get a rebuke such as: "So you apologize, you recognise you are the one wrong". Even translating from German to English or other languages you see how direct the language really is. For example, to convince someone to something else we usually start with "If you wouldn't mind, can you please do (...), thanks!", while Germans will often shorten to just "Bitte machen (...)" where the bitte portion is not really heartfelt and doesn't end with a thank you. You'll hear them replying when inquired if this isn't rude behaviour: "It's her job, no need to thank".
  - hashmal 9y ago
    I appreciate this aspect a lot when I travel to germany. It's not so much that they are rude and don't apologize, it's mostly that they're very direct and to the point. no politeness decorations.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
hashmal 9y ago
I think accidental orders are not actually a problem, it's not just a sound in a conversation that can trigger it, but also how you say it, with body language and context.
- pandaman 9y ago
  By conversation I mean the dog handler giving orders to an adversary as an example and not somebody chatting his friends on a phone. Gesture commands are also trained but to pass training the dog has to be able to execute commands entirely by voice because in situations these dogs serve the handler might be unable to move.

cafard 9y ago

A neighbor's dog was trained to respond to commands in Japanese, though neither of them spoke it. This was in Washington, DC, so I guess that it greatly reduced the chances of the dog responding to somebody else's commands.