Training your dog in German seems to be quite popular in the USA.
You’ll also find the German Shepherd among the most popular dog breeds in the US.
Did you know that the German police had started professionally training their dogs in the early 1900s and have also used them in war?
In some regions, they used Dobermans as guard dogs for tax collectors even earlier.
It can be really convenient to train your dog in another foreign language as he will not confuse commands when you talk to others.
For the dog, it could be any language used as words mean nothing to them and they only learn their meaning through you.
I am German myself and train my dog in German, so I thought that this would be a good fit and put together the ultimate German dog training commands list for you:
Disclaimer: Some websites suggest training commands that are not really used in Germany (they seem like a bad Google translate), so mine will be a bit different.
| ENGLISH | GERMAN |
|---|---|
| Good boy! Good dog! Very good! | Fein! Braver Hund! Sehr gut! |
| Sit | Sitz |
| Come | Komm |
| Stay | Bleib |
| Stand | Steh |
| Down | Platz |
| Jump | Spring |
| Leave it | Lass es |
| Take it | Nimm |
| Drop it | Aus |
| Heal | Fuß |
| Speak | Gib laut |
| Quiet | Leise |
| No | Nein |
| Fetch | Bring |
| Wait | Warte |
| Stop | Stop |
| Roller Over | Rolle |
| Shake/ Paw | Pfote |
| Left | Links |
| Right | Rechts |
| Find/ Track | Such |
| Go back | Zurück |
| Kennel | Zwinger |
| Crawl | Kriechen |
| Growl | Knurren |
If you are not sure how to pronounce the different words correctly, you can simply shoot me a message and I will be able to help you.
Also, make sure to give your dog a fitting name.
- Check out this female dog name article as well as hunting breed names.
Feel free to apply this to your regular training as well as recall and release command.
This will surely impress your family and friends with your training skills and knowledge of a second language.
Kerri
Wednesday 19th of October 2022
Every single list I've seen of German commands lacks the German commands for "go potty!", even though training dogs to go on command is important for rescue and assistance dogs. We are fostering a well trained German shephard who looks at us with interest but did not eat a bite of food for three days until we tried Nimm futter! And she ate. We need the command for go potty as she walks forever and then tries to hide when she pees, I think she is waiting for a command and thinks she is bad because she is going when I haven't told her to, but I cannot find the German command for "go potty!" anywhere.
Danielle
Wednesday 19th of October 2022
Hi Kerri, it really doesn't matter what word you're using, it just needs to stay consistent. Personally, I'm using "pipi" which literally translated means "pee". A longer version would be "pipi machen" or "mach pipi" (literally translated meaning "make pee"; pretty much meaning "go potty").
If you throw it into a translator, it gives you "auf's Töpfchen gehen" which is fine but far too long in my opinion.
Hope that helps, Danielle
Dove Modisette
Friday 7th of October 2022
I would love help with pronunciation. My dog came trained in German (found out from trial and error) but we have trouble with things like stand, directions etc. We have a bullet proof Aus, platz, and hier. But any help is appreciated!!!
Danielle
Friday 7th of October 2022
Hi Dove, you can check out pronunciation here. Just use the search bar, type in the word, and then click on the sound button.
Cheers, Danielle
Candace R.
Tuesday 30th of November 2021
what word would you suggest using in like a threatening manner? like, "threat" or "bite", what word word would you suggest and are there more that we can use/look at?
-Thank you:)
Danielle
Saturday 4th of December 2021
Hey Candace, usually you'd use something like "Fass", "Beiß (Beiss)" for bite, and "Gefahr" or "Bedrohung" (might be a bit long) for threat.
Please note that I'd never advise to actually start protection training at home. You could technically use the word as a threat itself (which can be illegal too) but since you're presumably from a non-German country nobody could understand that anyway.
Protection training needs to be done with a professional who'll hopefully choose a command of your choice (can be an entirely different word) and evaluate whether or not you actually need and should have a protection dog in the first place :).
Charles Dixon
Wednesday 16th of September 2020
Hallo, just getting my AKC German Shepard and I'm looking forward to reading all you have on them and the German commands. Thank you for your efforts
Danielle
Thursday 17th of September 2020
Hey Charles,
thanks for your interest, hope you'll have lots of fun with your new pup! I've got lots of articles that cover bringing home a new puppy as well, feel free to check them out.
Cheers, Danielle
David
Saturday 15th of August 2020
This article was very helpful. Can you break down the pronunciation of the "shake" command. Was having a little trouble with that one. Thanks!
Danielle
Sunday 16th of August 2020
Hi David,
glad that this article was helpful to you! "Pfote" is definitely a difficult one. P+f are two different letters but when put together at the beginning of a word in the German language they become one and should be pronounced as such.
Focus on the f sound such as in forge but add a slight p such as in pod. The p and f should come out of your mouth at the same time. For better understanding, you can listen to some examples here. It's kind of similar to the sound a balloon makes when deflating.
Hope this helps!