Try our canine mall. . . . Since dogs don t talk, spoken language isn t as important to them as it is to people. While they can learn what certain words mean, dogs understand non-verbal signals like tone of voice, gestures and posture better than they understand words. For example, get your dog s attention and then, in a happy voice, call him to you using a different command than he s used to and a different name than his own. Even if he s never heard those words before, he ll still come because he recognizes the inviting tone of voice you always use when you want him to come.
Dogs are also very sensitive to facial expressions and eye contact.
He knows that a smile means you re happy and a scowl means you re not. Because you re talking to him in the same tone that you normally use to praise him. He doesn t care what words you use it s your happy attitude that he s responding to. Dogs pay attention to your posture, too. Crouching to the dog s level invites them to come or play.