There have been plenty of lessons where you learn how to speak to Japanese people, but what is more important in your life, people or dogs? You said dogs, didn’t you? I knew you would.

In an elaborate excuse to show you all pictures of my cute dog, this lesson will be about speaking to man’s best friend—in Japanese!

When I first started learning Japanese I ran into a post online of a beginner who had just adopted a cat. He might have been brilliant or crazy, but he decided that the cat would only speak Japanese. In order to practice his speaking skills he would constantly talk to the cat in Japanese about his day, what he was doing, and his problems. Like I said, brilliant or crazy, I am not sure which. Anyway, he swore by this method and claimed his speaking skills rapidly improved.

Now dogs are much better than cats, most people know this, and the ones who don’t are obviously wrong. But the best thing about dogs is that most of them can follow a bunch of commands, so using Japanese with them is undoubtedly more fun.

So after studying Japanese for many years, I decided to get a dog. Among all the perks of having a new furry friend, I remembered that post online about the guy and his cat. Since I live in Kyoto, I figured it would actually be really beneficial if my dog could understand Japanese commands, for when he visited the vet, the groomers, or if I had to board him overnight.

I then realized I had no idea how to give commands to my dog in Japanese. So I invited over a good Japanese friend and we spent the day schooling him and myself in the finer points of 犬のしつけ(いぬのしつけ) or “dog training.”

I made a list of the words my dog knows and ones I use quite often with him. Maybe this can be helpful to you; maybe you will just be happy to learn or review a few imperatives. Either way, you will most definitely be prepared for the next time you run into an adorable little friend.

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お座り・座れ
おすわり・すわれ
Sit

お手
おて
Shake

待て
まて
Stay

伏せ
ふせ
Lie down

立て
たて
Stand

放せ
はなせ
Leave it

見て
みて
Watch me / Look

いい子
いいこ
Good boy / Good girl

行け
いけ
Go

ダメ
No

My dog knows this last word well, here is his face when I tell him ダメ after he tries to eat my pizza:

来て・おいで
きて・おいで
Come

散歩しよう
さんぽしよう
Let’s go for a walk

It has been super helpful that he only knows the Japanese word for "walk", now when we talk about taking him for a walk in English, he doesn’t have a complete meltdown

持ってきて・持って来い・取って
もってきて・もってこい・とって
Bring it here / Fetch

静かに
しずかに
Quiet

おしっこ・トイレ
Go pee / Go potty

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For a bit more practice, here are a few signs you will see around town related to walking your dog:

みんなの町を美しく
フンの後始末は飼い主の責任です。
みんな　の　まち　を　うつくしく
ふん　の　あとしまつ　は　かいぬし　の　せきにん　です。
To keep the town beautiful for everyone
Cleaning up poop is the owners responsibility.
Literally: "everyone + の + town + を + beautiful +
poop + の + cleaning up + は+ owner + の + responsibility + です"

Note: 後始末する has a literal meaning of "to settle" or "to deal with." So in this context it is treated as "cleaning up."

犬のフン禁止！
散歩中のフンは後始末をしよう
いぬ　の　ふん　きんし！
さんぽちゅう　の　ふん　は　あとしまつ　を　しよう
Dog poop is not allowed!
Let's clean up the poop while on our walk
Literally: "dog + の + poop + prohibited +
walk + during + の + poop + は+ cleaning up + を + しよう"

Did you learn something? I hope so. Maybe you didn’t even read it and just
enjoyed pictures of my dog. That’s ok, he is a cutie. ^.^ (its not ok, scroll back up and learn something!)

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This lesson was written by Cassy L., a guest contributor: