German Dog Training Command Words
Here are a few dog training commands that I use. They are German commands, and used in the sport of Schutzhund:
- Achtung! (Ahk-toong’): Watch! Attention!
- Aus! (Ows): Out! Drop It! Let Go!
- Bleib! (Blibe): Stay!
- Bringen! : Bring! Fetch!
- Fass! (Fahs):Attack! Take hold!
- Fuss! (Foos): Heel!
- Gib Laut! : Bark! Speak!
- Hier! : Here! Come!
- Hopp! : Up! Jump!
- Nein! (Nine):No!
- Pass auf! (Pahs owf): Pay attention! Heads Up!
- Pfui! (Foo-ey): Shame! Stop That! Drop That!
- Platz! (Plots): Down! (Place)
- Setz! , Setzen! (Zetze’n): Sit!
- Such! (Zook): Search!
- Voran! (For-ahn): Go forward! Take the lead!
- Voraus! (For-ows): Go forward! Run out!
Not only are they “cool sounding”, but fun to use as well!
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July 22nd, 2009 at 11:08 am
Thanks for this translation guide i have a 7 week old East German/Czech Black sable male GSD who will be trained ( HOPEFULLY ) in Schutzhund in the future so i
am teaching him german commands but don’t really know how to say them properly and this helps a GREAT deal !!!
July 22nd, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Your welcome Robin! Your pup sounds awesome! Please send us pictures of him. What’s his name? Don’t forget the “Achtung” command
August 14th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
We have been training our all black german shepherd in german for a while.. Just forgot a couple of the words! This helped alot! Thanks!
By the way the german really helps with the bigger ones.. It makes him listen so much better in german than english for some reason.. He’s 10 months old and already 85 pounds (Not fat) and head up to my waist (I am 5’3”)…..
August 15th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Awesome Jessica! I totally agree that German, as it feels “more pronounced and heavy” – you “feel” like they listen better
Ok, you talked the talk, “my dog is bigger than your dog!” (jk) – so send us pictures!!!
September 28th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Hi,
Just got Jayda, an eight week old female german shepard, two days ago.
The father is a Police K-9 from Germany and the mother is also from Germany.
I just found your website and can’t wait to try some of this out.
November 17th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Hello,
i was just curious if there was a command in German for “leave it”… like when u are walking the dog and it starts wondering to smell and wat not…
thanks much
November 21st, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Hey I just adopted an almost 3 year old Belgian Malinois about a week ago, She is very Beautiful. I am also teaching her in German(my boyfriend’s mom has a Malinois also and he knows all his commands in German) I have already taught her to Setz, she is a very fast learner. any tips? Her name is Atheena
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
The command I use for leave it is pfui! (fooey). It always makes my kids laugh when I use it on them.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
@Rita – phui is a great one! And I bet your kids get a kick out of it too lol!
December 9th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
@Melody – I’m so waiting for TONS of pictures (yeah, I know…whe am I gonna post MY latest dog pictures?!?) of your Mal!
December 9th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
@Justin – Rita got your answer! Thanks Rita!!!
December 9th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
@Kristine – send us some pictures and let us know how your training goes with your Jayda! What breeder did you get her from?
January 3rd, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Thanks so much for posting this!
I haven’t had a dog in years, and just recently I received a 2 year old shepherd/keeshound mix. He’s had a tough life, much of it which is a mystery, and now I’m his last chance so I’m intent on making it work. I’m still in the process of figuring out how to train him, but he’s a pretty quick learner. Hopefully this works!
January 3rd, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Hey Stephanie, NICE looking dog! I’d wish you good luck with him, but with passion and determination on YOUR part, I’m sure he’s gonna be great!
January 13th, 2010 at 1:33 am
Hey Melody
I love Malinois. Use Pfui (foo-ey) with the correction. like the pulling of the leash. Then re-give the command. like sitz. never correct her with the command.
We have a Shepherd nameed Rocky.
January 27th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
Since I am a German-born American, I decided to learn German. I have now found the name for the family rottweiler (Konig) and will train him in German as well. We’ll be getting him as soon as I find the right dog parents to get him from. A lot of people train Rotties to be mean dogs, and I have small kids. So, when I find the right dog parents that have excellent dispositions, we’ll get our dog and We’ll train him in German. I can’t wait!
February 12th, 2010 at 10:37 am
I will be getting my rotweiler puppy in march of 2010. me and my husband currently have 2 akc registered pit bulls. and want to add a rottweiler to the family, we also want to teach him german, but will it effect my other 2 dogs english cammands?
February 28th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
The key is CONSISTENCY. Use the same command and pronunciation for each behavior you wish to train. You can Google “Dr. P’s Dog Training” for phonetic pronunciations in several languages.
When you have a choice, use commands that don’t sound similar. For example, to go to their crate either “Box” or “Zwinger” is okay (zwinger means kennel). But, Box and Platz (lie down) sound similar. Make it simple. Zwinger and Platz won’t be confused.
Also, keep in mind that besides the different dialects, there is High German and Low German; formal and daily conversational. If you’re going to learn one, use High German, it’s solid in the field and for competition. Don’t advertise not understanding the language by using Low German in competition — it’s like speaking Cockney in the UK rather than acceptable British English.
I train and cross-train GSDs, nearly all imported, for Search and Rescue, Personal Protection, and “Hard” Dogs that when sent are trained to do irreparable damage, all in German. You’ll have much better results if you learn a bit more of the language and can converse with them in German as well, but the key is consistency.
February 28th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Thank you Dean. It’s great to get a pro involved with these conversations! Do you have a site we can link up?
March 10th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Just found this website. I have a 10 week old Black and Tan GSD named Pixie. She will now be fluent in her native German!! Quick question on pronunciation for Sit….Setz, in keeping with the other pronunciation it would be Zetz? Thanks again
March 10th, 2010 at 10:49 am
@Eric: I’ve always pronounced it “S I T Z” – and have heard my trainer friends say it that way as well. Audio on the Dr P’s Dog Training site has an audio sample that you can check out.
Beautiful Pixie by the way!
April 25th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
Singular “S” is in German pronounced like an English Z. German Z is difficult to “spell,” but is pronounced something like “tz.” I hope this is helpful; in any case, most in the USA shall not know the difference.
May 16th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
how do you tell your dog to stop barking
May 19th, 2010 at 11:15 am
@tom: Check out my article on barking here: http://www.germanshepherd-breed.org/training-articles/training-dog-to-speak/
May 23rd, 2010 at 2:57 pm
hey we just got a boxer puppy and i want to be a k-9 police officer so im using my boxer as practice to get used to the commands. so thanks for this web site. it helped alot!
May 23rd, 2010 at 5:22 pm
@Sara, thank YOU for commenting
June 29th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
I just found your website and plan on putting it to good use. I just rescued this GSD from our local pound. Of course I have no idea if he is full blooded or not, but just look at how bold and beautiful he is! I knew he was coming home with me the minute I saw him!
July 1st, 2010 at 1:28 am
i have just bought my year old german shephard inmported from germany, hes already started in PP and fully trained in german but im not so this site is really going to help me out so thank you very much.
my boys name is Mulanio 1 years 130 pounds atm so hes a big boy.
July 9th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
@marvin – Awesome boy you have! What kennel is he out of?
July 9th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
@Mark,
Yes, I would of taken him too! What’s his temperament like?
July 11th, 2010 at 12:57 am
Martin,
His temperament is very laid back! He is very good with our two boys. He has not had any kind of training, he doesn’t know any commands or anything! He was VERY easy to potty train and is taking to a leash better each day. He is happy laying on the living room floor and in the shade of the backyard but he does not like going for rides! At least not yet…
August 20th, 2010 at 9:58 am
Hi, I have a GSD that will be 2 in Dec. His parents belong to my sister. I have photos of the m&f, and pedigree. She has yet to anything w/sire due to work and things like that.I was wondering if you knew of the sires parents?Grandfather of my dog on dams end is 2x VA (USA)Gusto vom Mittelwest SCHH3/Dam is VA Zaskia von der Libeswarte SCHH3, there is not much else in dams ped. except her grandparentsINTER.CH AOE 4x select Excellent CHJoelle’s alvin v NoorbergeTC, CD ROM,that would be her grandsire, my guy “Logan” is a beautiful dog and (IMO) moves very nice. The only training problem I have with him is when people coming to my home, he wants to run out and eat them. I can take him anywhere and he is fine, with other dogs, people etc. I try to correct it, and he has gotten a bit better but….what should I do? Other than that , he is super smart. great nose. any ideas would be appreciated. I would luv to to SH w/him. is 2 too late to start?Can’t get pic right now but would like to send one in to u. Thank you, Janice
August 25th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
My girlfriend and I are looking at adopting a 3-5 yr old male, all black. he was pretty much left alone for 2 1/2 months by himself. the lady who has him now has done a remarkable job at bringing him back to being around people.And he has actually a VERY good personality and disposition. And a LONG story behind him. Trained in germany as a protection dog. Any Idea if we should expect any suprises from him in the future? And should we watch what words we say around him.And FYI we are not intimidated by him either. Im new to shepherds and she had one in the past, which she had to put down due to his health. But I have been around all kinds of animals in my life and can read body languages fairly well. Any advise will be Greatly Apperciated!
September 2nd, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Thanks so much, I was curious whether my rescue shepherd knew any german commands as I had heard he had some SAR training….Hah, I’ve been speaking the wrong language for a year! he’s so happy that I finally started speaking his language. We’re having great fun with your very handy commands, pretty much all of which he knows! He got so excited when I said ‘Such’…we’ve been playing hide and seek for an hour and good lord, he can find it anywhere!