I think so (*maybe* not prepositions though. I think that the difference between In/Out/On is pretty sophisticated....although my dogs have memorized the meanings of Up and Down. But I think I could have called Up, "Brown" and Down, "Adios" and still gotten the same response. ).
Dh and I antagonize each other. I'll tell the dog, "Zamboni, tell Dad you want a Cookie." (The bolded words are very important words in my household) And Zamboni (my eternally food-deprived beagle) will run after my husband, who is in the other room and stand in front of him drooling...and giving him the Beagle Death Stare that means "feed me NOW!"
So Dh will say "Camper, play Soccer with Mom." (Soccer is Camper's favorite game ever). And my GSD will run over to me and start whining. Then he runs to the door, runs back to me, back to the door, and stands in front of me, whining like "C'mon woman! You heard the man. You're playing soccer with me. Let's go! Hup hup!"
Zamboni does not return to me for a snack. Camper does not run back to Dh expecting him to play with him. They understand very clearly that the statement means the person in the statement (the noun or actor) will fulfill their duty (verb) for them (the object of the sentence).
I have told Camper "Cuz Boardroom" (we call his crate his "Boardroom") and he's run into his crate. It only makes sense. If he's looking for something, and someone tells you to go to your crate, you would go there. Does he think I'm giving him the command "Boardroom" and then he finds his toy and he fails to complete the command "Boardroom" (which actually means go into your crate and stay there)? Or does he understand that I'm giving him helpful information? That, I don't know. But he got his Cuz out of the Boardroom and we were able to play fetch (without his having to sniff it around the house to find it).
So I don't know EXACTLY what went through his mind, except that he started to look for his Cuz; I gave him additional information (like you did) and we were able to resolve a small conflict (the conflict being that it would have taken longer had we not provided the information). That, indeed, is communication.
Dh and I antagonize each other. I'll tell the dog, "Zamboni, tell Dad you want a Cookie." (The bolded words are very important words in my household) And Zamboni (my eternally food-deprived beagle) will run after my husband, who is in the other room and stand in front of him drooling...and giving him the Beagle Death Stare that means "feed me NOW!"
So Dh will say "Camper, play Soccer with Mom." (Soccer is Camper's favorite game ever). And my GSD will run over to me and start whining. Then he runs to the door, runs back to me, back to the door, and stands in front of me, whining like "C'mon woman! You heard the man. You're playing soccer with me. Let's go! Hup hup!"
Zamboni does not return to me for a snack. Camper does not run back to Dh expecting him to play with him. They understand very clearly that the statement means the person in the statement (the noun or actor) will fulfill their duty (verb) for them (the object of the sentence).
I have told Camper "Cuz Boardroom" (we call his crate his "Boardroom") and he's run into his crate. It only makes sense. If he's looking for something, and someone tells you to go to your crate, you would go there. Does he think I'm giving him the command "Boardroom" and then he finds his toy and he fails to complete the command "Boardroom" (which actually means go into your crate and stay there)? Or does he understand that I'm giving him helpful information? That, I don't know. But he got his Cuz out of the Boardroom and we were able to play fetch (without his having to sniff it around the house to find it).
So I don't know EXACTLY what went through his mind, except that he started to look for his Cuz; I gave him additional information (like you did) and we were able to resolve a small conflict (the conflict being that it would have taken longer had we not provided the information). That, indeed, is communication.
