Ignoring commands to sit, stay or fetch, it seemed as though Caleb the German shepherd could not be trained. But it turned out staff at his animal shelter had been, well, barking up the wrong tree. The four-year-old was perfectly capable of understanding commands – as long as they were in Polish.
Now the Dogs Trust Shelter in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, is hoping to find a bilingual owner to give Caleb a home. Caleb was given to the Trust three months ago by his owner, who had trained him in their native Polish, could not look after him when finding a job abroad.
Polish-born Mariusz Budz was asked to spend time with Caleb, and a remarkable video showed the dog obeying commands in Polish but ignoring their English equivalents. Caleb has started to learn some basic commands in English, but the Trust is hoping someone who speaks the language will adopt him.
Sandra Foulds, of the Trust, said, “When Caleb first arrived, we thought that his lack of response to training commands was due to a change in his environment and him adjusting to life here. But once we figured out it was the language difficulty holding him back, there’s nothing stopping him when he’s being spoken to in Polish and he’s really keen to show off his tricks.We have started saying commands in English to try and teach Caleb to recognize words like “sit” and “stay” but it is taking time. We repeat the commands but Caleb is much more comfortable following instructions in Polish.”
She added，“Caleb is an adorable boy and loves toys. He enjoys the company of people and will happily play with you if you have a ball. Like all our dogs when they become ready to find new families, we want Caleb to go to a loving home —although in this case, it would be advantage if they can speak Polish.” The Trust has said that Caleb could live with older teenagers aged 14 years or above but would prefer to be the only dog in the home.Anyone wishing to offer Caleb a new home can call the Centre on 0300 303 0292.
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