Welcome to a new episode of English Vocabulary Booster.
My name is Lara and I'm a SALSA certified English teacher.
Learning new vocabulary usually takes a long time, but we'll do it in a way that's easy, quick and efficient.
In every episode, we'll learn how to use five new English words or expressions, so that you too can start speaking like a native.
So let's get learning.
Hello you guys.
How are you?
I'm doing pretty good.
I had, um a very busy saturday, um i'm recording this on a monday, and then i took sunday, kind of to be by myself.
Clean the house do things that make me feel happy and yes, as weird as it may sound, cleaning the house does make me feel I don't know what to tell you.
There's something about having you know something about cleaning and throwing out the stuff that you don't need anymore.
I don't know.
It's very cathartic.
I think it's really, it's something that helps me relax.
Anyway, point is, I'm feeling better and I'm ready to record this episode.
And today we're going to talk about dogs.
Babe.
Babe.
Yes, honey.
Don't you think the dog's been acting strange today?
What do you mean?
Well, first of all, he's been barking non-stop.
Yeah, well, he's a dog, so... Then half an hour ago, he pooped on the carpet.
Yeah, but he's a puppy.
Even if his house broken, there'll be accidents.
Yeah, but...
When you guys came home, he seemed really uncomfortable.
He didn't wag his tail when he saw me, and for a second, I could have sworn he even growled at me.
Growl?
No way.
Cooper's such a good boy.
He would never growl.
Come here, Cooper.
You would never growl at Mommy, would you?
You're a good boy, aren't you?
Oh, yes, yes, you are.
You're such a...
When you went to the dog park earlier, did you keep Cooper with you the whole time?
Yeah, of course.
No, I mean on a leash.
Did you keep him on the leash the whole time?
Well, no.
I let him free to run around and play with the other dogs.
Oh, by the way, fun fact.
There was this dog that looked just like Cooper.
Same breed, same age.
I spoke to his owner for a while.
Nice guy.
Babe, was this guy's dog's name Bruce?
Yeah, how do you know?
Well, look at this dog's collar.
Honey, I think you brought home the wrong dog.
So a quick disclaimer before we get into the questions.
I have never owned a dog um, i've only had.
I only have experience with cats.
So um, i'm gonna try and share what i know.
But um, if there, if there are any dog owners out there that are listening to this and you think I'm saying something really stupid, let me know.
Hopefully, I won't.
I'll try to keep it very generic.
But let's get into it, and let's talk about expression number one, to be housebroken.
Even if he's housebroken, there will be accidents.
If a dog is housebroken, will they poop and pee around the house or not?
If a dog is housebroken, no, they won't be pooping and being around the house.
They will have passed that phase.
And what would you most often need to housebreak a dog when they're puppies or later in life?
It's usually puppies that need to be housebroken.
Since puppies have never lived in a house, they don't know that they're supposed to only poop and pee outside and not in the house.
So they need to be housebroken.
They need to be taught where they can go to the bathroom and where they cannot go to the bathroom.
Having said that, even older dogs, if they have never lived in a house or in an apartment, they will need to be housebroken because they don't know.
They've never learned, like I said, where to go to the bathroom.
But yeah, usually it's puppies.
All puppies need to be housebroken.
How long does it take to housebreak a dog?
Again...
Never had a dog.
I don't know.
I'm pretty sure it depends on the dog.
I'm guessing a few weeks, probably.
But yeah, that period must not be fun at all.
I've had a couple accidents where my cats pooped where they weren't supposed to.
And let me tell you, it was not fun to clean up.
Expression number two, wag one's tail.
He didn't wag his tail when he saw me.
If a dog is wagging its tail, which direction is the tail moving?
Up and down or right and left?
If a dog is wagging its tail, that means that it's moving its tail right and left.
And not just once, it keeps going right and left, right and left, right and left.
And what does it mean when a dog wags its tail?
Well, usually when dogs wag their tails is because they're really happy, so...
Either you've just come home and they're really happy to see you, or maybe you've just told them that you are going to take them to the park or out for a walk, or perhaps you've just told them that you're going to feed them.
So all of these things will make a dog wag its tail.
Expression number three, growl.
I could have sworn he even growls at me.
What sound does a dog make when growling?
If a dog is growling at you, you will probably hear something like Alright, that is my growling impression.
I usually don't growl, so I don't have a lot of experience with that.
Actually, I take that back.
When I get mad at my boyfriend, I sometimes growl.
Just, you know.
I mean not for real and not when I'm really mad at him, but if he like, makes fun of me or something, I'll sometimes reply with a, you know, just for fun.
Am I weird?
Yes, it's probably weird.
And why do dogs growl?
Well, usually dogs and animals in general, they growl because they want to intimidate you.
So it's really, it's a threat in a way.
It's a warning.
It's a sign that the dog feels threatened and that it's ready to defend itself.
Has a dog ever growled at you?
I don't think a dog has ever growled at me.
My cat growls though at my other cat Cleo.
Often growls at JJ when he won't let her be.
Sometimes he just wants to pick fights and he'll bite her.
Because he wants to play, but she does not want to play.
She cannot be bothered.
And so she will often growl at him.
But I don't think she's ever growled at me.
So no.
Expression number four, leash.
Did you keep him on the leash the whole time?
What is a leash?
That thing that goes around a dog's neck?
Or the piece of string attached to it?
A leash is the piece of string that's attached... to the collar.
So to the thing that goes around a dog's neck.
So yeah it's basically that string.
And what is the purpose of a leash?
Well you need to keep your dog on a leash if you don't want them to get away.
Not all dogs do that.
A lot of dogs, will you know, walk right next to their owner.
But some dogs do have a tendency to maybe run away or run around.
So the purpose of a leash is to just make sure that your dog doesn't get away from you.
Do you think dogs should be kept on a leash?
You know what?
So obviously I think that dogs should be let free to run around, you know, especially when they're at the dog park.
They got to be, like I said, free to go play, be with the other dogs.
But to be honest with you, and I do not want to sound like Cruella de Vil, but if I'm walking down the street I don't want some stranger's dog jumping on me.
It might be because i'm very short, so any dog that jumps on me will basically knock me over, even a chihuahua.
But that's not the point.
The point is that um, you know, it's happened to me before, where i was walking, i was on a walk by myself um, and this dog actually, i believe the dog was on a leash this time, But anyway, it still came up to me.
It jumped on me.
Then it started licking my hands.
And it was just a little bit uncomfortable because then I didn't have anything to clean myself with.
So my hands were sticky for a good half hour on my walk.
So yeah, I think...
Maybe depends on how well behaved your dog is.
But just in general, I think it's a good idea to keep dogs on a leash and then let them free in certain spaces.
Expression number five, breed.
There was this dog that looked just like Hooper.
Same breed, same age.
What determines the breed of your dog?
Its physical and personality traits or its age?
What determines the breed of a dog is first and foremost, the physical traits.
So you know, when I say, for example, Chihuahua or German Shepherd, you in your head get this picture immediately of a dog that looks a certain way.
So usually all dogs that are the same breed will look pretty much the same.
You know, there might be slight differences, but especially with dogs, they will often look Like exactly the same.
So it doesn't have anything to do with age.
And it also has to do a little bit with personality.
There are, depending on the breed, your dog may have certain personality traits.
So just to give you an example.
Golden Retrievers, Labradors.
They're known for being very friendly very, very playful, you know, and obviously each dog has its own personality, but it's true that each breed does have some specific personality traits.
Can you name some dog breeds?
I'm really bad at this.
I think I'm going to Google this.
All right.
Some that I'm seeing here.
German Shepherd, Labrador, Husky, Bulldog, Poodle.
Poodles are fun.
Pitbull, Chihuahua.
You know, these are just some examples of dog breeds.
What's your favorite dog breed?
I think maybe Labradors.
I just think especially when they're puppies, they are the cutest thing ever.
But to be honest with you, all puppies are cute.
So it's really hard to pick one.
But yeah, I think I'm going to go with Labradors.
And that is it for today.
And remember, if you want to access the transcript, as well as lots of other resources, visit enboocom.
That is E-N-B-O-O-O dot com.
Have a great day.
