In need of a home, rescue dog that only answers to Polish

IGNORING commands to sit, stay or fetch, it seemed as though Caleb the German shepherd was untrainable.

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 because his owners, who had trained him in their native Polish, could not look after him.

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.

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 in kennels. But once we figured out it was the language barrier holding him back, there’s no 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 recognise words like “sit” and “stay” but it is taking time.

‘We repeat the commands but Caleb is much more comfortable following instructions in Polish.’

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