地道英语表达｜How to talk about pets

In today’s episode, we are going to talk about pets, but more specifically, dogs. 

However, all of those what you are going to learn can be applied to almost any pets. Have you ever met a dog owner in public and wanted to ask them about their dog? I grew up with dogs, so I know what’s it like to be a dog owner. When I took my dog out for a walk or to a dog park, people would often ask about her. My first dog’s name was Tawny, which is the word for yellowish brownish color. She was aGolden Retriever(金毛), a breed(品种) of dog that is known for being very playful and pure hearted. 

Did you notice that I just said she‘was’a Golden Retriever?When we speak in the past tense(过去时) like this about a person or an animal, it means that they have passed away already. 

Also, did you notice how I said‘she’? That’s because Tawny was a female dog.Dog owners usually don’t like it when people mistakenly called their dog a ‘he’, when in fact the dog is a ‘she’, or vice versa.So, when you meet someone with a pet,one of the first things you should ask is ‘is it a boy or a girl?’.After the owner tells you, make a concerted effort to use the correct pronoun from then on.To make a concerted effort is similar to saying to focus and try hard to do something.So, what I meant was try to remember if the dog is a male or female, and use ‘he’ or ‘she’ to talk about the dog. 

After asking ‘is it a boy or a girl?’,another thing that is nice to do is to ask about the dogs’ name.If it’s a male dog, you can say‘What’s his name?’. Dog owners are usually happy to share information about their dog. And they like it when other people remember their dog’s name. 

You can also ask about the breed of the dog by saying something like ‘What breed is she/he?’.Or if you think you know what breed of the dog is, you can say‘is she by chance a cocker spaniel(可卡犬)?’. Adding a phrase ‘by chance’ is like saying perhaps, and makes you sound more like a native speaker. 

Commenting about the physical appearance of the dog is also a nice thing to do.For example,she has beautiful eyes, or his fur looks so soft, or I love how his tail wags(摇摆) like that.These kinds of compliments will usually make the dog owner happy. 

After that, if you would like to pet the dog, you can ask‘Do you mind if I pat him/her?’.At this point, the owner might say something like‘Oh, she isn’t very friendly’, or ‘She needs some time to warm up to new people’. This means that the pet doesn’t like to be pat by strangers.On the other hand, the owner could say, ‘Sure, she loves to be pat, especially right here behind her ears’. This is a green light for you, meaning you can go ahead and pat the dog.If you really like dogs, and the dog seems to like you, you can get down low and pat them more vigorously. But be aware, the dog may try to leak your face. Some people don’t like this, while others don’t mind. So, it’s up to you if you want to get leaked. In this episode, we mostly talked about dogs, but pretty much everything we mentioned can be applied to other pets as well. It’s just most common to see people with dogs out in public. 

To summarize, here are the key points for this episode:

1. Ask if the animal is male or female

2. Ask about the animal’s name

3. Try your best to remember that name

4. Ask about the breed or species of the animal

5. If it makes sense, you can ask to pat the animal

Some common cats and dogs breeds:

金毛：Golden Retriever

拉布拉多：Labrador Retriever

阿拉斯加：Alaskan Malamute

哈士奇：Siberian Husky

柯基：Corgi

柴犬：Shiba Inu

吉娃娃：Chihuahua

德牧：German Shepherd

布偶猫：Ragdoll

英短蓝猫：British Shorthair Blue

英短金渐层：British Shorthair Golden

英短银渐层：British Shorthair White

英短虎斑：British Shorthair Tabby

波斯猫：Persian

折耳猫：Scottish fold

司芬克斯猫：Sphynx

美短：American Shorthair(最常见的一种是Orange Tabby，也就是我们说的橘猫）