Book Review: 'Teach Your Dog Welsh' + 'Teach Your Cat Welsh'

This lighthearted book series from illustrator Anne Cakebread shows us that anyone can learn — including your pets!

Learning a new language, while beneficial, is a challenge. And Welsh is not top of the list for most people’s alternatives. However, with a small but mighty following since 2018, Teach Your Dog Welsh (and Teach Your Cat Welsh in 2019) are small gems with a deft touch of humor that are entirely relatable to pet owners everywhere.

The backstory is as charming as it is lovable. Illustrator Anne Cakebread had adopted a whippet named Freida (who has passed, with a dedication in her memory) and learned her previous owner only spoke Welsh. She took the opportunity to practice not only Welsh commands with Freida, but to grab a hold of common words and phrases that are used in everyday conversation.

Her illustrations are directed by the wording, which is presented first in English, then Welsh, and if needed, pronunciations with emphasis on harder-to-understand aspects of the Welsh alliteration. Showcasing several simple commands more akin to canine attitudes — “Fetch,” “Stay,” and “Lie down” — there are quite a few that have close ties to a parent-child dynamic eliciting the more humorous (or maybe even laugh-out-loud) moments, including “Bedtime,” “Who did that?” and the ever popular “There’s a queue for the loo.”

In tandem with the canine commands are the complimentary Teach Your Cat Welsh interpretations. There are of course several overlaps between the words, but if only for Cakebread’s illustrations would you get the universal “Good morning.”

And of course, one question that, if you’re a cat owner, have probably asked unfortunately after the fact:

There are also several phrases that are unconditional in understanding, including “Happy Birthday,” “Cheers,” and “I love you.” Cakebread also provides a few seasonal greetings and counting exercises designed with various creatures that would entice both species in their relevant environments.

If in fact, your pets (or yourself) are not inclined to Welsh, there are many more languages available in this delightful series, including Cornish, French, Gaelic, Italian and Japanese.

Cakebread with her whippets Fred and Wilma / Y Lolfa

Teach Your Dog Welsh and Teach Your Cat Welsh by Anne Cakebread are available direct from Y Lolfa, including more in the Teach Your Dog/Cat language-teaching series. Also available from Amazon in the US and UK.

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