Welsh Lesson

We have a Welsh Springer Spaniel called Llewellyn, or 'Welly' for short. We collected him from a little village near Carmarthen in South Wales when he was an 8 week old fat tummy on stumpy legs. As a true Welshman, he's named after a long line of Welsh Princes, great rulers and war heroes, though I doubt many people got away with calling any of them Welly. As with all great nobility and gentry, there's something a little, erm, 'special' about him; in-breeding in the Kennel Club is probably as common place as it is amongst those of blue blood. Some people might say he's vacant, though, as adoring 'parents' we'd rather describe him as 'thoughtful' or 'pensive'- well, he is a Celt...

As anticipated, we had a few problems with puppy training - though we came to the obvious conclusion that he only understands Welsh and we only speak English:

Me: "sit"
Welly: puzzled head tilt
Me: "Welly, sit"
Welly: puzzled head tilt in the other direction, followed by a slightly confused look.
Me: "Welly...sit"
Welly: yawns. Plonks bottom onto floor.
Me: "Good boy! Have a biscuit."
Welly: puzzled look - but hey, here comes a biscuit, so his tail starts wagging.
And it's tricky to sit on a waggy tail, so he has to stand up again.
Repeat cycle.

We started a Welsh course a couple of weeks ago - only partly so we could communicate with the dog better, honest - and it now all makes sense.

The word 'sit', in Welsh, means 'how'. So, if we translate:

Me: "how"
Welly: puzzled head tilt = How what?
Me: "Welly, how"
Welly: puzzled head tilt in the other direction, followed by a slightly confused look. = No, don't get this...how what crazy lady?!
Me: "Welly...how"
Welly: yawns. Plonks bottom onto floor = ooh, this makes me tired! Better sit down and have a think about what you mean.
Me: "Good boy! Have a biscuit."
Welly: oooh! A biscuit, yay! Wagwagwag

We've tried this now:

Me: "Welly, eistedd"
Welly: sits

Biscuits all round.