Languages › Spanish Talk to Your Pets in Spanish Expand Your Spanish Vocabulary With This List of Animals Share Flipboard Email Print Deborah Pendell/Getty Images Spanish Vocabulary History & Culture Pronunciation Writing Skills Grammar By Gerald Erichsen Gerald Erichsen Spanish Language Expert B.A., Seattle Pacific University Gerald Erichsen is a Spanish language expert who has created Spanish lessons for ThoughtCo since 1998. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on April 18, 2019 If you are looking for someone to talk in Spanish with, how about talking directly to your pet? Learning Spanish can be easy with ongoing practice — even with your pet dog or cat. There are benefits of talking to an animal over a human. You will not get any nasty corrections, and you will get a chance to practice talking without any interruptions. Plus, even when you make a mistake, your pet will still be there unconditionally throughout your Spanish-language learning journey. Learn how to say phrases referring to pets in Spanish. Phrases Referring to Pets in Spanish Note that a pet in Spanish can be referred to as una mascota, the same word used for a mascot, such as an animal symbolizing a team. The term un animal doméstico and the adjective doméstico can also be used to mean "pet" as an adjective, as in un perro doméstico, a pet dog. Additionally, the phrase un animal de compañía and the phrase de compañía can be appended to an animal's name to indicate it is a pet. Remember that most of the time the genders given below for animals remain the same, whether the particular animal is male or female. Canary: el canario Cat: el gatoPopular cat types include: el bobtail el gato de pelo largo (long-hair) el gato persa (Persian) el gato de pelo corto (short-hair) el gato siamés (Siamese) Chinchilla: la chinchilla Cockatoo: la cacatúa Dog: el perroPopular dog breeds include: el dogo argentino (Argentine dog) el terrier el perro San Bernardo (St. Bernard) el caniche (poodle) el xoloitzcuintle (Mexican hairless) el mastín (mastiff) el perro esquimal (husky) el gran danés (great Dane) el galgo/la galga (greyhound) el dálmata (Dalmatian) el perro salchicha (dachshund) el collie el bulldog el bóxer (boxer) el sabueso (bloodhound or beagle) el basset (basset hound) un chucho is a mutt Fish: el pez. A tropical fish is un pez tropical Frog: la rana Gerbil: el jerbo, el gerbo Guinea pig: la cobaya Hamster: el hámster (usually pronounced as jámster; plural can include either versions hámsters or hámsteres) Horse: el caballo Iguana: la iguana Lizard: el lagarto, la lagartija Mouse: el ratón Parakeet: el perico Parrot: el papagayo, el loro Rabbit: el conejo Rat: la rata Salamander: la salamandra Snake: la serpiente Spider: la araña Tortoise, Turtle: la tortuga Talk to Your Pet in Spanish After discovering what to call your pet in Spanish, you can progress to learning the animal sounds your pets might make, just in case they do make some noises or otherwise talk back to you while you are speaking to them in Spanish. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Erichsen, Gerald. "Talk to Your Pets in Spanish." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/spanish-words-for-pets-3079593. Erichsen, Gerald. (2023, April 5). Talk to Your Pets in Spanish. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/spanish-words-for-pets-3079593 Erichsen, Gerald. "Talk to Your Pets in Spanish." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/spanish-words-for-pets-3079593 (accessed May 30, 2023). copy citation