Talk to Your Pets in Spanish

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 gato
  Popular 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 perro
  Popular 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.