The dog would not understand his words but should pick up the gist from the tone.

Dogs are awesome, as seen in this post, where a dog understands 1,000 English words.

The dog does not understand why the man is sitting in the snow and not making a fire to warm them.

Either the dog understood or it had reached the same conclusion.

She wasn't sure the dog would understand, but it was worth a try.

The dogs that still lived, looked on and understood.

But, more important, the dog understood its own death.

The dog apparently understood what he had told it.

Not all dogs immediately understand the concept of the game.

Then she tells us, "But dogs don't understand about age anyway.