A BILINGUAL border collie from Hutton who once only responded to Polish has mastered a bag of new tricks in English.
Black and white dog Cent baffled experts when he turned up at an RSPCA centre in Manchester two years ago and their basic commands appeared to fall on deaf ears.
It was only after tracking down the clever canine's former owners, that it became obvious he could only understand classic instructions such as "sit", "down" and "fetch" in Polish, the couple's native tongue.
Thankfully, Cent found a new home after another Polish family from Wainwright Avenue, in Hutton, heard of the pooch's predicament on a children's TV show.
Jolanta and Jarek Mroz and their son Dominik immediately got in touch and after a "rigorous" vetting process, Cent became part of their family in January 2010.
Although RSPCA staff had already began drilling the dog in English, since his move south the astute animal – who is walked three times a day – has mastered a number of commands and tricks in both languages.
Jolanta, a counsellor, explained how the family employed the "carrot and stick" method to coach the canine.
Before meals, Cent would be encouraged in English to complete a basic task before he got a single nibble.
"He is very apt and always responds to the teaching very well," she said.
"He has developed and grown in terms of learning language, he is a really, really happy dog.
"He's responded excellently and that's because of his personality, the learning suits him and being a collie he is very alert and mental stimulation is exactly what he needs."
When told to "sit", he will also respond to "siad", if "zostan" is bellowed, he will "stay" and he wags his tail with joy at both "good dog" or "dobry pies".
But on top of the everyday calls, Cent has also learned a series of special tricks in one or other language.
When commanded in English he will roll, weave, swirl, bow, or beg, while a cry of "stol" has him crawling beneath the table and at the word "lozka" he will leap on to the bed.
Cent has also learned to search for about 20 different items around the house upon instruction, according to former Anglo-European School pupil Dominik 19, who studies at Anglia Ruskin University and is very close to the clever canine
He said: "He will walk into my bedroom in the morning and lick me to wake me up. But when he is naughty, for example, if he barks at the postman too much, we say "budi" (kneel in English) and he knows he is going to the kitchen because he's been bad."
