I am writing a novel and I need a one word/short phrase for the most common way an individual would praise a dog in German. Either the equivalent of the English phrase "Good Boy" or a popular alternative that a fluent German reader would recognize right away.
It is very difficult, if not impossible, to tell the "most common/popular" phrase.
In my opinion, an often heard phrase to praise a dog is
Braver Hund!
Other possiblities would be
Guter Hund!
Fein gemacht!
I think all would be recognized by a German speaker in that sense. I would prefer the first, but it's your decision, which you like best.
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Interestingly, both fein and brav are loan words of latinate origin (which also exist in English). Which begs the question: How did Germans praise their dogs in 1000 AD? – David Vogt Jan 24 '19 at 18:32
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@IQV You mean which words are they derived from? Old French fin and Spanish bravo or French brave, according to etymological dictionaries. – David Vogt Jan 29 '19 at 9:55
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@DavidVogt Genau das war die Frage zu dem Kommentar. Ich hatte nur Schwierigkeiten den Bezug zu subtilis und probus herzustellen. Aber ich habe das jetzt so verstanden, dass er sich nicht auf "lateinische" Herkunft sondern eher "latinisierte" Herkunft bezieht. – IQV Jan 29 '19 at 10:00
To praise dogs in German we usually use the phrases
Guter Junge
or
Gutes Mädchen
depending on the gender.
