Italian words for kids · Animals
How to say “dog” in Italian
Dogs are everywhere: in the park, in books, next door. And they "bark" differently depending on the language, which kids find hilarious.
Dog in Italian
il cane
Sounds like ≈ eel KAH-neh
Good to know: Two syllables: KAH-neh. Italian dogs say bau bau, and a puppy is a cagnolino.
Hear it in a song
Real lines from our Italian songs, with the English meaning shown in the app:
Ecco il cane!
Here comes the dog!
from Il Gatto e il Cane (The Cat and the Dog)
Ape, cane, delfino, farfalla, gatto, luna, mela, pesce!
Bee, dog, dolphin, butterfly, cat, moon, apple, fish!
from A come Ape (A Is for…)
Il cane è grande!
The dog is big!
from Gli Animali (The Animals)
2 songs that teach it
“Dog” is one of the key words in these songs. Every line is shown in Italian with its English meaning.
Also sung in: Gli Animali, Cosa Dice l'Animale?, Cosa C'è nella Scatola?.
Practice ideas for parents
- 1Say cane every time you see a dog on a walk, and count them.
- 2Learn how a dog barks in Italian from the song and bark along together.
- 3Play "fetch": your child is the dog, you call cane to come back.
Related Italian words
“Dog” in other languages
Sing it in Italian, free
The first unit, 6 greeting songs with lyrics and English translation, is free forever. No card needed. Premium unlocks all 134 songs.
About the pronunciation: the “sounds like” spellings are rough English approximations for parents (capital letters show the stressed syllable). Italianhas sounds English doesn't, so treat them as a starting point and let the songs be the model. Songs are original and produced with AI music tools. Ideas for using Italian songs with your family.