I am not sure if he was given this name here or if he chose it himself and I am not sure he would be able to distinguish either. The level of understanding depends on the dog. My friend Koromoro-san can understand people quite easily and communicates very clearly with me but he is a very special dog. In most case it is a combination of literal communication and interpreting intentions. Today the dogs here know we are talking about serious things that make us sad and I could probably explain it more clearly to them if I needed to.