Written by Imagine being able to talk with your dog about your day, or hear about theirs, and maybe even ask them what they’d like to do.
Just think about asking your dog what their favorite game is and why or what snack they like the most. Wouldn’t it be cool to know if they enjoy long walks in the woods more than playing fetch in the park?
Or imagine the relief of being able to ask your dog where it hurts when they’re sick or what you can do to make them more comfortable. Knowing if something around them is making them upset or uncomfortable could really help make their lives better.
Or picture planning fun activities together, like checking out a new hiking path or going to a beach where dogs are allowed. Sharing plans for the day could make your adventures together even more fun!
Isn’t that the dream? If you love dogs, you’ve probably wished for more than just telling them to “sit” or “stay.” You’ve wanted to have real conversations with them about all sorts of things, right?
Well, guess what? This might not be as far-fetched as we think it is.
For a long time, people have known that dogs can learn to follow commands like “sit,” “stay,” and “fetch.” They do these things mostly to get treats. However, learning if dogs can understand the words we use, like names for things, is a lot more challenging.
However, new studies show that our dogs are pretty smart and can actually understand more of what we say than we thought. They don’t just react to how we say things but can actually connect words to what they mean.
In 2011, a study showed a border collie named Chaser learned over 1,000 different object names after lots of training. This included 800 soft toys, 116 balls, and 26 Frisbees, showing dogs’ amazing ability to learn and remember different words.
Another study showed that dogs understand more than just commands. They also know words for things they like.
In 2022, a survey showed that dog owners believe their pets respond to between 15 and 215 different words. Research where scientists watched dogs’ brains while looking at things like balls, slippers, and leashes showed that dogs get what certain words mean.
This research shows that dogs can understand not only commands but also other types of words, especially for things they care about.
Lilla Magyari, an associate professor at Stavanger University in Norway and researcher, and Marianna Boros, a postdoctoral researcher at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, wanted to see if dogs can understand words just like babies do before they start talking. They were inspired by studies where researchers saw how babies understand words.
To understand dogs’ language skills, Boros and her colleagues invited 18 dog owners to bring their pets and five toys or items their dogs liked to a laboratory. These items could be things like balls, slippers, or Frisbees.
In the lab, the owners would say the name of an item and then either show the correct item to their dog or a different one. For example, they might say, “Look, here’s the ball,” but show a Frisbee instead. They did this test many times with both matching and non-matching items.
During the tests, researchers used non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) to see how the dogs’ brains reacted to these tests. This procedure involves placing small, flat sensors, known as electrodes, onto the scalp.
They found that 14 out of the 18 dogs’ brains reacted differently when they saw the item that matched the word compared to when they didn’t match. This difference was bigger for words the dogs knew well.
They saw the same brain signals in humans doing similar tests, suggesting that people and dogs might understand words similarly.
The tests also included a two-second pause between the owner saying the word and showing the item. This showed that the dogs truly understood the words rather than just associating them directly with the items.
Marianna Boros said, “It seems that dogs can understand more than we thought, and this might make us think differently about how language evolved and what makes humans unique.”
Boros also explained that if a dog understands a word, it means the dog can think of the item just by hearing the word, even if they don’t see it. If the owner shows a different item, the dog’s brain has a noticeable reaction, similar to what happens in humans, showing they really understand the word.
“Our claim is to say that a dog understands a word, it means in the absence of the object, the dog activates a so-called mental representation,” Boros said. “We can imagine it as the memory for that object.
However, Boros emphasized that she was not claiming dogs understand words as well as people do. There’s still a lot to learn, like if dogs can understand that the word “ball” doesn’t just mean one specific toy they like to chew on.
The research also leaves some questions open, like whether every dog can learn words. The dogs in the study were picked by their owners, who said their pets knew at least five different words for things. (One dog was even reported to know up to 230 words.)
