Recent research indicates that dogs understand human phrases such as “Let’s go for a walk” or “Let’s play” rather than merely reacting to their owner’s body language. This suggests that dogs have a basic grasp of specific human words. However, it is important to note that dogs learn these words through conditioning rather than natural language acquisition, meaning their understanding is based on associations rather than an innate grasp of language.
According to the Washington Post, the study was a collaborative effort involving the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and other institutions. It was inspired by whether dogs could communicate with their owners using buttons labeled with words like walk, park, and mom, similar to those seen in popular YouTube videos.
The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, researchers visited 30 households with pets across the country, using a soundboard that played the recorded voices of the owners. Researchers pressed the buttons while the dog owner was in another room and observed the dogs for 60 seconds. In the second phase, 29 dog owners experienced based on remote instruction at homes. Owners either pressed buttons with their recorded voices or said the words aloud, then watched the dogs’ reactions for 60 seconds.
Results showed that dogs responded to both human speech and recorded button sounds, exhibiting behavior related to words about play or going outside. Researchers noted, “This indicates that dogs understand the meaning of these words and can learn them, regardless of whether the sounds are recorded or spoken by their owners.”
Interestingly, dogs did not show food-related behaviors in response to words associated with food. Researchers speculate this might be because the dogs were not hungry at the time or had learned not to expect food outside of mealtimes.
The study also confirmed that dogs genuinely understand words rather than just reacting to human body language. In the early 20th century, a horse named Hans in Berlin seemed to answer questions by tapping out numbers with its hooves, once thought to demonstrate an understanding of human speech. It was later revealed that Hans was interpreting subtle facial expressions from his owner. The recent study used recorded words, proving that dogs did not rely on body language to understand commands.
Federico Rosano, an associate professor of cognitive science at UC San Diego, praised the study, saying it shows dogs “pay attention to words and respond appropriately when they hear them.”
Amritha Mallikarjun, a Pennsylvania Veterinary Service Dog Center researcher, explained that dogs learn words by associating them with specific behaviors or sequences of events, akin to Pavlov’s conditioning experiments. She added that while dogs cannot learn language in the same way humans do and have more limited communication abilities, it is remarkable that, despite these differences, humans and dogs have evolved to understand each other.
Mallikarjun also noted that while human words carry “rich linguistic meanings,” dogs simply remember them. “Thus, even if we try to teach dogs more abstract linguistic concepts through buttons, they do not truly understand the words.” Some scientists believe the lack of response to food-related words might be due to insufficient conditioning.
The study was a joint effort among UC San Diego, UC Davis, the University of St Andrews in the UK, the University of Valencia in Spain, and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna in Austria. The findings were published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
