Dogs Can Understand Both What We Say and How We Say It

[steve2470]

http://time.com/4472235/dogs-understand-speech/

Researchers in Hungary have investigated and recorded the brain activity of dogs in a first-of-its-kind study

If you’ve ever thought your dog could understand what you’re saying, you may have been right, according to new research.

Researchers in Hungary have investigated and recorded the brain activity of dogs, confirming that they not only understand the words we speak, but also how we say them.

The new research, published in the journal Science and led by Attila Andics, a research fellow at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, reports that dogs can distinguish words and the intonation of human speech much as humans do.

[tonyt53]

1. All dogs understand "bad dog". Cats talk to us when they turn with their tails in the air.

That means "kiss this".

[femmocrat]

2. Of course they can.

Sometimes they know what we mean before we say it, from reading our body language.

[PatSeg]

17. And odor

Their heightened sense of smell reads things humans would miss.

[Demit]

3. I never could get them to understand Daylight Savings Time though.

I would explain it over & over but they still wanted to be fed as if it were Standard Time.

[Sanity Claws]

8. Haha

Excellent point. I had the same problem with my dog and my cats.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Mine Understands It

But, the changes in the times of his cable shows pisses him off.

[Yavin4]

19. Oh, they understand it. It's just a HP, not a DP.

HP = Human Problem
DP = Dog Problem

[standingtall]

26. I had a dog when I was a kid

and my next door neighbor would feed him a bologna sandwich everyday at 6 pm. I guess they thought we didn't feed him he was feed well though he was a pretty large dog. Anyway my dog would make sure I let him out everyday at 6pm to get his sandwich. He would go over to the fence facing my neighbor's house and wait for his sandwich and if my neighbor wasn't out there at 6 pm. My dog would bark and bark and bark until he came out there with his bologna.

[GreenEyedLefty]

27. I think this is awesome.

Lucky dog!

[Arkansas Granny]

4. I've always felt that dogs have a vocabulary similar to a 2 - 3 yo child.

The older they get and the more you talk to them, the better their vocabulary. Something I've noticed about dogs is that they like to be greeted. Speak to them and acknowledge their presence and they are more likely you treat you in a friendly manner. Most of them respond favorably to being told they are a good dog.

[Major Nikon]

10. Some dogs have a much larger vocabulary

Every dog I've ever owned reacts well depending on how you say something, but not all of them understand all the words themselves. My current border collie can understand lots of different words spoken in a normal conversational tone with no other changes in body movements or inflection. I've had other border collies and none have had as big of a vocabulary.

[Hekate]

21. Our late Sheltie was a sensitive soul. I once used the word "bad" in a conversation w/ hubby...

... Something like "That's a bad idea," and out of the corner of my eye saw Dylan cringe with his tail down. For the rest of his life I was careful to use euphemisms in his presence.

I've had some dumb dogs and some smart ones, but they've always been sweet companions. Callie is a Lhasa Apso- poodle cross, and very smart. Hubby is always a bit surprised at her vocabulary.

[lindysalsagal]

5. My dog always understood more of what I said than my ex husband

[sarae]

28. LOL

[underahedgerow]

6. Of course they can. I speak to my dog in full sentences, I don't treat him like he's an idiot

who is incapable of understanding anything.

What he understands is immense. The difference between the pool and swimming and different rooms in the house, which car, etc. He knows when I refer to one kid by name and not the other, and the names of all his toys.

Now, there are occasions when he chooses what he'll listen to, but it's not about being confused, it's about his choices, he has free will, after all, although in most cases he just trusts me implicitly and does what I ask. He's often anticipatory as well, but we do have set routines, so that's not a surprise.

I can say, 'can you wait in the doorway please', and he's perfectly happy to oblige, or 'go on into the house, please, I'll be back in a few minutes'. He'll stay until he's told it's ok to come on out, etc.

He also understands please and thank you. He's very polite!

I do believe however, that dogs, like people, have varying degrees of intelligence. I looked a long time for a smart, calm, submissive dog like him, and he was worth the wait.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. So, I'm not the only one who says please and thank you to dogs!

My last dog (Lord, do I miss her) understood many words and sentences. I talked to her all the time in a normal conversational tone. When we went for walks, she knew to wait at the curb until I said it was OK to cross the street. (BTW, you didn't mention the word "walk" unless you had the leash in your hand.) If I had a treat she knew she had to sit down like a good girl and learned to take even the smallest tidbit from my fingers without nipping when she was told to take it easy. Did I already say that I miss her terribly.

[Brother Buzz]

15. I speak to my Border Collie in full sentences....

but she has to look up half the words in her dictionary.

[colsohlibgal]

9. Never Doubted That

I have a PBS special that delves into just how smart and intuitive dogs are, some breeds more than others.

I always found it fascinating how some wolves gradually morphed into our best friends.

If you leave for 5 minutes then return they get as excited as if you had been gone 5 months.

[madokie]

22. Dogs have no sense of time

or seems to me like anyway

[Travis_0004]

29. I disagree

There have been trials, lets say somebody comes home around 5pm everyday. Dogs will often start looking out the window about 20 minutes or so before that person is due to arrive, and they seem to be very consistent with this.

One theory is that they use disappearing smell to calcualte the time. In a very limited trial, they had one spouse meet their partner, and pick up a shirt and bring it home, and waft it around the house. It basically reset the clock as far as the small goes.

When this happened, the dog seemed to lose track of time, and was not waiting for the person to come home. So it does give some credence to the idea, although it has not been proven either way as far as I know.

[Orrex]

11. Be sure to tell them before you hack their testicles off.

And say it nicely, because they can tell.

[niyad]

13. NSS

[milestogo]

14. Max, don't get involved

works as well as NO! ?

[nolabear]

18. We've always communicated with our critters with both voice and body.

We each have our own ways of moving in the world, of communicating what I guess dogs or cats would think of as pack personality, and especially when it's a good fit between animal and person the communication is constant and subtle. Words are a big part of it, but the whole thing is a kind of symphony that I enjoy a lot. Of course people do the same but we layer a lot of artifice and lack of acknowledgment on top of it.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

20. My former dogs learned the names of animals instantly.

If I said "Squirrel!" as the dogs looked at one, they'd look up toward tree branches if I ever said that word again. If I went through the same routine for rabbits, they'd look around at ground level, typically near areas where rabbits hid in the past.

Dogs and people learn quickly when the subject matter interests them.

[Dreamer Tatum]

23. Then why am I getting audited by the IRS?

I specifically told my bulldog not to count reimbursed travel expenses as deductible.

[Buns_of_Fire]

24. Of course they can. Perhaps more tone than anything else.

Squeal at a puppy, and tell them how adorable they are, and just watch the puddles of piddle while they make their way towards you.

And then, later on when you notice a near-elephantine pile of DoggieDroppings right in the middle of your persian rug, and then say (in a voice a few octaves lower than normal) "Did you do this?", well...

[Buckeye_Democrat]

25. Awww!

This is why I'm more of a "dog person."

I'm pretty sure that my previous cats would have ate me if I was mouse-sized... after "toying" with me first. The dogs would probably kill me too by excitedly flopping on me, but at least that would be an accident.

[mucifer]

30. I have met some very sensitive sweet kitties