Dogs Are Even Better At Understanding Our Words Than We Thought
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Dog owners will tell you that their beloved pets understand them, from the cute perking up of ears with an adorable head tilt to an enthusiastic tail waggle when calling a pet by its name or hinting at a potential outdoor outing. Communication between a pet and its owner is one of the few signs of a dog's love for its favorite human, but there are still limitations in understanding exactly how a beloved pet receives our words. That is why, even to this day, discoveries are still being made about how humans and dogs communicate.
A study in conjunction with Jean Rennet, Sussex, and London Universities, published in the April 2025 issue of Animal Cognition, showed that dogs can understand key words even when spoken in monotone. Previously, intonation and specific cues were thought to be essential in catching a dog's attention with particular commands or agreeable language. This study showed that while purposely stimulating a dog with enthusiasm or gestures makes it react more, it does not translate to a deeper understanding of the words. Notably, dogs listened to recordings of their owners talking in a monotone voice. Researchers then recorded the timing and duration of the dog's gaze, finding it stared in the direction of the recording at key terms.
What does this say about our beloved pets? Taking a dog on its favorite outdoor activity beyond a morning walk, showing enthusiasm, grabbing supplies it recognizes means it's time to go, and saying those special words will catch its attention. However, common words like "park," "sit," "yes," or "no" will still pique its interest when used in casual conversation. This understanding is even more impressive considering the size of some dogs' vocabularies.
The surprising number of words that dogs can learn
We know that dogs can understand us, regardless of whether we are speaking directly to them or not. But how much of our language can they comprehend? A 2002 study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science showed that the number varies drastically based on the canine, with an average of 89 but a range between 15 and 215 words. This broad scope depended on both the dog's breed and if the dog had a job, with the smartest dog breeds, such as the border collie, and working dogs having a more extensive vocabulary.
Police dogs, which are often trained using German to ensure they don't get confused by others, learn up to 36 specialized commands, beyond their natural comprehension of everyday language. A dog that makes its living acting also needs to know a large number of commands and be able to adapt to specific requirements for particular scenes. One remarkable pooch, the TikTok-famous Bunny the sheepadoodle, has also learned to communicate with her owner using a FluentPet Speak Up button mat to speak around 100 words.
@whataboutbunny With water this big, Buns is right to be concerned! 🤯
There are certainly remarkable dogs that can comprehend a wider range of human language, but there is still much to learn about how they communicate and interpret ours. Still, knowing that an attentive pooch listens in on our regular conversations paints a charming picture of just how much it loves being a part of its owner's life.