Dogs secretly deciphering human chatter, study reveals
The journal "Animal Cognition" has published surprising studies showing that dogs... are eavesdropping on us. Moreover, they can read between the lines!
The American weekly "Newsweek" cited studies conducted by animal experts. Scientists from English and French universities collaborated on this research. The team aimed to discover how much of human speech and behaviour dogs understand. The results of their observations were surprising.
Are you arguing in front of your dog? Be cautious
With systematic training, we can teach a dog many commands. The appropriate intonation with which we address the dog is very important. Pets respond to their names with no difficulty. But can they understand more? Scientists investigated this by conducting tests on a group of 50 dogs of different breeds. What exactly did their actions involve?
Specialists tested whether, if a dog's name is mentioned in a sentence, the dog would pay attention to it, even if we are not speaking directly to it or using any specific intonation. Scientists recorded dog owners uttering two phrases. The first contained the dog's name and the command "come now!", and the second: the dog's name and the phrase "give me coffee." Both sentences were recorded in two versions: with appropriate intonation and accent, and without.
It quickly became apparent that dogs reacted more often to sentences with correct intonation. They also reacted when the sentence was spoken in a neutral tone but contained the dog's name. Moreover, scientists found that dogs' ability to recognise speech might also be associated with the pauses their owners made during their utterances.
They understand more than it seems
English and French scientists noticed something else - dogs have a particularly sensitive ear for human speech in general. Even if we don't use the pet's name or any specific intonation during a conversation, the dog still processes what we say. Previously, it was thought that only humans had this ability.
- The fact that basic verbal information can be perceived by a species that does not speak either indicates that human speech exploits perceptual abilities present in other mammals, or that dogs have a special ear for human speech as a consequence of domestication - emphasised David Reby, the head of the described study, professor from the University of Sussex.
