Think your dog can understand words? This scientist says you might be right

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Think your dog can understand words? This scientist says you might be right

New study on soundboard-trained dogs offers insights on their word comprehension levels

When Alexis Devine was having a tough time one day, her sheepadoodle dog named Bunny consoled her — just not in a way that most people might expect.

"I was talking to my partner over FaceTime and I was crying … and Bunny pressed 'no.' I wasn't looking at her, I was just engaged in the conversation," said Devine.

After what seemed like a plea from Bunny for her to not cry, Devine said, "There was a pause, and then she pressed 'love you.'"

Bunny communicates to Devine, the author of I Am Bunny, through a soundboard device — a floor placemat with pressable buttons for dogs that play pre-recorded words out loud. To date, Devine says Bunny can "speak" about 100 words.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/dogs-understanding-words-new-research-1.7326495
 

Brookswood said:
How can you train a dog that doesn’t understand some words like sit and heal, and phrases like go get the son of a gun!
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True, They obviously do understand certain words and phrases. For example, they understand their own names. Understand that other people and other non human creatures have names. Understand words such as fetch, sit, Go sic im boy! Understand and feel disappointment, anger. They even understand when a person is sad, sick annoyed, or angry. They feel joy, loyalty, loneliness, frustration sadness, etc. Seeing eye dogs understand that the person whom they are helping is blind and why they need assistance. Dogs used by law enforcement understand what they are expected to do under specific circumstances, such as illegal drug detection, and the limits involved in their jobs. So they are not as mindless as some people might imagine them to be simply because they are considered to be mere nonhuman "animals".

 

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I think as much as anything else, dogs understand the tone of what we say. I don't think my dog understands the difference between "good boy" and "bad boy", because I say them with the same tone and inflection. My dog is very good at being a dog. He's not smart. He's not special as far as mental gymnastics go. He's just very good at being a dog. And that's why I love him.
 
Mine do understand many words. They are with me 24/7 and I talk to them all the time. They each have their own way of communicating to me. Often I may offer a treat but if it is not the one they want they just look at me.

They will go to the area of the wanted snack, like the frig if they want a carrot instead of a cracker. The big one has decided he is in charge of the water bowl. He just comes and stares at me and then turns his head to the kitchen. Sure enough it is empty. The middle dog seems to think he is in charge of bedtime. Again, off he goes to the hall to my room and does a little jig.

They know, mama up, mama sit and they move to make way. They know excuse me, if I am working about the house and move out of the way.

Still working on the doorbell sound from the TV. They just insist someone is at the door.
 
Of course dogs know words. They know a lot of words. They also understand body language. Dogs are incredibly smart.
Here’ are words our dogs know.

They know :

Dog
cat
Mommy
Daddy
Car
Car ride
Walk
Biscuit
Kibble
Doggie trailer
Bath
Brush
Bling bling - their fabric collars lol
Home
Bed
Ball
Squeaky toy
Door
Yes
No
Go
Sleep(ing)
Pretty
Who’s that?
Jump
Down
Stop
Bad boy, girl
Good girl, boy
Water
A piece
Meow
Haircut
Later


Their toy names:
Stretchy monkey
Elephant
Penguin
Zebra
Slober bear




There’s plenty more words they know
These are the ones they know for sure
Animal studies show that our pet dogs know as much as a 4 or 5 year old child.

Picture of bottled meat made yesterday for our dogs. A bit is added to their kibble every day cause they are ‘good dogs.’ It’s moose meat.

IMG_6125.jpeg
 
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VaughanJB said:
I think as much as anything else, dogs understand the tone of what we say. I don't think my dog understands the difference between "good boy" and "bad boy", because I say them with the same tone and inflection. My dog is very good at being a dog. He's not smart. He's not special as far as mental gymnastics go. He's just very good at being a dog. And that's why I love him
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Certainly the tone of what we say matters but dogs do also understand actual words.

Which of course is how you train dogs by using consistent short words
 
January said:
Certainly the tone of what we say matters but dogs do also understand actual words.

Which of course is how you train dogs by using consistent short words
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I was walking my dog the other night, and a neighbor came running out all excited. They had a squeaky ball, and they threw it toward my dog, assuming he would be excited. Sadly, my dog has no time for toys. Worse, squeaky toys just make him bark. He doesn't seem to understand what's going on. :D
 
PeppermintPatty said:
Of course dogs know words. They know a lot of words. They also understand body language. Dogs are incredibly smart.
Here’ are words our dogs know.

They know :

Dog
cat
Mommy
Daddy
Car
Car ride
Walk
Biscuit
Kibble
Doggie trailer
Bath
Brush
Bling bling - their fabric collars lol
Home
Bed
Ball
Squeaky toy
Door
Yes
No
Go
Sleep(ing)
Pretty
Who’s that?
Jump
Down
Stop
Bad boy, girl
Good girl, boy
Water
A piece
Meow
Haircut
Later


Their toy names:
Stretchy monkey
Elephant
Penguin
Zebra
Slober bear




There’s plenty more words they know
These are the ones they know for sure
Animal studies show that our pet dogs know as much as a 4 or 5 year old child.

Picture of bottled meat made yesterday for our dogs. A bit is added to their kibble every day cause they are ‘good dogs.’ It’s moose meat.

View attachment 371168
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That's wonderful, @PeppermintPatty ! I ate pot roast made of moose and never knew it wasn't beef. It was delicious, as well. My father-in-law was a hunter and that's where it came from. Another time, they were broiling steaks, Mmmm.

When I freeze cooked chicken or lean beef for my dog, I give her mostly that and only a little kibble for variety. Maybe I shouldn't?
 
RadishRose said:
That's wonderful, @PeppermintPatty ! I ate pot roast made of moose and never knew it wasn't beef. It was delicious, as well. My father-in-law was a hunter and that's where it came from. Another time, they were broiling steaks, Mmmm.

When I freeze cooked chicken or lean beef for my dog, I give her mostly that and only a little kibble for variety. Maybe I shouldn't?
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I’ve never personally tasted moose but my husband loves it. His older brother goes moose hunting with friends and when my husband goes to visit , they give him some.

We add a bit in our dogs food to make their food more tasty. Now they both finish their food when we feed them instead of waiting. Our youngest dog used to wait under dinner time to eat his lunch and wait until bedtime to eat his dinner. Not any more.
 
Pinky said:
I think that, if you talk to your dogs all the time, they do understand a lot of words .. especially words connected to pleasure.

"Hungry? Treat? Walk? .. etc"
They also understand "Vet" .. so, you have to spell it out 😉
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We started spelling out words like PLAY and they figured it out. Lol It’s probably the only word they know spelled out. Soon as we said the word P their ears would perk up. lol
 
My dog understands lots of words, most of which he picked up on his own. We have to spell some words, and then he figures out what the spelling means and we switch to synonyms. IOW, his knowing words is sometimes a PITA. He knows "cat" and "kitty", but he has never learned "feline", for example. To him "school" means obedience classes, which he loves because it means lots of opportunities for mischief, and lots of attention from taking those opportunities. We can spell "milkshake", but if we say it, he anticipates like a little kid anticipating Santa's arrival.

He knows lots of words about food, a few animals (birds, cats, dogs), tricks, and things like "hot hot" means stay away from the oven, coat, raincoat, sweater, blanket, pillow, leash, harness. And many more words that come up in everyday life with a dog.

I think he started being interested in words when he was a little puppy. I taught him the meaning of "water" by using the way Anne Sullivan taught Helen Keller as a jumping off point. I poured a little water from his water bowl on his paw, and said the word water, and I did this several times a day. After a week or so, I could say water and he'd go to his bowl and drink. I broadened his experience of water by introducing him to water in a pool, in a bathtub, in a shower, from the hose, in a lake and from the sky.

Now he hates baths, but he loves water from every other container. There is nothing more fun to him than playing in water. Even now, and only in the summer, he loves to rake the water out of his bowl and put a lake on the kitchen floor.

Anyway, I think he started paying attention to words when he realized that water was the same thing, no matter where it came from (except the bathtub), and that water is fun to play in.
 
My dog understands some words. He knows the meaning of "ride" "woods" "treat" and "No!" He knows other words too, but he doesn't seem able to form sentences or participate in philosophical debate.
 

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