Completely gratuitous photo of a Bernese Mountain Dog. You’re welcome! Photo by Bernard Spragg at https://www.flickr.com/photos/volvob12b/52946255171
Dear Readers, many dog owners are convinced that their dogs understand every word they say, but proving that dogs can link words to objects has proved to be more difficult than you’d think. There has been some interesting work with what are known as ‘Gifted Word Learner dogs’, which involved teaching the dogs the names of their toys, and then seeing if they would fetch a particular toy on command, even after a period of time. A group of six border collies were tested over a few months, and each one could clearly remember up to twenty-six different toys.
The trouble was replicating the experiment in a controlled laboratory setting. There was no way to know if owners were accidentally giving off indications of which toys they wanted, and as anyone who’s been around animals knows, they are exquisitely attuned to the tiniest nuances of our body language.
And so, Marianne Boros at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest came at the problem another way. She tested 18 dogs of different breeds, including Labrador retrievers, toy poodles and those Einsteins of the dog world, Border collies. The dogs were wired up for an EEG, which measures brainwaves (like wearing a little hat, so not invasive), and the owners then showed each dog five objects that they were very familiar with. Sometimes they would say the correct name, but on other occasions they would say a wrong name – for example, holding a ‘stick’ but saying ‘ball’.
Boros hypothesized that the dogs’ brainwaves would be different if there was a mismatch between the name spoken and the object, and this was indeed the case, with the results being strongest when the object was very familiar to the dog. The same effect has been noted in humans, when there is a mismatch between what the viewer expects and what’s actually said – such things confuse our brains, and clearly they confuse the brains of dogs too.
Interestingly, no breed had ‘better’ results than any other in this test, suggesting that pretty much any dog can learn the difference between the word for ball and the word for stick, and what each word represents.
I don’t believe that dogs understand every word that we say (and to be honest that’s probably a great benefit for the dog considering how much most of us rattle on) but they are likely to be more attuned to us, and more capable of demonstrating that attunement than any other animal that we share our lives with. What remarkable animals they are!
You can read the whole article here.
It is interesting that scientists set out to prove what dog owners have known for generations Nouns remain constant – as do certain verbs such as ‘walk’, ‘sit’ and ‘fetch’. Watching Border Collies working with sheep is an amazing experience. Then – and this is obviously what the scientists wanted to check on – there are the body signals dogs are so attuned to. I taught our German Shepherd to come to me if I patted my hand on my thigh – no calling – in case there should be a need. Happily, there never was.
Yes, animals can be taught a lot of very subtle sign language for sure….
One of my golfing buddies announced the other day that he had to go to the shop to get some ham on the way home – for his dog. Later, he was telling me that the dog (a 13 year old shih tzu) actually ‘talks’… When it’s hungry it barks (and unfortunately I cannot recreate his imitation) it says “fhood” and, if there’s no ham on the top, it says (with a very guttural H – “hham” and won’t eat it until there is. Also when he or his wife are going out, it can say “me too”!
You also not have seen this video of a dog who apparently knows the names of over 1,000 of its toys. Not only that but, by process of elimination, if knows the name of a new, unknown toy introduced into the pile… (and it’s all done behind the sofa so nothing is apparently given away by the owner or presenter…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6479QAJuz8 (the key bit starts about 37 seconds in…)
So interesting, Mike….
Here’s a better video, showing more of the test:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155615687202196
Well of course dogs understand words,’sit,’ ‘fetch’ ‘down’, ‘sit’ and ‘stay’ being pretty common examples. Our dog knows these, as well as: ‘car’ – dog knows to get in car; ‘walk’ – noun, meaning ‘we are going out,’ a concept, ie a noun; ‘treat’ – delicious morsel in plastic bag ; ‘stick’- wooden stick to play with; and ‘no’ seems to be well understood. With practice other words will come. And you never know what is understood if not requiring action. Of course the dog’s name is always well understood – a proper noun if you are fixated on parts of speech.
Anyway, a fascinating subject which we might work on, as our dog has been with us for only three months.
Funny how scientists insist that something can’t be real unless it’s been proved in a laboratory, when practical experience shows it to be an obvious reality.
Well, I guess that’s the scientific method for you, but it’s true, anyone who’s ever been around a dog for any length of time knows that they understand a whole range of nouns. Else, why does ever dog owner know that the word ‘vet’ should never be uttered within a dog’s hearing?