We all know dogs respond when we talk to them, but new research suggests they might be listening more intently than we realize, even when we’re not directly addressing them.
A recent study has revealed that dogs possess the neurological ability to pick out important words, even when they’re hidden in longer sentences or spoken in a flat, neutral tone. This finding challenges the idea that dogs only respond to our voices when we use a high-pitched, engaging tone.
David Reby, visiting professor at the University of Sussex and the study’s lead author, explained, “Our research shows that dogs can identify and recognize words that are relevant to them, even in a stream of monotonous speech, without the usual intonation we use to engage them.”
This means that even if you’re not calling your dog’s name or using a cheerful voice, they might still be “tuned in” to your conversation.
Dr. Holly Root-Gutteridge, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Lincoln and co-author of the study, added, “The results demonstrate just how well dogs listen and how much they understand from what we say.”
The study tested 50 dogs of various breeds, from Dachshunds to St. Bernards, using recordings of neutral-toned sentences. The findings showed that the dogs consistently responded by looking toward their owners when they heard familiar phrases, even when their name wasn’t directly mentioned or spoken in an engaging tone.
This suggests that dogs are capable of understanding and processing speech more than we might have thought.
Next, researchers plan to investigate at what age puppies begin responding to human speech and whether wolves or other wild canines share similar abilities.
Dr. Root-Gutteridge concluded, “These results shed light on how dogs process speech, showing they may be picking up on more of our conversations than we realize.”