Study Finds Some Dogs Learn Words Simply by Overhearing Humans
- Vickie Foster
- Feb 3
- 2 min read
Most dog parents know their dog and all kinds of dogs can pick up new words when taught directly by their owners. For instance, when taught the name of a new toy or key words like “dinner” or “walk” a pooch will learn the word fairly quickly. However, a study was recently published in the journal Science that was conducted by cognitive scientist Shany Dror at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. The research showed that certain “genius” dogs could ascertain the names of objects like toys just by hearing them in human conversations.
Most of the dogs in the study were Border Collies, a particularly intelligent breed. The researchers asked study participants to casually talk to each other about a toy new to the dog while holding it. After a few minutes a day over several days, the dogs were asked to retrieve the new toy from a pile of familiar toys. A majority of them were able to find the new toy at rates the researchers deem way above random chance. In fact the “genius” dogs did just as well with this as they did when the owners explicitly taught them the toy’s name.
Even more astounding are the results of another experiment by the same researchers. The dogs were shown a toy that was hidden in a bucket. While the toy was hidden, the dog owners referred to the toy by name. A majority of the dogs were able to retrieve the hidden toy later when asked to pick it out of a group. What’s more they remembered the toy two weeks later.
This communication feat is similar to how human children as young as 18 months learn language skills by listening to adults. Other animals such as apes and parrots also have similar skills. According to Shany Dror, the study’s lead researcher, the results show that these “super dogs” learn words in the same way that young children do. The brainy pooches have taken a page from human evolution.
The next time you’re talking to a friend, keep in mind that your pup may be listening.
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