Dogs understand human language better than previously thought

Dogs understand human language at a high level. The scientists set out to find out if dogs could recognize new words that differ only in vowels.

According to New Scientist, British scientists from the University of Sussex conducted an experiment in which 70 dogs of various breeds participated. The animals were allowed to listen to audio recordings in which different people spoke short words. These were not commands, but 6 standard one-syllable English words, such as “had” (had), “hid” (hidden) or “who’d” (who could). The announcers were not familiar with dogs, voices and intonations were new for dogs.

Scientists have observed dogs, trying to determine whether animals distinguish words by their reaction. So, if the dog turned its head towards the column or tilted its ears, it meant that it was listening to the word. If she was distracted or did not move, it could be concluded that the word was already familiar, or she did not distinguish it from the previous one.

As a result, the experts found that the overwhelming majority of dogs distinguished words well even with a difference in one sound. Previously, it was believed that such speech recognition was available only to humans. At the same time, it is clarified that due to the limitations of the experiment, it is not known whether the dogs understand the meaning of the words spoken. This is yet to be known.

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