In addition to being man's best friend, dogs are part of the smartest living beings in the animal kingdom! Have you ever wondered how much he is able to understand what you are trying to tell him?
So find out now!
Can dogs recognize words?
It is said that each dog is like its owner, whether for its habits, appearance or other characteristics that bring it closer to its owner. We are sure that you have already said to yourself: “the only thing left is to speak”.
Even if they can't communicate with you with words, the truth is that dogs are able to understand many different words, much more than you can imagine.
While they might not respond in kind, that doesn't mean they don't understand what you're saying to them.
In a fairly easy way, dogs are able to understand basic orders. “Sitting”, “give a paw”, “No”, are some of these orders that they easily understand. Furthermore, each dog is fully capable of recognizing its own name. But how do dogs understand the words we use?
How many words can a dog understand and how do dogs understand words?
After some brief explanations that we have just given, it is certainly possible that you are wondering: if dogs understand certain words, how does this happen?
On this subject, the studies carried out are very varied…
It has been shown that dogs treat the words we say to them in the same way as a human being. That is, they collect information about the word so that it goes through various brain processes. And that eventually allows him to come to a correct understanding of the word.
For this task, dogs use the left hemisphere of the brain which allows them to understand the words they hear. After going through this process, they may have some idea about the intent of the person speaking to them.
Furthermore, dogs understand various cues easily and quickly if they have been conditioned to do so, whether through conventional conditioning or operant conditioning.
The best way to do this is to link these signals to the action you want your dog to take, using positive reinforcement (through treats, petting or soft words) as a training method.
Number of words known by a dog
The most recognized research on the topic was conducted by psychologist Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia. He focused his analysis on studying the intellectual abilities of dogs to learn new words.
In his research, Coren has shown that dogs are capable of understanding approximately 160 words if they are properly stimulated. In the end, dogs understand human language like a 2-3 year old child! It will be possible to obtain such results if the stimulation exerted on the dog is constant.
Coren's research also showed that dogs are much easier to understand words that have to do with concrete objects , like "bone" or "ball", while it's harder for them to understand words that have to do with abstract concepts like "honey". ”.
Coren also proved that dogs are better at learning words that start with strong consonants like p, t, c, d. Softer consonants, such as f, s, r, l, represent a greater challenge for them.
Dogs retain words through a process called mind mapping; this technique manifests itself when we repeat certain words with a certain frequency and place them in relation to an action or object.
In this regard, during training, it is important that the words chosen for each request sound different from each other. Avoid confusion for your best friend! It's best to listen to requests if they're accompanied by the right body language. Because it makes it easier to understand the message you want to convey.
Are all dogs able to understand the same words?
Now that you know how many words dogs can understand, you might be wondering if all dog breeds are equal in understanding human language.
Stanley Coren's research also revealed that there are certain dog breeds that are easier to learn words than others. For example, Poodles , German Shepherds , Border Collies , Labradors and Dobermans have proven to be much more capable than other breeds at developing a broad lexicon.
However, this great ability to understand will always depend on proper training.