Science has proven: dogs understand human language by eavesdropping on conversations.

According to ТСН: Dog owners often note that their four-legged friends can understand what is being said, even when they are not being directly addressed. Scientific studies have confirmed this hypothesis. A group of researchers found that dogs can remember the names of new objects not only through training but also through social observation.

The results of this study were published in the journal Science.

The phenomenon of 'gifted' dogs

Researchers identified a special group of animals that they call GWL (Gifted Word Learner) — 'gifted dogs that learn words'. Most often, such abilities are exhibited by border collies.

These dogs have a unique talent: they can remember the names of hundreds of toys. The experiment showed that they use similar cognitive mechanisms as small children around 18 months old.

How the experiment was conducted

The researchers tested two methods of learning:

1. Direct address: The owner showed the dog a new toy and clearly named it ('Look, this is [name]').

2. Eavesdropping: The dog observed a conversation between two people who passed the toy from hand to hand and named it, ignoring the animal.

The results were impressive: dogs learned the names of new objects equally successfully in both cases.

'This suggests that dogs learn language similarly to how human children do — by eavesdropping and remembering the words that adults say'

Test with the 'invisible' object

To check if dogs really understand the connection between the word and the object, the scientists made the task more difficult. The owners named the toy when it was hidden in a bucket or behind a screen. The dog could not see the object but heard its name and followed the person's gaze. Under such conditions, 'gifted' dogs successfully remembered the word.

Why this is important

This discovery changes our understanding of the evolution of language. It was previously thought that the ability to learn through 'triadic interactions' (observer — speaker — object) is unique to humans.

Now it is clear that dogs, evolving alongside us, have developed social skills that allow them to 'read' our world almost the same way children do.

Unfortunately, ordinary dogs from the control group that did not belong to the GWL category could not cope with the eavesdropping task. This confirms that the talent for learning words is a rare but extremely powerful phenomenon in the animal kingdom.

Dogs are undoubtedly among the smartest animals on the planet. While all of them are intelligent, there are particularly outstanding breeds. One method for assessing dog intelligence was developed by Canadian psychologist and dog expert Stanley Coren.

The new research sheds light on the remarkable abilities of dogs in perceiving and understanding language. This discovery not only highlights their intelligence but also shows how deeply we are connected to these four-legged friends. In the future, this knowledge may help improve dog training and their interaction with humans.