Have you ever taken an inventory of words your dog can understand? No ? Well, researchers have done it for you. They conclude that, on average, dogs respond distinctively to no less than 89 words. Mostly orders.
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[EN VIDÉO] These dogs are little geniuses! All dogs are intelligent. But some are real geniuses! They not only know how to learn to execute commands like “sit” or “lie down”, but also to remember the names of their toys. They are even able to learn up to twelve new names in just one week. And to hold them back for at least two months. (in English) © Genius Dog Challenge
The dog is the best friend of men. It is sometimes presented as a precious assistant for those who find themselves in a situation of disability. Sometimes, as an effective aid to keep the herds. Sometimes again like the ideal hunting companion. Sometimes, even like the one who saves people in distress. Sometimes, like the one who watches over our health. Sometimes, neither more nor less than as a full member of the family. And to take on all these different roles, the dog had to learn to decipher the signals sent to him by humans.
To better appreciate the extent to which our dogs are smart and understand us, researchers of the Dalhousie University (Canada) used a tool developed to assess early language comprehension and development in young children, the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. They used it on 165 families with dogs of different breeds and ages. Result: on average, the dogs respond in a differentiated manner to 89 words. Of which, half of orders.
Most dogs, of course, have mastered a few basic commands. “Sitting”. ” Layer “. ” Do not move “. “At the foot”. We have experienced it on a daily basis. These works thus list about fifteen words which seem to make all dogs react. But they also show that some of our four-legged companions can answer no less than 215 words or even, short sentences.
A tool to find out what your dog understands
The particularity of the study carried out by researchers from the Dalhousie Universityis that they worked on dogs that weren’t particularly trained to recognize our words. In addition to the very classic commands, most of the dogs also seem to understand a few words daily. Words corresponding to more or less primary needs such as “Treat”, ” Pee “, ” ball “Where ” squirrel “ . The last two probably reminding our four-legged companions of their hunting instinct.
Researchers also note that some breeds seem to react more quickly to the words we say. The Australian Shepherd or the border collie, for example. But also the Bichon Frize or the Chihuahua. On the other hand, hunting dogs like the beagle or others like the boxer seem less receptive.
This work is an important first step towards the development of a tool that could identify the words to which dogs are most likely to respond. A tool that would make it possible to overcome the biases introduced in other studies carried out on the subject (prior teaching of words, limited sample size, etc.). They already confirm that dogs, in general, respond more readily to orders than to words designating objects.
Chaser, the female dog who knows 1,000 words
In three years, two researchers have taught a female dog more than 1,000 words – a border collie – which, they claim, really associates each word with an object, even a category of objects.
In 2004, Rico, a border collie, hit the headlines: at the Max Institute Planck, he demonstrated that he knew 200 words, names of toys that he was going to look for, only getting it wrong once in 10. Au Wofford College (South Carolina, United States), Alliston reid and John Pilley wanted to seek the limit with Chaser, a female of the same breed of sheepdog, renowned for its intelligence and his docility. After three years, the researchers stopped training at 1,022 words: record shattered. But, they point out, it is because they themselves have no more time to devote to this experience. Chaser does not seem satisfied.
The female dog’s vocabulary mainly includes proper names associated with toys. The exercises consist for Chaser to fetch an object whose name has just been given to it from a set installed in a neighboring room or behind a curtain, which she does 18 out of 20 times. Sometimes it’s just a matter of touching the object with the muzzle or paw, which shows that Chaser associates the spoken word with the object and not with the command ” to go look “, like a dog who jumps on its leash when you say the word” walk “for example.
Objects and object families
Chaser also knows categories of objects. For example, she associates the word ” toy »(Toy) to all the objects she knows. Responsible for reporting a ” toy»And being in front of a lot of objects comprising only one toy among the thousand that she knows, she will choose this one. In the same way, Chaser can also bring back a “ball” or a “frisbee”. According to the authors, the female dog is able to associate three words with each object. Like Rico, if asked to bring back an item whose name she does not know and she discovers a lot of known toys but with an item she has never seen, she will choose that one. English speakers can enjoy several videos showing John Pilley Where his wife give orders to Chaser. The others will look at them, thinking that they would have done much less well in the exercise!
The result, published in the newspaper Behavioral Processes, shows an astonishing ability to memorize visually recognized objects and words. The ability to categorize words is also quite amazing. Chaser’s prowess is reminiscent of those of Primates (almost all female, it should be noted in passing) capable of manipulating various language systems, including sign language. We remember Washoe, the pioneer, chimpanzee, died in 1977, and Koko the female gorilla.
How are these abilities shared by dog breeds? The selections made by humans since domestication of the dog have something to do with it? We do not know, explain the authors, but it would be interesting to go explore that side.
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