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Dogs Understand Language

Yet again, more proof that dogs kick cats asses :D

Quote:

Study finds dogs understand language

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As many a dog owner will attest, our furry friends are listening. Now, for the doubters, there is scientific proof they understand much of what they hear.

German researchers have found a border collie named Rico who understands more than 200 words and can learn new ones as quickly as many children.

Patti Strand, an American Kennel Club board member, called the report "good news for those of us who talk to our dogs."

"Like parents of toddlers, we learned long ago the importance of spelling key words like bath, pill or vet when speaking in front of our dogs," Strand said. "Thanks to the researchers who've proven that people who talk to their dogs are cutting-edge communicators, not just a bunch of eccentrics."

The researchers found that Rico knows the names of dozens of play toys and can find the one called for by his owner. That is a vocabulary size about the same as apes, dolphins and parrots trained to understand words, the researchers say.

Rico can even take the next step, figuring out what a new word means.

The researchers put several known toys in a room along with one that Rico had not seen before. From a different room, Rico's owner asked him to fetch a toy, using a name for the toy the dog had never heard.

The border collie, a breed known primarily for its herding ability, was able to go to the room with the toys and, seven times out of 10, bring back the one he had not seen before. The dog seemingly understood that because he knew the names of all the other toys, the new one must be the one with the unfamiliar name.

"Apparently he was able to link the novel word to the novel item based on exclusion learning, either because he knew that the familiar items already had names or because they were not novel," said the researchers, led by Julia Fischer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig.

A month later, he still remembered the name of that new toy three out of six times, even without having seen it since that first test. That is a rate the scientists said was equivalent to that of a 3-year-old.

Rico's learning ability may indicate that some parts of speech comprehension developed separately from human speech, the scientists said.

"You don't have to be able to talk to understand a lot," Fischer said. The team noted that dogs have evolved with humans and have been selected for their ability to respond to the communications of people.

Katrina Kelner, Science's deputy editor for life sciences, said "such fast, one-trial learning in dogs is remarkable. This ability suggests that the brain structures that support this kind of learning are not unique to humans and may have formed the evolutionary basis of some of the advanced language abilities of humans."

Perhaps, although Paul Bloom of Yale University urges caution.

"Children can understand words used in a range of contexts. Rico's understanding is manifested in his fetching behavior," Bloom writes in a commentary, also in Science.

Bloom calls for further experiments to answer several questions: Can Rico learn a word for something other than a small object to be fetched? Can he display knowledge of a word in some way other than fetching? Can he follow an instruction not to fetch something?

Fischer and her colleagues are still working with Rico to see if he can understand requests to put toys in boxes or to bring them to certain people. Rico was born in December 1994 and lives with his owners. He was tested at home.

Funding for this research was provided in part by the German Research Foundation.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science....html?Mmmmdogs

And because he's just sooooooooooo cute, I'm including the picture from the article....

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/TECH/sci...anguage.ap.jpg

I think this is really cool, especially as someone who wants at least 2 dogs when I'm older :) Part of the reason I like dogs so much is the kind of bond that is capable of being formed between many breeds and the owner - it's unlike any other animal I've seen.

Very interesting article, SM. :)
I just wish my dog could figure out when I get up from my seat, it's not her turn to keep it warm.

Well..I watched on tv theres a dog that understand some sign language..so this is not so surprising to me. But I'm wondering....can they be bilangual or more???

oh yeah...
DOGS RULES CATS DROOLS!!! :D

Maybe I should stop swearing around my dog. He doesnt' seem to mind, though.

Your dog wants meat.

Um...my dogs know their names and not much else, heh. While they may just be holding back on a vast amount of information that they haven't let me know about yet, I am left thinking they're not quite as smart as this study makes it sound like all dogs are.

I asked my psycholinguistics professor once if a dog would still respond to commands if I took out his wernicke's area (as close as one could approximate to a dog's brain) to test if there was a physically based lexicon or if it they simply associated audio stimuli patterns with actions. All he said is that they had no wernicke's area and the point would be moot.

...

That sonuvabitch.

My dog's as smart as hell. This article sort of confirms what a lot of dog owners already know. When they look at ya, there's something going on in that tiny brain...

I believe it. I swear my dog can understand sentences.

Our dog understands such weird commands as:
"Go for a pee"
"Go to bed" (which is the laundry, where he sleeps at night)
"Deck"

Surprisingly enough he usually doesn't respond to "get back here you fucking mongrel" when he's busy going on one of his excursions off the property :p

my dogs are bi-lingual too.

My dog doesn't even have a name .... he doesn't come when I call for him anyway ...

i adopted my husky while i was living in france--so he responds to french commands, but not to english ones. it doesn't seem to be a matter of tone of voice---we have tried to double the french tones using englilsh words, and it doesn't work.

this only applies when su tong is indoors.
outdoors, he becomes selectively deaf.

To defend cats for one moment, cats can understand language fine, give them an instruction, they know exactly what you are talking about, and what you want them to do. They choose to completely ignore you and do whatever the hell they want to, I'm sort of the same way, so I can respect that in a beastie.

Quote:

Originally posted by roachboy
i adopted my husky while i was living in france--so he responds to french commands, but not to english ones. it doesn't seem to be a matter of tone of voice---we have tried to double the french tones using englilsh words, and it doesn't work.

Your neighbours must think you're strange.

Heck, I think we all think you're strange!

Mr Mephisto

I am very much in agreement with the premise that animals besides ourselves have capacities far beyond the type of conceptions our self-involved assessments tend to grant to them.

They are more like us - and we like them - than we are customarily capable of admitting.

We have one lab that knows the difference b/w 2 toys and will usually fetch the correct one for a treat. When you talk to him, he always cocks his head. I've heard that is a sign of high intelligence in a dog, and judging by him I would say it's true. He also knows what it means when you point at something- he actually looks where you are pointing instead of at your hand like most dogs.

Our other lab will bark on command, and then when I say "shhhh" and put my finger to my lips, he will bark really softly. It's so cute and he picked it up right away.

So, can you tell I think dogs are the best and are highly intelligent creatures who deserve nothing but respect, or do I need to ramble longer?

LOL I've known this for a long time...

My dog is smart as hell..

Go potty
go for a ride
go in the truck/car/van (all separate and she knows which one)
go see <name> (everyone in our family and 3-4 of our friends each... 5x(3or4) it adds up quick)
about 15 tricks
where's the kitties/squirrles/birds (knows them separate and where to look for them
go get your leash
..

LOL there's more but im sure you dont want me to keep going... hell my dog learned how to climb a fense by watching cats...

I totally believe it. My dog understands a lot of different words and commmands. Sit, Stay, Lay down, rollover, come, speak. Then the harder ones Walk (on her hine legs, I'm on not kidding she can walk around the house on her hine legs), go to bed, go outside, and go for a car ride.
Another thing I have noticed is dogs remember certain objects, no matter how long it has been she will always remember them. Whenever I pull out a suitcase, she freaks out and bolts inside it. She always thinks she's going to be left behind. And the most recent one, whenever I come home to visit I would always leave 2 days later. Now after 2 days, she freaks out and follows me around the house, because she doesn't want me to leave.

My old dog did the same thing with the cooler. When packing it for road trips, he'd become agitated and wait by the car, not wanting us to leave him at home. Somehow he always knew when we were going to my grandma's house.

My golden retriever knew quite a bit, he recognized hand signals (not necessarily sign language) more so than english, and now that he lives with my abuelo he understands spanish quite well.

My current dog, understands a lot, as well. While hiking, (not leashed), if I hold my hand out to my right side, straight out, he'll walk right alongside me, and knows that I'll eventually want to leash him up because of people coming up or down the trail. I have certain whistles too, one's just the happy enjoy yourself whistle, another means to stop, and another means to come back to me. He's pretty good about them. A lot of people think he's dumb, because he doesn't listen to THEM, but if they go hiking with him and I they generally realize how smart and obedient he actually is.

And I know he understands, or at least knows what I mean when I say things to him, you can tell by the way he cocks his head, or just how he reacts. Dunno, if you actually spend time and love your pets you'll find these little nuances, and realize they are a lot smarter than people believe.

My dog is dumber than a box of shit. Most dalmatians are, though. I read that a basic intelligence test for dogs is to put a blanket over them and base how long it takes for them to get out. My dog would probably just accept his new home, and never get out. I think he knows his name, because he usually responds to it. Other than that, don't hold your breath. My dog before him was very smart.

my dogs understand loads of words, but then our dogs live indoors with us as part of the family.

they know their names (duh), car, walk, the 2 neighbors' dogs names, NO! hehe, "go peepee", "get a drink of water", the names of dozens of toys such as football, egg, frisbee, bucky ball, frog, piggy, octopus, puppy, etc... they skake paws & then shake the "other", "go in a circle" (for treats), the basic commands: sit, stay, lay, down, off + plus "give mommy (or daddy) a kiss" (or hug); say "where's your cookies?" & my one dog points to the cabinet that we keep them in; "let's go get the newspaper" is a morning ritual; say "it's time for bed" & they head to our bedroom; they get excited when i put on my walking shoes cuz they know we're going for a walk. or my husband's certain pair of sweat pants tells them they're going to the ball field to play frisbee & run or to the creek to run; they know the yellow backpack contains their leashes & other fun goodies for outtings; my one dog gets very upset when he sees me getting ready to go somewhere until (if) i say they get to go; they both know my purse means i am leaving the house; they know all the routine of preparing to leave the house (closing windows, adjusting lights, etc) & they know if i turn on the stereo & close the baby gate to the living room that they indeed will not be going along, resulting in a serious disappointed look from one dog & serious pouting from the other one. lol they both can crawl through tunnels on command, jump over hurdles, etc.
eh... they know lots & lots of words & have lots of visual recognizition.

honest, i am not out of my tree (about this anyway), they really do understand.

maybe i just spend more time with my dogs than the average dog owner?

It drives me nuts when I hear someone say dogs can't reason or understand language, that everything they do is instinct. The only people who think that are people who have not spent any time with dogs.