Dogs And Language

April 12, 2024 2:14 PM

Here's a summary of various studies that look at dogs and language. A couple of videos are included, one of them is this video: Dogs understand words as we do [2m20s] which is a summary of this paper, one of several linked in the first link in this post.

I once lived with a chihuahua where you could tell him to find a specific toy and do an action with it and he would do it. "Go get your blue ball and put it in your basket." "Go find your penguin and bring him to me."

posted by hippybear (40 comments total)

this is my kind of Saturday morning diversion, thanks hippybear!

dog recognizes the human sounds for 'Friday' (strong association with rawhide chew or similar, because that's the Friday treat); 'crust' and 'breakfast' (strong likelihood of a small morsel, e.g. pizza crust, toast); 'treat' (of course); 'bedtime'; 'go sit in your chair'; and when I say 'hockey game' I hope she knows what I'm saying because apparently it upsets her when I yell at the game and then try to assure her it's nothing to do with her
posted by elkevelvet at 2:23 PM on April 12 [4 favorites]

Back when I had a dog, we'd say to him when it was feeding time, "Are you hungry?" He quickly learned that phrase, to the point that if we just said an elongated "arrr" sound while looking at him his ears would perk up and he'd tilt his head side to side, eagerly waiting for the rest - "Say it! Say it! Say it!!". We had to be careful not to abuse that sort of tease and disappoint him.

He even learned what it meant if we spelled W-A-L-K. We had to keep coming up with more convoluted obscure ways to talk to each other about that event if it wasn't actually time for it, so he wouldn't start bouncing and running around and barking in anticipation.

He was a very large dog (over 100lb by the time he was a year old) with a very large bark, but if we told him quietly "Indoor voice" he would lower his volume to a gentle "woo woo woof bark woof" and stare at us intently like he was trying his best to speak Human.

All of this, by the way, was him voluntarily picking this stuff up (and rather quickly too); no training regimen was required.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:47 PM on April 12 [13 favorites]

This is great. I always knew the dogs could understand me, and certainly empathize with my emotions or health status.

I have a Maine Coon cat now and while it’s different I still think he understands a lot of what I say. He’s certainly conversational. ‘Hey Toby!’ ‘Row.’ ‘How you doing homie?’ ‘Row rowww.’

You could tell me his replies weren’t ‘hey’ and ‘not bad’ but I wouldn’t believe you.
posted by chronkite at 2:59 PM on April 12 [12 favorites]

I used to have a 1.5 lb chihuahua that learned how to answer questions through no training on my part. Probably because I was unintentionally consistent in my questioning. She knew "gotta go potty," "want some water," hungry" and my own name. I'd prompt her to sit, and ask the questions one at a time. She'd continue sitting still for "no" and spin in circles for "yes." It made it very convenient to know and take care of her needs. Asking about myself just meant she wanted to sit on my lap. She also knew "go for ride," which wasn't really a question, but always made her excited, since she knew we were going somewhere.
posted by mrphancy at 3:19 PM on April 12

He even learned what it meant if we spelled W-A-L-K. We had to keep coming up with more convoluted

Right now, we discuss when we want to promenade our floofs. We've been careful enough to wait a bit before jumping to "who wants to go for a walk?!" But we're just a bit over a year with them. I'm sure I'll slip up soon.
posted by ghost phoneme at 3:23 PM on April 12 [4 favorites]

"perambulate" is also a useful word.
posted by hippybear at 3:27 PM on April 12 [12 favorites]

I’ll add this..after years of living with dogs and cats I’ve come to realize that in order to be understood, you must strive to understand.

Animals have languages all their own, with nuance and subtleties. I know the difference between ‘roooowww’ and ‘erf’.

When I treat my critters as equals and not only listen but act on their ‘words’ they see me and appreciate it, and they open up more and more, and (maybe??) try to understand me better.
posted by chronkite at 3:37 PM on April 12 [3 favorites]

Okay that video is pretty great. Dog staring intently in front of a green screen with a bunch of wires glued to his head, very seriously engaging with their person holding up toys. I would expect the dog to get psyched and wiggle around to start playing but instead it was like they knew they were getting graded on a test somehow. What hilariously bizarre dog energy.

Also of course dogs know words, but this is cool in that it’s statistically relevant scientific data about it. I’ve known dogs (huskies) who appeared able to read analogue clocks, and dogs (my two childhood dogs, one a failed seeing eye dog, purebred golden retriever, and one a pure mutt) who were so deliberately obtuse that I only realize in retrospect that half the time they knew what we were talking about and chose the opposite or most incorrect reaction. Dogs contain multitudes!
posted by Mizu at 3:41 PM on April 12 [6 favorites]

"Go find your penguin and bring him to me."

I should fill out this story.

This chihuahua loved little stuffed animals around his size or slightly larger, that he could bite a hole in and then use as a masturbation toy until all the stuffing came out of it and it was just this husk of fabric. This process might last at most two weeks, generally less time.

So the "Go find your penguin" could be any number of animals that we might have bought him to molest until they are mere shells of their former selves [a metaphor for sex trafficking?] and we could have 3 or 4 different animals in various stages of degradation and he would get the one you were asking about. So he was learning new names for various stuffed animals all the time and still answering correctly when being asked to get that individual one.
posted by hippybear at 3:50 PM on April 12 [3 favorites]

Came in here for promenade and perambulate, but I see my work is already done. See also stroll, 'wander on', walkabout, and 'go for a mosey' though that one depends on whether you've trained on 'go for a ...'
posted by 1xdevnet at 4:02 PM on April 12

Yes indeed, and also "walkabout" contains The Word so that's out too.

But there's plenty others - jaunt, parade, stroll, constitutional, roam, saunter,wander, meander, rove, traipse... The thesaurus is our friend!
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:30 PM on April 12 [1 favorite]

It is amazing how much our dogs have figured out our shit.

Don't think ours can spell yet, but have already moved to finger signs for "W-A-L-K"

Such good girls...
posted by Windopaene at 4:45 PM on April 12

I wonder how people with dogs deal with this problem in like, Waukegan or Milwaukee.
posted by MrVisible at 4:59 PM on April 12 [10 favorites]

Yeah my favorite is also “constitutional” because I always associate it with like, stuffy gentlemen going for a walk after a rich meal so they can fart in the fresh air, which is exactly how I imagine dogs think of it.
posted by Mizu at 5:43 PM on April 12 [8 favorites]

Incidentally, "Farting in Fresh Air" is the name of my next album!
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:38 PM on April 12 [7 favorites]

Just remember that Fresh Aire is a trademark of Mannheim Steamroller!
posted by hippybear at 6:39 PM on April 12 [3 favorites]

Well, maybe I WILL call it "Farting in Fresh Aire", and it'll be covers of Mannheim Steamroller songs done in the medium of flatus! So There.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:50 PM on April 12 [4 favorites]

If you can do an entirely fart driven cover of the second side of Fresh Aire II, the long-form proggy side, I would applaud you and promote you as world-wide as would be within my power.
posted by hippybear at 7:11 PM on April 12 [2 favorites]

With that much intestinal gas I could probably travel worldwide under my own power!
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:01 PM on April 12 [1 favorite]

Music from the farts of space

'Im your host Steven Hill not to be confused with Wyndham Hill. So strap in, stay tuned, dim the lights and we'll start with Michael Whiteley. in this piece we get away from the sounds of the gas mining culture of Jupiter and go back in time to the early Water Trade right back here on Earth.


I'm Steven Hill.
posted by clavdivs at 8:04 PM on April 12 [1 favorite]

Like, you're talking about doing a fart cover of a famously Recorder-driven piece of music, and it's like exactly how much air power are you capable of summoning at will out of your anus compared to what is going done by mouth and lung in the original piece?
posted by hippybear at 8:04 PM on April 12 [1 favorite]

I mean, dear Greg. I've spent a weekend or two with you and if you were that flatulent I wouldn't have come back for the second visit after the first. There's a level of gas release happening here which is well beyond what is normal for any human being. And I suppose, if I were you living through this, I would have learned how to play tunes with my flatulence because otherwise I'm not sure how i would cope with that amount of release and probably the stench accompanying it.
posted by hippybear at 8:07 PM on April 12

My farts smell of fucking lillies, goddammit.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:10 PM on April 12 [1 favorite]

Dog farts, on the other hand (to get back to the original topic)....
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:11 PM on April 12 [1 favorite]

...So he was learning new names for various stuffed animals all the time and still answering correctly when being asked to get that individual one.

Chaser the dog shows off her smarts to Neil deGrasse Tyson.

See the same in Dog Understands 1022 words.

I am of no fixed opinion on this matter but still, that is remarkable.
posted by y2karl at 8:28 PM on April 12

Coming back to this thread after my own dinner… what have I wrought
posted by Mizu at 8:38 PM on April 12 [3 favorites]

Dogs understand words as we do yt

my dog (no longer around sadly) had an excellent grasp of any number of English words ... when she felt like it. This is a skill I should acquire.
posted by philip-random at 9:30 PM on April 12

I posit that they respond better to certain words or more specific words.
But they perfer certain words for example ouchie. ouchie was like a universal symbol for pain or an injury. so this word specifically means pain we know how generally dogs are about pain. that's only half of it then you have to give the command let me see. and you can modulate The Voice if it's softer or firmer, it generally worked. I think it was effective with the three dogs because the other two dogs weren't going to take advantage of the other dogs weakness perhaps.
posted by clavdivs at 9:42 PM on April 12 [1 favorite]

OK, first off

Fresh Aire are awesome. Got to see them once, early on. Insanely great.

I cheated on my dogs tonight. Went to a friend's house. They have two Boston Terriers. One has a ball, the other is more grouchy. One of my standard poodles has a squeaky ball, it is her favorite thing...

I came home. All sniffing, all the time. I would feel bad but, I got to meet some new dogs! I am such a slut when it comes to meeting new dogs...
posted by Windopaene at 10:29 PM on April 12

I posit that they respond better to certain words or more specific words.

But...

I think it was effective with the three dogs because the other two dogs weren't going to take advantage of the other dogs weakness perhaps.

In other words if you want to spell egalitarian in three letters, it's D-O-G -- amirite?
posted by y2karl at 10:54 PM on April 12

This is off topic but I’d just like to say how much I value each and every post that Hippybear makes. It helps that we have very similar interests but I find myself looking for a HB post the moment I open MF and I’m never disappointed at what he’s chosen to contribute. Thank you, HB. 😊
posted by pearlybob at 2:14 AM on April 13 [6 favorites]

My family once had a corgi who not only understood the word "Velveeta" but could hear it from an acre away.
posted by pangolin party at 5:22 AM on April 13 [3 favorites]

Yes indeed, and also "walkabout" contains The Word so that's out too.

But there's plenty others - jaunt, parade, stroll, constitutional, roam, saunter,wander, meander, rove, traipse... The thesaurus is our friend!

We’ve started using Christopher to refer to going walken’. (“Will we go Christopher later?”) So far, they haven’t made the connection. It used to be “go to the place with the trees,” but they figured that one out…
posted by boisterousBluebird at 6:05 AM on April 13 [1 favorite]

Gotta be careful with Greg to say "no" when one means never and "later" when one means not right now.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:23 AM on April 13

it is totally 100% normal to refer to walking the dog as "fulfilling the vow" and to cutting the dog's toenails as "paying the witch" and i will not hear otherwise.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 10:51 AM on April 13 [3 favorites]

I’m okay with fulfilling the vow, but one of my dogs is equal parts sweetie pie and absolute demon, and I’m nervous about asking him to pay the witch. (My other dog pays the witch at daycare and it seems to work out okay.)
posted by obfuscation at 5:40 PM on April 13

regardless, the witch must be paid.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 8:27 PM on April 13

regardless, the witch must be paid.

Basically the entire plot of Into The Woods. "It's the laaaaaaast... midnight!"
posted by hippybear at 8:46 PM on April 13

People with working dogs absolutely know that they understand words and gestures. Herding dogs especially can work out what you're saying, sometimes just by listening to repeated conversations that affect them. (and Chaser was fabulous--watch more videos)

If you use perambulate or mosey often enough, your smart dog will figure it out. My heeler doesn't get into conversations about woodworking or climate change, but when Mr. BlueHorse and I are talking about making eggs for breakfast or getting groceries from Albertsons, she knows enough to head for the fridge or stand by the front door. Oddly enough, we hardly ever take her with us on local errands, but she knows that somebody is going somewhere. A smart dog. (Some dogs are just dumb, but always loveable.)

She probably thinks her human's dog vocabulary is pretty limited. We know 'out' and 'ball' and 'go', and a lot of cat talk: "cat wants IN/OUT at the back door" "cat in my crate" "cat wanting to be fed (and I want to lick the bowl after" "cat being an asshole" but a conversational woof, wOOf, wooooOf, and wuff are beyond my comprehension.
posted by BlueHorse at 9:26 AM on April 14

Our walk euphemism is "Pay respects to Dusty", because our dog regularly favours a squatting location beneath a plaque commemorating the fact that Dusty Springfield once went to school there.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 1:46 PM on April 14 [5 favorites]