It appears that they understand the words sit, walk, and eat leading us to believe that dogs learn to associate specific words with specific actions or objects. Our dogs may get what we say, but what we say is only part of the equation. How we say it impacts how much a dog comprehends.
The study finds that common commands are among the most likely words a dog will know. These include “sit,” “come,” “down,” “stay,” “wait,” “no,” “OK,” and “leave it.” However, researchers note that dogs most frequently respond to their own names.
OnBuy, an online marketplace, surveyed over 4,000 dog owners from the UK to determine what words their dogs reacted to the most. They found that the most exciting words were “walkies” (equivalent to “walk” or even “outside”), “dinner/food/eat”, “treat”, “get it”, and “fetch”.
However, a border collie named Chaser is known as the world's smartest dog. Throughout Chaser's life, a psychologist named Dr. Pilley trained her every day to recognize the names of her toys. Eventually, she proved that she could understand the of over 1,000 distinct words.
The dog breed with the highest IQ is the Border Collie, followed by other smart pups like the Belgian Malinois, Poodle, and German Shepherd. Dogs showcase several types of intelligence including instinctual intelligence, obedience, emotional intelligence, and the ability to problem-solve.
As for language, the average dog can learn 165 words, including signals, and the “super dogs” (those in the top 20 percent of dog intelligence) can learn 250 words, Coren says.
Whining or crying is another way dogs, especially puppies, express their needs. A dog might whine for you to take them outside, feed them, or play fetch. The high-pitched cry is often your dog's way of expressing what they want or letting you know they're unhappy.
Good Greeting Signs
A good greeting would be the dogs walking up to each other, sniffing, and ending at sniffing each other's behinds. After the butt-sniff — this is the dog handshake — they should be friendly to play. Or you may call them and they should continue calmly on their walk with you.
Dogs don't shake hands like people do, they use their nose to say hello. So, hold your hand in a fist so they can approach and sniff if they choose.
So how do dogs think? Dogs don't read or write, so they don't think in words and symbols the way humans do. However, they can certainly be taught to recognise symbols and words and the actions associated with them, but this is done through very careful training and isn't their natural state.
Especially if you tell them often, they will come to recognize your words and tone and will understand the love you have for them. As long as you're showing your dog love and affection, they will understand it. However, if you want to throw in an extra belly rub or treat once in a while, they will love you for it!
"Body language, tone, and words are all involved in effective canine communication." Even though many scientists agree that dogs understand specific words, some believe they don't comprehend full sentences. They feel that saying “trees, birds, grass, walk” invokes the same meaning as, “let's go for a walk”.
Dogs appear most calm when listening to classical music, reggae, and soft rock. In addition to genre and rhythm, variety is key. Dogs tend to tune out music they hear all the time. The relaxing effect declines once music turns into ambient noise.
Do Dogs Like When You Talk to Them? Yes! Research published in Animal Cognition found that both puppies and adult dogs are attentive to the high-pitch voice we use with babies and the more even-toned language used with adults.
Unsurprisingly, dogs showed a clear preference for dog-related terms. A little more surprising is that the dogs liked hearing their favorite words and the baby talk voice together best of all. Especially puppies!
Licking is a natural and instinctive behaviour to dogs. For them it's a way of grooming, bonding, and expressing themselves. Your dog may lick you to say they love you, to get your attention, to help soothe themselves if they're stressed, to show empathy or because you taste good to them!
One of the most common ways dogs show their affection and gratitude is by licking their parents. They often lick their parent's faces, hands, or feet to show their love and appreciation. This behaviour is believed to be a sign of submission and trust.
Dogs most commonly whine when they're seeking attention, when they're excited, when they're anxious or when they're trying to appease you.
Dogs have the mind of a toddler in terms of emotional intelligence, vocabulary, and cognitive development. Researchers think that canines can experience basic emotions, including joy, fear, love, sadness, and anger. Along the same lines, it is thought that dogs can sense these same emotions in their favorite humans.
And according to a new study, your pet dog may be happy to help. Previous research has shown that when humans cry, their dogs also feel distress. Now, the new study finds that dogs not only feel distress when they see that their owners are sad but will also try to do something to help.
Dogs' eyes only have 2 types of cones (just 20 percent of the cones in human eyes). Because of this, a dog's color spectrum is limited to shades of gray, brown, yellow and blue. This is called dichromatic vision, which is similar to humans who experience red-green color blindness.
The average dog's IQ is about 100. Based on the results done to test a dog's IQ, it turned out that dogs, even the average ones, have the IQ same as a 2-years old human.
Overall, dogs are complex creatures that think about a wide range of things, including social relationships, their physical environment, daily routine, physical needs, and health and well-being.