A few border collies and other dogs show remarkable ability in learning new words. These dogs can recognize over 100 different toys by name. Amazingly, most of the dogs in the study did this spontaneously, without any special training from humans.
The Origin of Language in Dogs
Language is a fundamental part of how humans think, communicate, and function collectively. However, there are still many questions about the origins of these evolutionary behaviors. Comparing dogs’ abilities to understand words and phrases with those of other species can be a useful way to learn more about how human language evolved. Although most of these studies so far have focused on monkeys or dolphins, the findings can be complicated by the fact that these investigations often involve captive animals rather than wild ones.
Dogs Learning Language
Dogs have lived with humans for about 15,000 to 20,000 years and are constantly exposed to language. “The way we interact with our dogs is very similar to the way we interact with our children,” says Dror. “The bond that dogs form with human caregivers is very similar to that of children.” However, Dror continues, children learn to speak at some point, while puppies do not. Only a few researchers have attempted to explore the origins of this difference. In 2004, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, reported that a border collie named Rico knows the names of more than 200 different items. Since the paper about Rico was published nearly 20 years ago, researchers outside Dror’s group have found only six dogs that display similar capabilities, which has limited the scope of the studies conducted.
Studying Language-Gifted Dogs
Dror and her colleagues decided that instead of attempting to train the dogs, they would ask owners of smart dogs to come forward. They also launched the “Genius Dog Challenge,” a game streamed live on YouTube that pits smart dogs against each other to see which has the greatest language ability. After five years, 41 “word-learning gifted dogs,” or dogs that know the names of at least five toys, were identified. The dogs came from nine different countries across three continents and included a variety of breeds. More than half of them were border collies, but the team also documented the language capabilities of some mixed-breed and purebred dogs, including three Labradors, two Pomeranians, a Pekingese, a Shih Tzu, a Corgi, a toy poodle, a German shepherd, and an Australian shepherd.
The Ability of Dogs to Learn Words
When Dror first collected data, the dogs knew an average of 41 words for toys, with the highest performers knowing 86 words. From that point, the dogs displayed “astonishing” learning speed, according to Dror, as dog owners reported that the dogs only needed about five minutes to learn a new toy. Dogs proved that older dogs—or at least older dogs—can still learn new tricks, as the dogs continued to expand their vocabulary over the years. By the time the researchers prepared their new paper, 16 dog owners reported that their dogs now know the names of over 100 toys.
The Future of Research
Dror and her colleagues are considering following up studies that address the factors contributing to some dogs’ language talent and examine how animals approach the learning process in a similar or different way than human children. The team also wishes to expand the research sample size, so Dror encourages dog owners who believe their dogs may be geniuses to reach out. “We are always interested in meeting new dog owners and meeting their dogs,” she says.
Represents
The new study is a “very exciting step forward” for the field, according to Heidi Lyn, a comparative psychologist at the University of South Alabama, who did not participate in the work. “Overall, I think this study is a great example of the next wave of citizen science and understanding our canine companions and their ability to understand us.”
Dror and her colleagues do not know what distinguishes language-savvy dogs from regular dogs. The animals in the study were very eager to play with toys and showed considerable attention when their owners spoke. But as Dror points out, these traits are not unique to dogs. She suspects that early dog-rearing environments, along with some natural talent, play a role in whether they become gifted at learning words, but “we still don’t know the elements that make up each of these factors and how they interact,” she says.
Irene Pepperberg, a comparative psychologist at Boston University, who did not take part in the research, says it is interesting to see in the study that not all working dogs – or those bred to be herders, hunters, or trackers – can become word-learning geniuses. However, nearly all the word-learning geniuses are working breeds. These include obvious breeds like German shepherds and Labradors, but also less obvious breeds like poodles, which were used in military service from the 17th century until World War II, and Pomeranians, who were originally bred as guard dogs. “At least until recently, when beauty standards evolved and influenced the gene pool, breeds were carefully selected for learning and responding to aspects of human speech over thousands of years,” says Pepperberg.
Dror and her colleagues hope to follow up with studies that examine the factors contributing to some dogs’ language talent and explore how animals approach the learning process similarly or differently from human children. The team also wants to expand the size of the research sample, so Dror encourages dog owners who believe their dogs might be geniuses to reach out. “We are always interested in meeting new dog owners and their dogs,” she says.
Rachel Nuwer is a freelance science journalist and regular contributor to Scientific American, The New York Times, National Geographic, and other publications.
Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dog-language-geniuses-are-rare-but-apparently-real/
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