This speech-language pathologist taught her dog 29 words, and he can even form full sentences.
Video by Christina Hunger
Dogs actually do have a language center in their brains. They process language just the same way we do, just not as well.
They do understand our words. This is not true of all domesticated animals (horses, for example, can only manage to distinguish a relatively small number of spoken commandsâŠbut boy do they know what youâre really saying).
They donât understand âjust your tone of voiceâ as a lot of people think.
As of 2016 the record vocabulary for a dog demonstrating understanding of words is over 1,000.
So if you give them a way to talk back, theyâre going to use it.
The development of language skills is probably a side effect of domestication and of being kept in close contact with humans. A dog that was a better hunting partner would be kept and bred and over time they developed a better understanding of language.
In other words, dogs are pretty dang smart because we need them to understand us.
And also that is a very good boy.
^ Would like to agree and make one amendment - very good GIRL. This is Stella the dog!
Check out the owner Christinaâs Instagram: one of the first things I saw was a video where the dog started barking and, when prompted by the owner, said âoutside, look look look look look look look, come outside.â Which is basically exactly how one would expect a dog to speak.Â
The owner described bringing an unknown package into the house, and the dog ran away to push the buttons for âhelp no no help helpâ which is also about what I expect goes on in a scared pupâs mind.
In another video, the dog tried to push a button, and the button wasnât working. The dog paused and then pushed the buttons for âNo. Help.âÂ
In yet another (which the owner seemed impressed by), Stella said âcome eat come play.â The owner asked the dog which she wanted to do, to eat or to play? And the dog clarified âcome eat.â After eating, then the dog tried to instigate play. So the dog may have been able to understand a short spoken question, and how âquestions and answersâ work, and also understands sequences, even if she canât express them (âI want to eat, THEN I want to playâ)
Stella can even recount short-term memories, like when her family returned from the beach for dinner and she said âwater good, no eat, playâ
By the way, the owner uses the buttons as well, which probably really helps reinforce their meaning. She uses them to say things like âStella all done eatâ or âStella and Christina go outside, bye!â
Wanna know my favorite part? Stella sometimes pushes the buttons for âStella goodâ when sheâs done a good job. Stella IS good! :D She also makes phrases using âlove you,â like âChristina, love you, come play!â
*whispers* amazingÂ
