Your dog may understand more than words, new study suggests

Researchers from Budapest's ELTE Eötvös Loránd University found that dogs could distinguish between nonverbal human vocalizations that encouraged an action and those that discouraged it, even when no meaningful words were used.

In the experiment, dog owners were asked to communicate with their pets using only the meaningless syllable "bü." By changing the pitch, rhythm and other vocal features, owners tried to tell their dogs either to perform an action, such as approaching a person or object, or to avoid it.

The researchers tested 52 dog-owner pairs and compared the results with a separate control group in which owners remained silent. Dogs responded correctly to the intended message significantly more often when they heard the vocalizations, suggesting they were interpreting information carried by the sound itself rather than relying on words.

Analysis of more than 1,600 vocalizations showed clear acoustic differences between signals that conveyed a positive message, similar to "yes" or "do it," and those that conveyed a negative message, similar to "no" or "don't do it." Positive signals tended to be shorter, higher pitched and less noisy than negative ones.

The study also found evidence that humans can communicate basic spatial information through nonverbal sounds. Dogs were able to respond not only to encouragement or objection, but also to whether the signal referred to a location close to the owner or somewhere else.

According to the researchers, the findings suggest that some vocal patterns may carry meanings that can be understood across species. These sound-based cues may be rooted in ancient forms of communication that existed before the emergence of spoken language.

The team says the results support the idea that humans and other mammals may share fundamental acoustic signals that help convey simple messages such as approval, objection, approach or avoidance, even in the absence of words.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that some dogs learn new words by eavesdropping.