A groundbreaking study found that dogs can create two-word combinations using a voice bar to communicate with humans.
Over the past few years, thousands of dogs have been trained to use soundbars, which have buttons that play human words or sentences when pressed.
But until recently, scientists weren’t sure whether these “talking” dogs were pressing the buttons by accident or on purpose. The new analysis shows that the animals’ behavior cannot be explained by random presses, and that some two-button combinations are too common to be due to chance. The results of the research were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Researchers from the Comparative Cognition Laboratory at the University of California, San Diego, found that the most frequently used buttons were associated with basic four-legged needs such as “out,” “treat,” “play” and “potty.” Pairings such as “outside” + “potty” or “food” + “water” also occurred too frequently to be random and were used in a meaningful way.
Moreover, the researchers found differences between the button-pressing behavior of dogs and their owners. For example, keys such as “I love you” are pressed much less frequently by dogs than by humans, indicating that dogs do not imitate their owners’ keys. This would be a blow to owners who believe their feelings of complete devotion are mutual.
This study provides compelling evidence that dogs intentionally use soundbars to convey meaningful messages to humans; A groundbreaking discovery.
Previously, scientists had been able to pinpoint when dogs became man’s best friend. Read the details here.
Source: People Talk
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
