A closer look at the internet reveals numerous charming videos of dogs seemingly learning to “speak” with their owners by using electronic buttons pre-programmed to produce specific words, often referred to as soundboards.
Take, for instance, Labrador Copper. These Labradors press the “copper” and “eat” buttons when they’re craving cheese and tap “Where” and “Dad” when their owner is gone.
While it may seem impressive, the question arises: are these dogs truly communicating, or are they merely reacting to cues from their owners?
I was fascinated by Federico Rossano from the Department of Cognitive Sciences in San Diego, California, who enlisted the help of 59 dogs trained by their owners to utilize these soundboards.
While working from their homes, owners and researchers randomly pressed select buttons and recorded whether the dogs responded appropriately. For example, if the word “outside” was heard, dogs would likely approach the door after hearing a food bowl or another sound.
At least for some words, the answer was indeed “yes.” Dogs were significantly more likely to exhibit play-related behaviors upon hearing the word “play” and looked towards the door when they heard “outside.”
Importantly, these responses were true regardless of whether the button was pressed by the owner or researcher; it didn’t matter who initiated the button press or verbalized the word.
This suggests that the dog isn’t merely reading body language from the owner but is actually processing the words themselves, according to Rossano.
So, is the debate settled? Not quite. The study indicates that dogs can recognize and respond to verbal cues (which we already knew), but critics argue that this doesn’t clarify what the words convey for dogs.
So when Bunny asks, “Where’s Dad?” and her owner replies, “He’s on a climbing trip now,” does she truly understand? For now, Bunny is the only one who knows.
This article answers the question posed by Hatty Kingston from Bristol: “Do dogs truly understand the words associated with soundboard buttons?”
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