Archive for September, 2009

So many dog owners claim that their pet can understand 100 different words.  In fact, there are books and tutorials that claim to help you train your dog obey 150 words!  These are not empty claims.  Research shows dogs can be taught up to 160 words.

They are credited to have a higher comprehension than apes and parrots.  In fact, dogs are likely to comprehend better than a three year old child. 

A  Border Collie called Rico could understand 200 words.  Research showed that this exceptional dog could identify 200 different words and also process information by means of elimination!

But how does a dog understand words, does he pay attention to syllables?  Or does he observe the body language of the speaker to recognize the words?  It has been seen that in most cases, the latter holds true.  An experiment was conducted to verify this. 

When the pet owner spoke the dog followed instructions implicitly.  But when the same words came from a recording, the dog did not comprehend as well as he had done earlier! 

The comprehension process in a dog is entirely different but as complex as it is in a human.  That is why it is not easy to explain why your pet, though understanding what you say, is not able to talk! 

There are enthusiastic owners/trainers who have taught their dogs to sing or say a few words like “I love you!”  How well does your pet understand what you say?  Write and tell us all about that.