What does my dog hear when I speak to him?
Before he learns word associations, your dog hears “yadda, yadda, yadda” when you speak to him. It is not what you say, but how you say it that sends him the desired message. If your tone reflects pleasure, love, sadness, disappointment, or worry, your dog will pick up on it. If your volume changes from soft to loud, he will pick up on that, too. Dogs respond to certain intonations and volumes, regardless of what is being said. For example, if you speak at a regular volume, then suddenly shout, your dog will know that something is up and he should pay attention. Similarly, your dog detects tonal changes from happy to demanding, or sad to cheerful.
Dogs listen and respond to tone of voice, regardless of gender
When it comes to communicating with your dog, remember that how you talk to your dog is equally as important as what cue you’re using.
Julia Jenkins, a certified dog trainer at Pet Dog Training Today, told The Dodo, “The tone of your voice does matter when it comes to how well your dog listens to you, so its not just about being male or female. The way you sound to your dog is based on a variety of factors, including the pitch, tone and volume of your voice.”
She adds, “Generally speaking, dogs do tend to respond more favorably to people with a higher pitch and softer tone, but there are always exceptions. Be positive and upbeat, and use lots of encouragement when training your pup.”
Research appears to confirm this theory, particularly a UK study in 2018 that demonstrated dogs were more responsive to high-pitched “baby talk” when combined with “dog-related” speech, similar to how adults often talk to babies.
Do dogs respond to deeper voices?
By playing different sounds while scanning a dog’s brain, researchers found that dogs respond more strongly to positive emotions than to negative emotions. … Contrastingly, a low pitched or sharp sounding voice might make your dog cower or duck his tail.
Dogs like women’s softer voices and smaller figures. They may be intimidated by a man’s larger frame, deeper voice, and facial hair. Most veterinarians and primary caregivers are female, meaning dogs are more frequently exposed to women throughout their lives.
Here are some noises that may frighten your dog:
In Audible’s own study with 100 dogs, in partnership with the Cesar Millan Dog Psychology Center, 76% of owners who played audiobooks over a four-week period saw an increase in calm, relaxed behavior for their pooches.
TikTok: Proof dogs don’t know what you’re saying
In a finding sure to delight many a dog lover, a study published Thursday suggests the brains of canines react to human voices in a very human-like way.
The study, published in the journal Current Biology, was conducted by scientists at Eotvos University in Budapest and concluded that dogs’ brains contain a vocal region that functions similarly to the region located in the temporal lobe of human brains. In addition, the researchers found that vocal emotional cues activated a similarly located non-primary auditory region of the brain in both humans and canines.
Translation? The next time you hear a pet owner say their beloved pooch can actually understand what they’re saying, they may be correct.
The study placed 11 well-trained pups and 22 human subjects inside an MRI machine and measured the location and response characteristics of electrical impulses in their brains after playing an array of 200 different noises for them ranging from car sounds and whistles to human voices. The findings were striking.
“We do know there are voice areas in humans, areas that respond more strongly to human sounds that any other types of sounds,” Dr. Attila Andics, the lead author of the study, explained to BBC. “The location (of the activity) in the dog brain is very similar to where we found it in the human brain. The fact that we found these areas exist at all in the dog brain is a surprise — it is the first time we have seen this in a non-primate.”
Beyond simple vocal recognition and processing, the study confirmed something dog owners have long suspected: dogs can understand and react to human emotions.
“We know very well that dogs are very good at tuning into the feelings of their owners,” said Andics, “and we know a good dog owner can detect emotional changes in his dog – but we now begin to understand why this can be.”
Andics said this points to the ancient history between humans and dogs, and that the evolutionary origins of the species’ relationship may have even older origins than previously known. The study did note, however, that dogs respond much stronger to sounds from other dogs, and while they are able to recognize human voices, their ability to do so was still far less than in that of human brains. Andics also pointed out that the study was only of human sounds, not words, so dog lovers shouldn’t expect their faithful companions to understand every conversation they have around the house. Andics is planning future studies to study the effects of words on dogs’ brains.
The next time a dog’s wagging tail cheers you up after a tough day, there might be more going on behind that furry face than you once thought.
Left: Dogs brains react to human voices in a very human way, a new study finds. Photo by Flickr user Pim Geerts