How much do dogs really understand?

If you have a dog, you probably talk to it every day. You might even feel that it understands you. But how much does a dog really know about what we say and do?

Quite a lot, it seems. Dogs have lived with humans for thousands of years, and during that time they have become experts at reading us. Studies show that most dogs can follow a human pointing at something – for example, to find food under a cup. This sounds easy, but many animals, even our close relatives the chimpanzees, find it surprisingly hard.

Dogs also pay close attention to our faces and our voices. Researchers have found that many dogs can tell the difference between a happy face and an angry one. They also react to the tone of our voice: a word said in a warm, friendly way gets a very different response from the same word said angrily.

What about words? Most dogs learn a few, like their name, “sit” or “walk”. Some are much better. One famous border collie in the United States learned the names of more than a thousand toys and could bring the right one when asked. But dogs like this are very unusual.

Of course, understanding a few words is not the same as understanding language. A dog probably does not follow your long story about your day at work. It is more likely to be listening to your tone and watching your body language.

So next time you talk to your dog, remember: it may not understand every word, but it is definitely paying attention – especially if you say “dinner”.