Pam and I have swapped duties today so expect her here tomorrow.
There is a lot of info online about how much spoken language dogs understand. Studies have been done by scientists and dog lovers.
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According to a study in 2012 by Dr. Stanley Coren, the average dog understands about 165 words, although the top 20% can understand 250 words. A famous border collie, Chaser, is reported to have over 1000 words and understands the nuances of language. I think that’s better than a lot of humans but I am not always that cynical and I like dogs better in any case. His research has shown that dogs have the intelligence of a 2 to 2 ½ yr old child. Brain scan tests done in 2016 showed that they respond to words of praise and separately to tones of praise but when they receive both at the same time, they get the best feelings of love and belonging.
None of this is news to many of us because many of us here have dogs. I wondered about the numbers only because I talk to Razzle a lot and I expect her to respond most of the time. If I say “Out of the kitchen” I don’t speak harshly but just conversationally and she waddles out of the kitchen and lays on the floor in front of the door. If I am cooking something, she will wander in and sniff and I say “Nothing for dogs” and she nods and goes to her bed.
In the same way, she has her language to talk to me. She gets excited about the squirrels on the wire, runs in to tell me all about it and I say “Did Timmy fall in the well again?” and she knows we will go out and investigate. She warns me if the cat is too close and I may not know how much danger I am in. I thank her “Good find” and give her a chew for saving me. “Good find” means I will take care of it since she has warned me and she can let it go. “Time for dinner” does not sound like any other request/command. I know what she is telling me. “Why do we have to wait here at the light instead of just getting to the damn park?” has its own plaintive whine .
“Leave the cat alone”, “Leave the lizards alone”, “Get out of the flower bed”, all get their due attention, which means she thinks about it before she responds. I have read that that is a trait of her breed, being a dog that must make good decisions in the field without direction. I think it is the trait of an obstinate, spoiled monster dog but that makes it my fault so it is in my best interests to let it be part nature, part nurture.
Some of you here have service animals and others have puppies so you are really into communicating with them on a more structured basis. Razzle and I have fewer expectations of each other at this stage but enjoy our little chats. She is actually the first dog to talk to me and the first time in my life I have had the time to talk to a dog since I am retired. The lock down has made us even closer.