Can your dog learn a foreign language?

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Photo Credit:The Intelligent Dog's Guide to a Troubled World
Which of these languages does your dog understand?

a)  sit
b)  s'asseoir
c)  siéntese
d)  sedere

Some sources say "none of the above". Your dog cannot understand language. If the question was "which of these can your dog learn?" Their answer would be "all of the above".
You say "sit" or the Finnish word for sit and they sit, it's not because they know what that means. It's that you have trained them that those sounds mean sit. You could make up a nonsense word and train your dog to it. ~ Yahoo Answers
Is it possible that this makes them more and not less intelligent. Is it that they don't understand language or do they just learn language in a different way than humans?



The short video below from Time Magazine gives us a glimpse at a current study being conducted using dogs belonging to faculty and students. The study demonstrates that dogs know what to do when their owners point to something, previously thought to be understood only by "higher order" animals like chimpanzees. Recent studies have concluded that dogs have the intelligence of a two-year old child. This puts them on par with the great apes.




8 comments:

  1. Two French Bulldogs
    March 10, 2012 at 5:11 PM

    So funny, we sit in Spanish, BOL
    Benny & Lily

  1. Nanny McFur
    March 10, 2012 at 5:30 PM

    that is funny

  1. Christine
    March 10, 2012 at 8:16 PM

    Humphrey knows his commands in American Sign Language! He is not so hot in Spanish! BOL!! We are going to follow along! Stop by and bark along with us!

  1. Nanny McFur
    March 10, 2012 at 11:51 PM

    That is what they teach gorillas isn't it. So, I rest my case. Dogs are able to understand language.

  1. Linda
    March 11, 2012 at 3:12 PM

    I think most dog owners who pay attention to their dogs have a better understanding of them than scientists do. Some of the studies they've done is something we've already figured out! At least dogs are finally getting the credit they deserve.

  1. Nanny McFur
    March 11, 2012 at 5:11 PM

    So true.

  1. personalized dog collars
    March 11, 2012 at 6:23 PM

    Most dogs actually understand less words than their owners think they do. This is because often a dog has learned to respond not to the word only, but to a combination of body language, situation and the word. Try giving a well-known command to your dog, with your back turned to the dog ;-o

  1. Nanny McFur
    March 11, 2012 at 6:34 PM

    That's a valid point too. The community seems to be divided on the topic.

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