00:00Human speech is a maze of words, tones, and emotions.
00:05How much of this can your dog actually decipher?
00:07And while you might have officially named your dog Jessica, you probably call her Jessie,
00:13Pretty Girl, or even Snuggles.
00:16Can your dog really understand their name or those cute nicknames?
00:20If sometimes it feels like your furry friend is conveniently ignoring you, you're spot
00:25on.
00:26In this video, we'll cover research that reveals your mischievous dog understands much
00:30more than they like you to think.
00:34How well does your dog understand their nickname?
00:37Dogs are masters of association.
00:40If you often follow a particular word by the same behavior, especially one they enjoy,
00:45they quickly learn to connect the word with the action.
00:48This is why your dog might instantly perk up at the mere mention of walk or treat.
00:54When you call your dog by one of their many adorable nicknames, it's usually in a happy
00:58context followed by petting, belly rubs, or maybe even a sneaky snack.
01:04Without even realizing it, you're teaching your dog that responding to Snuggles or Pretty
01:08Girl means extra goodies and attention.
01:12Dogs can actually recognize up to 165 words, so there's a lot of room to teach them lots
01:17of cute nicknames.
01:19How to help them make the connection?
01:21As with any trick you want them to learn, your step one is to grab some tasty treats.
01:27When your dog isn't looking at you, call out their nickname in an excited tone and wait
01:31for them to look your way.
01:33When they do, immediately mark the behavior with a cheerful yes and hand over a treat.
01:39Play this game in various environments to solidify the connection.
01:43With a little patience and a lot of treats, your dog will soon understand that Snuggles,
01:48Jessie, and Pretty Girl all mean the same wonderful thing, you're talking to them.
01:54What's crucial is that you want their name and nicknames to be associated with positive
01:58vibes, so avoid using them when they're in trouble.
02:03If you need to correct your dog, stick to simple commands like quiet or down instead
02:07of quiet Jessie.
02:10What exactly does your dog hear when they eavesdrop on you?
02:14The right hemisphere of the brain picks up on emotions better if they come in through
02:18our left ear, but the left hemisphere, which processes meaningful words, wants to hear
02:23them through our right ear.
02:26But what about dogs?
02:27Do they experience this right-ear, left-ear magic too?
02:31A study published in Current Biology finally answered this question.
02:35Dogs will do almost anything to please their owners, so it's no surprise that with a bit
02:39of training they can lie perfectly still with their heads in an fMRI machine.
02:44These dogs were positioned between two loudspeakers.
02:48The researchers played around with different emotional tones of the same words, mixed in
02:53the known commands, and even threw in some gibberish from a foreign language.
02:58It turns out that to a dog, most of our conversation sounds like a mix of familiar words and a
03:04lot of noise.
03:05Imagine telling your friend about a stressful day at work.
03:08So my boss gave me this huge project and I'm swamped, but all I can think about is
03:13taking a break.
03:15Your dog hears blah blah blah.
03:18Break!
03:19This meaningful word sparks activity in the left hemisphere of their brain, because maybe
03:23that means a chance for a cuddle or a game of fetch, but the rest is a blur of human
03:29chatter.
03:30And because their left hemisphere can't make sense of it, the right side of their brain
03:34kicks in, picking up on what emotions they can hear in your tone.
03:38Your dog likes it when you're happy.
03:41Even if it seems like your dog isn't paying attention as you're chatting away, you can
03:45be sure they are listening, one head tilt at a time.
03:49Are you excited?
03:50They feel that energy.
03:52Feeling down?
03:53They pick up on that sadness.
03:56Dogs are experts at picking up on body language, so even if they don't understand every word,
04:01they watch your gestures and expressions closely.
04:04If you're waving your hands around and talking animatedly, they know something's up.
04:10Dogs can distinguish between different human voices and often recognize their favorite
04:14people just by the sound of their voice, so while they might not get the latest gossip,
04:20they know when it's you chatting away.
04:23So keep talking to your dog.
04:25They might not get every word, but they definitely get you.
04:30Why can't your dog resist baby talk?
04:33Do they get extra wiggly and excited when you switch to that high-pitched, sing-songy tone?
04:39Dogs are experts at picking up on emotional cues, and baby talk is loaded with positive vibes.
04:46The exaggerated pitch and playful tone signal to your dog that you're happy and ready to
04:51engage with them.
04:53This kind of talk often comes with lots of pets, belly rubs and treats, making it even
04:58more appealing.
04:59It's no wonder your dog perks up and looks at you with those big, loving eyes when you
05:04start cooing at them.
05:05If you use this dog-directed speech regularly, this can help strengthen the bond between
05:10you and your furry friend.
05:13So next time you find yourself saying,
05:15Who's a good boy?
05:17Pitch your voice extra high for more tailwags and joyful barks.
05:22Do dogs pine only for humans or for other dogs' voices too?
05:27In another fascinating study, scientists at Eötvös-Lorand University used an electroencephalogram,
05:33which measures individual brainwaves, to peek into the minds of our furry friends.
05:38The researchers recruited 17 family dogs, including border collies, golden retrievers
05:44and a German shepherd.
05:46They trained these good pups to lie still with headphones on, inside a noisy brain scanner.
05:52Here's the cool part.
05:53Whenever the dogs heard different human and dog sounds, their brainwaves changed within
05:58the first 250 to 650 milliseconds.
06:03This means that our pups are trying to figure out who or what is making the sound, and how
06:08to respond.
06:09Interestingly, the brainwaves were more positive when they heard human voices, and more negative
06:15when they heard canine sounds.
06:17This shows just how tuned in our dogs are to us compared to their canine family.
06:23Why can dogs tell apart human and TV voices?
06:26Do they just somehow know they are not real?
06:30The sounds from your TV usually range between 20 Hz to 18 kHz, which fits nicely within
06:36human hearing.
06:37After all, TVs are made for our ears.
06:40But dogs, with their super-sensitive hearing, can detect sounds in a much broader range.
06:46That means they can hear things we can't even imagine, and won't react to a bark or a human
06:51voice coming from the TV because of how the sound is processed.
06:56TV audio is compressed and filtered through various electronics before it reaches your
07:00ears and your dogs.
07:02This processing adds a layer of distortion that changes the sound.
07:07Your speakers and the room's acoustics further alter the signal, giving it a different sonic
07:12signature than natural sounds.
07:15So when they hear a voice on TV, it doesn't trigger the same response as a real-life voice.
07:21Plus, dogs are pretty smart.
07:23They quickly learn that the voices coming from the magic box in the living room don't
07:27pose any threat or require any action.
07:30Over time, they become accustomed to these artificial sounds and may even start ignoring
07:35them altogether, just like we humans get used to background chatter or the hum of appliances
07:40in our homes.
07:41When we hug our dogs, we can't see their faces, right?
07:45You might think, my dog loves it!
07:48But as with all things dog-related, it's a bit more complicated.
07:53In this video, we follow in the steps of Dr. Stanley Coren, a psychologist and writer who
07:58conducted an entire experiment just to answer this one question.
08:03How to give your pup a squeeze that they would enjoy for sure.
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