Have you ever seen a pet do something funny when you talk to them? Imagine this: two dogs are taking a nap, and their owner suddenly says, “Hey, where’s that squirrel?” The dogs jump up and run outside! It’s like they know what “squirrel” means. But do they really understand our language?
Someone named Zen asked if pets can understand what we say. To find out, Doug called his friend Esther, who loves learning about animals. Esther explained that scientists study animals by watching what they do. Have you ever talked to a cat or a dog and wondered if they understood you? It’s hard to know for sure because pets can’t talk back like people do.
But sometimes, pets seem to respond to our words. For example, those dogs ran outside when they heard “squirrel.” Scientists use these behaviors to learn what pets can understand.
Chaser was a dog whose owner, John, was a scientist. He wanted to see how many words Chaser could learn. John gave Chaser lots of toys and named each one, like “frisbee” or “seal.” He taught Chaser the names of the toys and even some actions like “find” and “take.”
Chaser learned over 1,000 words! She could find the right toy when John asked her. This shows that dogs can learn many words, but not all dogs know as much as Chaser. She was trained for many hours every day.
Even if dogs don’t know every word, they can understand how we say things. If you talk to a dog in a happy voice, they might wag their tail. If you use a serious voice, they might look worried. This is called “tone of voice,” and it helps dogs understand us.
Besides words, we also use our bodies to communicate. This is called “body language.” If you’re sad, you might frown or cross your arms. Pets can notice these things. Dogs and cats change their behavior based on our body language.
Pets have their own body language too. A wagging tail might mean a dog wants to play. A purring cat might be happy. By watching our pets, we can learn what they feel.
We can communicate with pets in many ways, like using words, tone of voice, and body language. Some dogs even learn to do jobs, like helping farmers or working with people with disabilities. Cats and dogs can also be therapy animals, comforting people in hospitals and schools.
The more we learn to communicate, the better we understand our pets. Who knows what amazing things we can do together!
Thanks for asking such a great question, Zen! There are always new things to learn about animals. Keep wondering and stay curious!
Word and Action Game: Choose a few simple words like “sit,” “jump,” or “spin” and pair them with actions. Practice these with a friend or family member acting as your “pet.” Say the word and see if they can do the action. Switch roles and try again. This will help you understand how pets might learn words and actions through repetition and practice.
Tone of Voice Experiment: Try saying the same sentence, like “It’s time to play,” using different tones of voice: happy, sad, and serious. Notice how your friends or family members react to each tone. Discuss how tone of voice can change the meaning of words and how pets might understand us better through our tone.
Body Language Observation: Spend some time watching your pet or a friend’s pet. Notice how they use their body to communicate. Do they wag their tail, purr, or make other movements? Try to guess what they might be feeling based on their body language. Share your observations with others and see if they noticed the same things.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
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(phone chirping)(phone buzzing)
– Hi, it’s Doug. Have you ever seen a pet do this? These dogs look like they’re taking a nice relaxing nap, but watch what happens when their owner says this.
– [Owner] Hey, where’s that squirrel? (paws scratching)
– When they hear the word “squirrel,” the dogs immediately leap up and rush outside. It’s like they understand English. I mean, at least they seem to know the word “squirrel.” Do they really understand our language? Someone named Zen has a question about this. Let’s give Zen a call now.
(phone chirping)(phone buzzing)
– Hi, Doug.
– Hi, Zen.
– I have a question for you. Can my pet understand what I’m saying?
– Ooh, that’s a great question. Let’s get Esther’s help on this one. She loves learning about the amazing things animals can do. Let’s give Esther a call now.
(phone chirping)(phone buzzing)
– Hey, Doug. I’m so glad you called me. I’ve wondered about this question myself. Scientists learn a lot about animals by observing them. So I’m curious, what have you observed? Have you ever talked to a cat or a dog? And did it seem like they understood you? How could you tell if they did or didn’t? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss. Okay. Are you ready? It can be hard to know for sure whether a pet gets what you’re saying.
– [Owner] I love you. (dog whining)
– [Esther] Unlike people, they can’t talk back to you and tell you what they understand. (cat meows) But maybe you’ve noticed that sometimes pets seem to respond to what humans say through their behaviors, like those dogs responded to their owner saying “squirrel” by jumping up and running out of the room. Scientists have found ways to use our pets’ behavior to test what they can learn. This is Chaser. Chaser’s owner John was a scientist who was curious about how much spoken language a dog could learn. So he bought Chaser a huge pile of toys. I know, super lucky dog. But these toys weren’t just for fun. Chaser was part of an experiment. John gave each of the toys a name, like “frisbee,” “seal,” and “inky.” Then one by one, he taught Chaser the name of each toy. He also taught her names for some of her favorite people and places, including a name for him, Pop Pop. You may already know these kinds of words—words for people, places, and objects are called nouns. John also taught Chaser several different verbs, words for actions, like “find,” “take,” and “touch.” John tested Chaser’s knowledge by training her to respond to commands that combined the nouns and verbs that she’d been taught. For example, John might say,
– Chase, take frisbee. (frisbee thumps)
– Good girl, good girl.
– If Chaser found the right toy, even when it was buried in a pile of her other toys, then John knew that she’d learned the word. Over three years, Chaser learned to recognize more than 1,000 nouns and verbs, including the name for every toy in her enormous pile. So from Chaser’s impressive work, we know that dogs can learn many spoken words, and you don’t have to know a dog as well-trained as Chaser to see dogs respond to another important part of human speech. Maybe you’ve noticed that if you talk to your dog in a happy, loving voice, they react differently than if you speak in an angry, serious voice. Your tone of voice, or the way you say something, communicates almost as much as your words do. And most dogs learn to respond to big differences in tone of voice naturally, even without formal training. But still, there are limits to what we think dogs can understand from our speech. Chaser could understand simple sentences, but that’s about it. And remember, Chaser lived a really unique life. She was trained for four to five hours every day. Most dogs probably don’t understand quite as much as Chaser did. And other pets, like cats, might understand even less human speech than dogs do. You might notice your cat perk their ears up or walk closer to you when you call them. Cats do seem to recognize their own names, but so far, scientists haven’t been able to train a cat to recognize anywhere near as many words as Chaser did. Still, just because our pets don’t understand every word we say doesn’t mean that they can’t communicate with us. Have you ever been sad and noticed your pet acting a little differently, maybe being more snugly or giving you a little more space? Well, words aren’t the only ways that humans show their feelings. If you’re upset, you might cross your arms, hunch over, frown, cry, or even ball your fists up. We call the way we communicate with our body “body language.” Body language isn’t a formal language like English or Spanish or American Sign Language, but our bodies can show a lot about how we think and feel.
(woman gasping)
– What is that?
– Scientists have observed that both dogs and cats seem to change their behavior in response to our body language. So if you think your pet gets how you feel, it’s possible that they actually do. Not only that, but cats and dogs also have their own body language, which can give us clues about what they think and feel. You may already know where to look for some of these clues, like take a look at this puppy. He’s wagging his tail and bending down and bouncing around. He looks like he wants to play, right? And take a look at this cat. She’s purring and blinking really slowly. That may be a sign that she’s happy and content. The more we pay attention to the animals around us, the more we can learn to read and respond to those clues just as they do for us. So even though our pets may not understand the exact meaning of every sentence we say, there are different ways that we can communicate with our furry friends, from words to our tone of voice to our body language. In fact, we’ve gotten so good at communicating with dogs and cats that we sometimes train them to do real jobs alongside people. Some dogs learn to help farmers by herding sheep and cows. Some dogs work alongside people with disabilities, helping their humans navigate spaces and go about their daily lives. And both dogs and cats work as therapy animals, supporting and comforting people in schools, nursing homes, and hospitals. The more we learn about how to communicate, the better we can understand our pets, and who knows what pets and people can learn to do together. That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Zen, for asking.
– [Doug] Now we’ll be back with a new episode in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, here are some older questions from the question jar. You can vote on which one you think we should send out next week. You can choose from “Why is snow white?”, “Where do bugs go in winter?”, or “Why do bears hibernate?” So submit your vote when the video is over. We want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious and see you next week.
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