Science Snippet: Dogs and their Ability to Process Language

Dogs are amazing creatures. They evolved by man’s side during thousands and thousands of years and learned to understand many words. They process the meaning of words using the left side of their brain and depend on the right side to distinguish intonation. The reward centers of their brains become active only if a word is accompanied by a positive intonation. Certainly dogs care about what their owners say, but brain scans show it is equally important how they say it. The reward pathways of their brain light up only if both word and intonation match. Border Collies set the record for remembering the most words. One named Chaser learned more than 1,000 words, including verbs and nouns. The owner could place toys in a pile and ask Chaser to retrieve, push with the nose, or show with its paw, a named object, such as a stuffed bear, soft cube with the alphabet on it, or a rubber hamburger. Another Border Collie named Rico is the runner-up, having recognized 200 words. According to one expert on dog training, the average dog may be able to remember up to about 165 words. The brains of herding dogs such as Chaser and Rico seem to be pre-wired to learn and remember lots of information. (Science, 2016, Sept. 2 p. 1000; Behavioral Processes, Feb., 2011, p. 184; Coren, Stanley, 2006, The Intelligence of Dogs, Simon & Schuster, N.Y.; other sources)