Dogs can respond directly to the sound of a word, rather than to the appearance of an object, what it means or the owner’s gestures. This was discovered by an international team of scientists who used training buttons with a human voice recording.

When it comes to communication between different biological species, scientists pay special attention to the interaction between humans and dogs. Recent studies have shown that these animals, just like humans, associate an object with its name and actually have a vocabulary. Another study found that they can repeat the actions of their owner, even when he is not nearby, but communicate with the pet via video link.

Experts from several universities in the United States, Spain and Great Britain found that dogs can adequately respond to words without prompting in the form of gestures or objects expressed with these words. The journal published the results of the relevant experiments PLoS One.

The study involved 59 dogs of different breeds who were familiar with a simulator consisting of special buttons that allowed human voices to be recorded on them. The experimenters wrote several words on these buttons: “go outside”/”outside”, “play”/”toy”, “food”/”food”/”lunch”/”hungry”. The buttons were also covered with stickers so that other researchers and dog owners could not distinguish them until they were pressed.

In the first experiment, a scientist who did not know which word was written on which button pressed the buttons. The dogs received signals in random order and their behavior in response was recorded on video.

In the second phase of the study, the simulator was controlled by the dog owners (each owner interacting with their pet). They could choose to press a button or say the word themselves.

The results of the experiments were the same regardless of whether the dog heard live or pre-recorded speech and whether a familiar person pressed the buttons. Words related to play and walking were most clearly associated with the corresponding response. At the same time, the animals responded significantly less to food-related concepts with logical behavior.

Scientists are continuing their work. They are now investigating whether the buttons used in the study could be used for dog-human communication.

Professor Clive Winn from the Canine Research Center of the University of Arizona (USA), who was not involved in the research, believes that the experiment with the sound buttons did not reveal anything remarkable because it tested the response of animals to familiar words and the responses were logical only in two out of three cases. However, his rival Melissa Berthe from the University of Zurich (Switzerland), also not involved in the research, stated that the scientific study provides the basis for future publications because it confirms that dogs respond to button signals and not to their owners.

“It really had to be demonstrated. And I think now the scientific world is looking forward to more experiments that promise to be exciting,” Berte concluded.