Dogs actually understand what you're saying, study shows

well people will tell you it's not what you say to a dolly that counts it's just how you say it but now researchers say that dogs respond to much more than just your tone of voice they say that brain scans now confirm that canines can understand most of what you're saying Michelle Miller is in Washington Square Park for us a popular spot for dogs and owners here in New York with more Michelle good morning to you good morning while science claims to have proven with dog owners have long taken for granted the man's best friend not only listens but actually understands what's being said which could mean that dogs are not only smarter than we think they are but their relationship with their humans could be far more complex ask any dog owner and they'll tell you their dog usually does what it's told especially if you say it nicely ready Griffon Hungarian researchers have taken what's always been assumed one step further saying they've proved that dogs actually understand a lot more than we think the regulars like sit-stay come here when we're walking I always say wait the experiment had counted on the cooperation of 13 dogs a group comprised mainly of Border Collies and golden retrievers they were trained to lie still for seven minutes during a functional MRI scan wearing headphones the dogs listened as trainers combined phrases with different intonations brain scans revealed that like humans dogs processed words with the left side of their brains and used the right side to process pitch Alexandre Horowitz is the author of being a dog published by Simon & Schuster a division of CBS what did this study teach us that we didn't already know this study showed that there's actually a division in the dog's brain between meaning and sound so they're hearing the pitch of what we say but they're also attending at some level to the meaning especially to familiar words the results also showed the dogs only recognize praise if both words and tone were positive on familiar words spoken in a neutral tone didn't have the same effect meaning the dogs weren't easily tricked what this study indicates is that they notice that your intonation is positive but that what you're saying doesn't quite matter because the rest of your behavior doesn't jive with having a real happy rewarding voice for dog owners likely Canon the reward is knowing his four-legged friend is one he can talk to about anything at all I wouldn't be surprised if Nancy started talking English to me like every day like I wouldn't be surprised at all so I think like it just seems natural as normal now critics of this this research say that you know a lot more tests need to be conducted before any conclusions are made but just to be on the safe side a word to the wise I should say the next time you talk in your cute little voice to say like Henry or one of your furry little friends you better mean it right Nora right Michonne really good point cute dog - can they write the Great American Novel that's why it's about just bluffing that's friendship right yes at least feeling that you're understood I think is one of the one of the main most important yeah yeah all right thank you so much Michelle that was fun

Channel: CBS Mornings

Views: 180,831

Keywords: video, cbs, news, dogs

Id: ktIgM1qN4Lo

Length: 3min 51sec (231 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 31 2016