How Does a Dog Know What a Human Is Saying?

Repetition, Tone, Expression

A dog can learn just as an infant learns from the repetition of words accompanied by actions. When teaching your dog to sit, you say the word "sit," and then you push on the dog's hindquarters. When the dog sits down, you give verbal praise, pet your dog and offer an occasional treat. After several repetitions, your dog should sit without you having to push on its hindquarters. Your dog has learned what "sit" means. Dogs are also sensitive to their human's tone of voice and facial expressions. They genuinely want to please their human owners and try very hard to earn your praise. When your face is happy and you call your dog's name in a cheerful tone, your dog comes to you wagging its tail. It is expecting something good. Conversely, when you use a harsh tone and have an angry expression, your dog approaches more slowly, head down, tail between its legs. Your dog knows you are angry, and it knows you are saying it is in trouble.

Physical Cues

Dogs are quick to associate physical cues or gestures with commands or activities. This is because dogs use physical cues to communicate with each other like wagging their tails, baring their teeth and exposing their throat in submission. In AKC obedience trials, trainers frequently use small hand cues, barely perceptible to spectators, to command their dogs to come, sit or lay down. These dogs respond immediately and enthusiastically to these cues. The dog knows what the human is saying because they have had fun practicing together. Many hours go into practicing the commands and giving immediate praise, petting and rewards for attempts.

Pictures or Symbols

Some very intelligent dogs are able to look at pictures or symbols and retrieve the item shown for their human owner. The dog is able to understand that the human is asking it to retrieve the item in the picture. The dog was able to make this connection after several repetitions of seeing pictures and then receiving the command to fetch.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement during training reinforces commands given to the dog by the human. Petting the dog, praising, hugging and special treats all increase a dog's desire to please its human by learning what to do. Of course, the more time a dog spends with its human the more attuned it becomes to its human's voice, words, and needs. These techniques are effective in training service companion dogs. These dogs are able to provide the eyes or ears for their humans who do not have these functional abilities. Plenty of positive reinforcement enables these dogs to know what their humans are saying.

Resources

• Command vs. Cue
• Dog Intelligence
• AKC Dog Obedience trial information