Study Says Dogs Can Match Some Words with Objects

In the study, 18 dog owners said words for objects their dogs already knew.

A new study suggests canines can understand that certain words refer to specific objects. Researchers said it offers the first evidence of brain activity for this comprehension in a non-human animal. In the study, 18 dog owners said words for objects their dogs already knew. Then, the owners held up either the matching object or a different one while an EEG measured the dogs’ brain activity. Scientists observed a difference in the brain activity in a majority of the dogs when they were shown an object that matched with the word, compared to one that mismatched. The authors said the resulting brain activity was the same as those produced by humans in similar experiments.