Some Dogs Can Learn Words by Eavesdropping Like Toddlers Do

You know how you sometimes have to spell out W-A-L-K around your dog so they don’t get too excited? Well, it turns out some dogs are doing way more than picking up on familiar words. A new study shows that a rare group of super-smart dogs can actually learn the names of brand-new toys simply by listening to their owners chat with other people. No direct training needed.

• A study published in Science found that gifted dogs can learn new toy names by eavesdropping on their owners’ conversations, similar to how 18-month-old children learn language.
• Seven out of ten specially selected dogs successfully retrieved new toys after only overhearing their names during conversations, performing just as well as when directly taught.
• The ability is extremely rare and doesn’t apply to most family dogs, even within breeds like Border Collies that are known for being smart.

What Makes These Dogs So Special?

Researchers call these exceptional dogs “Gifted Word Learner” or GWL dogs. One border collie named Chaser could retrieve 1,022 toys accurately based on their name, earning her the title of the “smartest dog in the world.” Another dog named Basket knows over 200 toy names.

These dogs don’t need formal training sessions. Their owners usually discover the ability by accident. Each toy gets called by its own unique name that the dog quickly learns. One owner even admitted she didn’t want to count her dog’s toys so her husband wouldn’t know how many they had accumulated.

Gifted Word Learner dogs have previously been found in studies to learn the names of toys after hearing them only four times, learn up to 12 toys or even more per week, and remember toy names for more than two years. That’s a memory that would make plenty of people jealous.

How the Research Worked

Cognitive scientist Shany Dror from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary led the research, which tested ten gifted dogs in different conditions. First, owners introduced two new toys by repeatedly saying the toy names while playing directly with their pets. Researchers found that eight minutes was enough for the dogs to learn the names of two new toys.

Then came the interesting part. The team repeated the experiment with an “overheard” setup. Owners included the name of the new toy in sentences and passed the toy among themselves, but they could not look at or communicate with their dogs. The dogs sat behind baby gates or in their beds, watching but not participating.

Seven of the ten dogs successfully retrieved their new toys at a rate that couldn’t be accounted for by random chance. They were accurate with eavesdropped learning as they had been when their owners directly addressed them. Whether you have a smart pup in Muncie, IN, or anywhere else, this kind of learning ability is rare enough to be newsworthy.

Learning Even When Toys Are Hidden

The researchers pushed the experiment further. They wanted to know if dogs could learn toy names when they first saw the toy, but only heard its name later when it was hidden from view. This creates a disconnect between seeing the object and hearing what it’s called.

Five out of the eight GWL dogs tested in this experiment retrieved the correct toys, suggesting that these dogs can learn new words by multiple different mechanisms. Talk about flexible thinking.

Does Your Dog Have This Rare Ability?

Before you get too excited about your own pup, know this: Researchers carried out a similar overheard experiment on ten Border Collies that had not previously learned any object names and found that typical family dogs do not learn new toy names like the gifted dogs do. Even being a Border Collie doesn’t guarantee genius status.

Other breeds among the gifted dogs that participated in the study were a German shepherd, a Labrador retriever, a miniature Australian shepherd, a Blue Heeler, and an Australian Shepherd mix. But across all breeds, the ability remains extremely rare.

Animal cognition expert Heidi Lyn with the University of South Alabama, who wasn’t involved in the study, noted that the research shows “animals have a lot more going on cognitively than maybe you think they do.”

The research team hopes to keep studying these dogs to understand what social cues they’re picking up on. Dror mentioned that having the dogs visit the lab is fun, though she added with a laugh that sometimes one of them pees on the couch. Even genius dogs are still dogs, after all.