Scientists will probably insist on something more technical-sounding, like "auditing".

NPR made it "eaves dropping" but they did a better job than most media outlets at sticking to what a study actually shows.

Have not really made an effort to teach her things like toy names and yet she seems able to identify them by name. As she does with several other objects and actions.

The other day I noticed that she had been able to identify something without much effort on my part.

I wonder how much of what dogs understand depends on speech prosody, tone, volume changes, inflection, variety and flexibility in the various utterances that they used for the stimuli. Plus, how did they control for those or if they tried.

As far as breed, I don't think that would matter as much as whether or not a dog's hearing is intact and if their attention span's long enough to follow the commands. But I have not read the entire study.

Thanks for sharing this, GreatGazoo. ❤️

I have been obsessed with dog science since 2006 or so when a good friend worked for Dr Bonnie Bergin and I spent a couple days at her facility. Bergin was a grade school teacher before she moved on to training assistance dogs for mobility and hearing impaired humans. She destroyed "alpha dog" theory and beat training methods that were based on that idea.

Bergin is the one who got me into hand signals and sign language. Bergin trains 120 verbal requests and 90 hand signals by 8 months of age using very positive methods and emotional connection, not intimidation.

Bergin specifically focused on helping people with physical challenges live independent lives as she saw while on vacation in Mexico IIRC. Eg. peddlers with donkeys. She knew that she needed dogs which were smart enough to be helpful yet not so actively inquisitive as to be bored or self-entertaining if they need to lie beside a wheelchair for extended periods of time. She began breeding dogs for that combination and now uses a cross that is American Lab x English Golden Retriever. She was keen to avoid some of the common physical issues in these breeds such as hip dysplasia. She got all kinds of grants and support. Bought a former grade school and has operated the only accredited college of canine studies for many years now.

https://www.berginu.edu/meet-dr-bergin.html

My view and experience is that different dogs show their intelligence in different ways depending on their temperament and physicality. Border collies and poodles are famously good with language. Huskies are uncanny in their ability to speak words but every dog and very "breed" has a unique way of expressing their intelligence. IOW some aren't less intelligent just because they aren't keyed into audible human language. I tried not to tell strangers that my dogs were deaf because the dog can feel pity and that isn't positive or warranted. They mostly did not miss anything by being deaf. If anything, they were more focused. And I prefer sign language even with hearing dogs because it is clearer to them.

Dog science has been red hot over the last two decades in part because so little real science had been done before. Much of conventional wisdom about dogs is/was wrong.

Nollie is my seventh dog baby. I use a combination of verbal cues and hand signals with her. I have also been experimenting with the talking buttons. They have been more of a distraction than helpful, but she loves them.

Mostly, I think because she loves doing "work" since two of the first words I introduced into her vocabulary were work and play. She knows that there's a distinct difference between the two activities.

She had her first birthday in November and is really showing a lot of potential as a performer. I had one dog that was trained in a wide variety of tricks, and he performed locally for children and the elderly. I even made him a costume, gave him a stage name, and trained him with a variety of props, including musical instruments.

Of course, your focus is much more noble and less concerned with pure entertainment. But Nollie knows that work comes before play and that play time is its own reward.

❤️

Dogs are highly social and they crave interaction. Bergin got some pushback and had to help some people understand that the dogs don't see it as work. Showing them that it was NOT alpha dog theory (Cesar Milan) stuff helped also. Service dog is lots of engagement and praise and connection and they love it. Just like some of them WANT to chase the tennis ball, most of them want to interact or train because those are social behaviors and it is in their instinct to live as a pack.

The primary way that humans and dog communicate is emotional. It's energy and love. This other stuff builds on that and enhances the relationship and the quality of life of the dog.

Bergin brings zen and beginner mind to the science. She says that after 30 years of intense research we have barely scratched the surface on how smart and tuned in dogs are. She always thought they were capable of incredible things but they exceeded her expectations and she had to keep moving the bar up. She proved they could map stick figures onto humans or themselves. Could recognize printed words and were not simply "living in the moment" but were in fact keenly aware, via scent, of the recent past via lingering smells, and the immediate future via scents like changes in another animal's pheromones, or body language and energy.

This shows her, the dogs, the student and the converted grade school:

She saved my life. I was so heartbroken having lost my tiny 16 years companion on the same day my daddy died and her playmate a few days later unexpectedly that I had frequent episodes of overwhelming grief and literally could not breathe. I thought I might die.

There's no doubt that we are attached spiritually. With Nollie I can't move my baby toe on one foot without her noticing. She's tuned into me like a sophisticated radar device.

I try everyday to honor her devotion by showing her how important she is in every way possible.

Thanks again, GreatGazoo. ❤️

and I did not think you described Nollie as a possession, etc.

I got it -- you have a special relationship with Nollie. And I relate to all of that. They get inside our hearts and our heads. Science may figure out how they do it but that won't make it any less magical or mutually beneficial.

From her perspective she's using human language just as she hears it -- just as her mind processes it.

I sort of know what this is like. If I'm not focused on listening I catch the tone of someone speaking but the words might as well be a foreign language.

That's probably why I was in speech therapy from kindergarten to the third grade. Two of my siblings and one of my nieces had similar issues.

Our hearing is just fine. I can hear a very subtle problem in a complex machine that others miss but I don't always catch what other people are saying, and I can't understand anyone in a noisy room where everyone is talking, or hear the lyrics of a song when I'm listening to the music.

Be that as it may, our culture has always underestimated the intelligence of animals.

Table S1 lists the breeds and other information on the dogs that participated in the different experiments.

PDF:
https://www.science.org/doi/suppl/10.1126/science.adq5474/suppl_file/science.adq5474_sm.pdf

20 Border collies
1 each for Blue Heeler, German shep, Australian shep and Lab

Lots of other interesting info. Still reading.... Thanks again!

...but then I talk to them all the time. The oldest of the 3 is 15 and losing her hearing, but she can read sign language pretty well. The 12-year-old is super empathetic and responds well to guilt trips--I know. I'm awful. The youngest one is 5 years old and knows exactly how long she can get by with a bad behavior--but she knows when she hears the words, "I'm talking to you," it's time to abandon the bad behavior and ask for forgiveness. They are amazing creatures. I told my 12-year-old today that in all the world I was the one who loved him the most. I told him this in multiple ways--I was trying to get him to eat his dinner. It took some sweet talking, but he ate almost all his dinner. I also told him, if I ever decided to believe in God, he would be the reason. I'm not sure if he understood that, but he did finish the last few bites of his supper after I told him that.