Hungarian Dog Study Published in the Journal 'Science'

Dogs can pick up more from human speech than what was previously thought, with some capable of learning new words from their owners' conversations, according to a new study published in the journal Science with the contributions of Eötvös Lóránd University's (ELTE) ethologists.

The study found that certain canines have the ability to learn new words without direct training, simply by observing and listening to their owners’ conversations, according to a summary by researchers at the Budapest-based university.

Some "gifted" dogs are capable of learning object labels both when directly addressed and by "eavesdropping," they said.

Most dogs can easily learn commands like "sit" and "down", but only a small group of "Gifted Word Learner" dogs are able to understand object labels, the study found. These dogs are capable of effortlessly learning the names of more than a hundred toys through play.

They noted that for a long time, it was unknown that Gifted Word Learner dogs can learn new object names in a way similar to young children - even when the words are not directly addressed to them.

"Our findings show that the sociocognitive processes enabling learning from overheard speech are not exclusively human," Shany Dror, a postdoctoral researcher at ELTE and the Veterinary University in Vienna, said, adding that under the right conditions, the behaviour of certain dogs was noticeably similar to that of children.

The study’s experiments tested whether gifted dogs could learn the labels of objects presented within a short time when addressed by their owners and learn them from overheard speech.

The experiments showed that Gifted Word Learner dogs are able to flexibly learn new object labels through various methods, Claudia Fugazza, lead researcher at ELTE's Department of Ethology, said.