How dogs understand the meaning of words

Unlike humans, dogs learn words by linking them to size and textures rather than shapes, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Lincoln.

   When toddlers pick up language, they learn by associating words with the shapes of objects. For example, toddlers who learn what a ‘ball’ is and are then presented other objects with similar shapes, sizes or textures will identify a similarly-shaped object as ‘ball’, rather than one of the same size or texture.
   Dogs have been shown to associate words with objects, such as toys, but their learning process was unstudied. In the new study, researchers presented Gable, a five year old Border Collie, with similar choices to see if this ‘shape bias’ exists in dogs.
   They found that after a brief training period, Gable learned to associate the name of an object with its size, identifying other objects of similar size by the same name.
   After a longer period of exposure to both a name and an object, the dog learned to associate a word to other objects of similar textures, but not shape.
  “The difference in the thought process between dogs and humans may come down to how evolutionary history has shaped our sense of perceiving shapes, sizes and textures,” said Emile van der Zee, who led the research. “Where shape matters for us, size or texture matters more for your dog,” Emile added.