An oft quoted, but slightly misattributed saying of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor was, “I speak Spanish to God, Italian to Women, French to Men, and German to my Horse.” The multilingual monarch raises some interesting questions. How do animals process and understand human speech? Can an animal be conditioned to understand different languages?
Animals use phonetic and non-verbal recognition patterns to signify meaning.
My father’s roommate is Nickie, an overweight middle-aged Labrador endowed with a shiny coat and an affectionate disposition. They’re happy together. Their relationship exemplifies the primal bond shared between man and canine. Reflecting on their rituals, I muse, who domesticated who? Any time I called home to announce a visit, my father would happily exclaim, “Nickie, your brother’s visiting!” Nickie would excitedly wag her tail and wait beside the door for my arrival. One afternoon, my father unwittingly uttered brother in an unrelated context, on a day I didn’t visit. Impulsively, Nickie’s left hemisphere lit up and she and bolted off the couch to welcome me at the door. I heard she camped stubbornly for nine hours. Not even promises of food would coax her from her hopeful watch. With Nickie, we learned to walk on eggshells. Words like park, cook, walk, ice cream, car ride, or – of course, brother, triggered expectations. It felt like we were dealing with a totalitarian government, us having to spell words, or hiding in a room to talk about dinner plans.
While our Nickie’s lexicon was limited to food and leisure, Rico, a Border Collie, had a more prodigious vocabulary. Julia Fischer, group leader at the German Primate Center’s Cognitive Ethology Lab, led a study that culminated with a 2004 article published in Science. Rico had learned the labels of over 200 various items. He was also able to distinguish novel objects by exclusion learning. Exclusion learning occurs when one learns the name of a novel object because one is familiar with the names of other objects which belong to the same group. In children, and early language learners, this is called “fast mapping,” and it was thought to be exclusively human. Another Border Collie, Chaser, entered the spotlight in 2011 when a Behavioral Processes paper reported she had learned and retained the distinct names of over 1,000 objects.
These studies were careful to rule out the Clever Hans Effect, named after a horse reputed to perform arithmetic and other intellectual tasks. On scientific investigation, it was revealed that Clever Hans was not actually understanding and calculating, rather, he was responding to subtle cues from humans around him (See observer-expectancy effect). Like equestrians, dog owners telegraph often unconsciously subtle cues to their dogs. Dogs can pick up on these cues. Gestures and tone of voice are critical.
Can you train your dog to understand another language?
The short answer is yes. Sounds trigger behavior but your dog wouldn’t know you’re speaking another language. Remember, animals respond more to gestures and tone of voice. Also crucial is the difference between registering (processing) words and understanding words. Know this before you kneel to explain your thoughts on politics or gravitational theory to your dog. There are many multilingual households who have trained their pets to register different languages. Whichever language you choose, try to keep the commands monosyllable. You can start with this helpful guide that includes commands in French and German. More languages to follow. – Dan
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Sit | Asseids | (ah-see-ey) |
| Down | Couché | (kooshay) |
| Stand | Debout | (da-boo) |
| Heel | Au Pied | (oh-pee-aye) |
| Come | Ici | (eh-see) |
| Jump | Saute | (soot) |
| Fetch | Rapporte | (aport) |
| No | Non | (nohn) |
| Stay | Pas bouger | (pa-bouj) |
| Good Dog | Bon chien | (bon-shayahn) |
| Bad Dog | Mauvais chien | (movay-shyahn) |
| Quiet | Silence | (see-laance) |
| Leave it | Pas Touche | (pa-too-shay) |
| English | German | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Sit | Sitz | (zits) |
| Down | Platz | (plaats) |
| Stand | Stehen | (sch-stay-en) |
| Heel | Fuss | (foose) |
| Come | Hier | (heer) |
| Jump | Hupf | (hoof) |
| Fetch | Bring | (bring) |
| No | Nein | (nine) |
| Stay | Bleiben | (blii-ben) |
| Good Dog | Gute Hund | (goo-ta Hund) |
| Bad Dog | Schlechte Hund | (sch-lect-a Hund) |
| Quiet | Ruhig | (lruigh) |
| Leave it | Lass es | (lassess) |
References and Further Reading
Pilley, J.W., and A.K. Reid. 2011. Border collie comprehends object names as verbal referents. Behavioural Processes 86: 184–195.
Landau, B., & Gleitman, L. R. (1985). Language and experience: Evidence from the blind child. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kaminski, J; Call, J; Fischer, J (2004). “Word Learning in a Domestic Dog: Evidence for “Fast Mapping”. Science. 304 (5677): 1682–1683.
Goldman, J. Monday Pets: How Do Dogs Learn New Words? Scientific American. May 10, 2010.
Author: Daniel Dugan
Daniel is the founder of Alphabet Linguistics, a Providence-based language translation agency. He writes about language and how people use it to live and work together. When he’s not working or reading, you can often spot him cruising around on his worn-out Peugeot.