‘Genius’ Dogs Can Learn New Words Just by Eavesdropping, New Study Finds

Some dog parents are used to spelling things out — whether they’re planning on taking a W-A-L-K after work or stopping by a coffee shop for a T-R-E-A-T — because they know their dogs picks up certain words. And it’s not just a hunch: studies have shown that dogs listen in on conversations. But not only do they recognize words associated with their favorite things, some dogs can also learn new ones just by listening in. 

A new study published in the journal Science found that a certain subset of really smart dogs can pick up new words from listening to people’s conversations — just like toddlers passively listening to interactions between adults. These dogs have been dubbed “gifted word learners” (or GWL for short) and have an extremely robust level of word comprehension. 

“They’re very good at picking up on these cues,” Shany Dror, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, and an author of the study, told The New York Times. “They’re so good that they can pick up on them equally well when the cues are directed to the dog or when they’re directed to someone else.”

The study, conducted by the Genius Dog Challenge research team from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, tested 10 of these “GWL” dogs. They included seven Border Collies, one Labrador Retriever, one mini Australian Shepherd, and one Austrian Shepherd and Blue Heeler mix. Seven of these dogs were able to learn the new toy names.

First the researchers had the dogs’ parents introduce two new toys, repeatedly naming them while interacting with the dog. Next, dogs sat nearby as their parents talked with another person about another two new toys without addressing the dog. In each case, the toys were discussed for about eight minutes. 

Then, the researchers tested if the dogs had learned the names of the new toys. They put the toys in a different room and the dogs’ parents instructed the dogs to go fetch the toys. In the situation where the parents directly addressed the dogs with the names of the toys, the dogs were accurate 80 percent of the time. In the other situation, however, where the humans in the room simply talked to each other about the toys without addressing the dogs, the dogs were actually 100 percent correct. 

The accuracy was so on point that it surprised Dror. 

"Sometimes they just immediately went to the new toy, knowing what they're supposed to do," she said to NPR. "Their performance was really, really high."

The researchers took their test to another level: what would happen if the toys were discussed, but not seen? In this scenario, the dogs’ parents showed their dogs the toy, then put the toy inside a bucket. They only named the toy when the toy was out of sight. But even with that delay, most of the dogs still successfully learned the new names. 

While this is certainly a phenomenal discovery, it should be noted that these superior learning abilities only occur in already gifted dogs. The majority of dogs can’t learn just by eavesdropping. Additionally, cognition researcher Federico Rossano told the Times that the study might’ve benefited from having the researchers in the homes to oversee the training. 

There are still many questions about these genius dogs’ ability to learn. But it’s hard to study them, because they are just so rare. In fact, the Genius Dog Challenge research team encourages any dog parents out there who might have really smart dogs to contact them via email (geniusdogchallenge.official@gmail.com). 

“We’re always searching for more dogs,” Dr. Dror said. “We would be happy for any dog owner that thinks their dog knows the names of toys to reach out.”