There’s a surprisingly simple way to strengthen your bond with your dog: change how you talk to them, researchers at the University of Geneva found. When talking to your dog, it’s important to consider not just what you say but also how you say it. Your dog may already be your best friend, but adjusting your communication style can make that connection even stronger. Dogs understand human language much better when it matches their own slower vocalization pace. For instance, when you say “good boy” or “good girl,” you likely stretch out the words more than you would when telling a friend about your “good day.” Researchers believe that in doing so, you’ve intuitively learned to forge a better connection with your furry companion.
What did the study reveal? During the research, scientists first analyzed recordings of 30 dogs and of 27 people talking with other humans in five different languages. They then examined the sounds of 22 individuals speaking the same languages, but this time to dogs. Following that, the researchers studied the reactions of both humans and dogs to speech using electroencephalography (EEG), which measures electrical brain activity. The team discovered that humans speak significantly faster than dogs vocalize. On average, our speech consists of about four syllables per second, while dogs bark, growl, or whine at a rate of roughly two vocalizations per second. Our auditory responses also differ from those of dogs. According to EEG data, dogs listen for the overall sound of entire sentences, preferring the delta rhythms of our speech — the slowest waves in our brain’s activity spectrum. In contrast, humans prioritize processing theta rhythms, focusing not on the overall sound of sentences but on the faster aspects of speech.
Both rhythms are important for understanding speech in the human brain. But for dogs, it’s a different story. Despite their highly sensitive hearing, dogs wouldn’t grasp the meaning of our conversations if we spoke to them the same way we talk to each other. The study’s results were published in the journal PLOS Biology. “This is a really interesting study. I was surprised to learn that we need to adjust not only our tone of voice but also the speed and rhythm of our speech,” Nancy Dreschel, an associate professor of animal science at Pennsylvania State University, told BBC Science Focus. “I think a lot of this happens naturally, and it points to the long history of domestication and evolution of these animals,” she added. The expert says that when communicating with dogs, it’s beneficial to speak more slowly, simplify our language, and remember that we are interacting with animals trying to understand us.
