Dogs May Learn New Toy Names Just by Listening In (Full Transcript)

Research suggests some “gifted word learner” dogs can pick up object names by overhearing humans, even when toys aren’t visible.

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[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Dogs can learn new words just by listening to humans having a conversation. Watch this.

[00:00:06] Speaker 2: This is your armadillo.

[00:00:07] Speaker 1: And here's Baskett listening. Then, Baskett's owner tested it.

[00:00:11] Speaker 2: No armadillo. Yes, good girl.

[00:00:21] Speaker 1: Until now, scientists didn't know whether dogs could learn object names when they weren't being spoken to directly. Next, they took it even further. This time, the dogs heard the name of the toys when the toys weren't even in sight. That's your card. Yes. Yes.

[00:00:43] Speaker 2: Good dog.

[00:00:43] Speaker 1: Scientists are saying the dog's ability to learn is similar to that of an 18-month-old toddler. But this is rare. Only a small group of dogs known as gifted word learners can do it. Could yours be one of them?

Summary

A segment describes research showing some dogs can learn new object names just by overhearing humans, even when not directly addressed and sometimes when the objects are out of sight. In demonstrations, a dog named Baskett responds correctly to a newly introduced toy name. Scientists compare this rare ability—seen in a small subset of “gifted word learners”—to the word-learning capacity of an 18-month-old toddler.

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Title

Some Dogs Can Learn Words by Overhearing Humans

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Keywords

dogs

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word learning Remove

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overhearing Remove

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object names Remove

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Baskett

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gifted word learners Remove

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cognitive science Remove

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toddlers

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language acquisition Remove

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animal cognition Remove

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Neutral: The tone is informational and research-focused, presenting demonstrations and scientific claims without strong positive or negative emotional language.

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