How Many Words Do Dogs Learn?

Dogs understanding us isn't just something their owners wish were true. Quite the opposite — it's a fact shown by various experiments and scientific studies. What's harder to prove is how much.

On this matter, several studies offer interesting data on the amount and characteristics of the words dogs manage to memorise, and have even worked out dogs' numerical ability.

The Words Dogs Understand

Scientific studies using MRI scans to observe a dog's brain activity have concluded they do understand the meaning of everyday words in their lives. That is, dogs perfectly recognise both their name and the basic commands we've taught them.

For example, the typical ones are "come", "sit", "heel", "lie down", "stay" and so on. But they can understand many more. It seems they find it easier to understand words designating specific objects, such as "ball", "bone" or "biscuit". They show more difficulty, on the other hand, taking on board abstract concepts.

Studies also point out that some sounds come more easily to them than others. For example, words starting with strong-sounding consonants, such as p, t, c, k or q. Soft consonants such as f, s, r or l, on the other hand, are trickier for them to tell apart. Bearing this in mind, it's worth choosing strong consonants for their name.

How Many Words Can Dogs Tell Apart?

According to studies carried out by Stanley Coren, we're talking about an average of around 160 words for a typical dog, though some dogs can fairly easily exceed 200-250. This doesn't mean every dog understands that many.

Considerable differences have been established between breeds, and even at an individual level. The figure of 160 only tells us about a learning capacity. This is considered comparable to that of a child around 2-3 years old.

The Most "Talkative" Dog Breeds

According to the tests Stanley Coren carried out to measure dogs' functional intelligence, some breeds find it easier to pick up words. Even so, we need to bear in mind that the ones scoring highest in this ranking only show a greater predisposition towards this type of learning.

Other breeds and mixed-breed dogs who get good mental stimulation will likewise manage to build up a significant vocabulary. So, the following breeds stand out as most skilled at understanding words:

• Border Collie.
• Poodle.
• German Shepherd.
• Golden Retriever.
• Doberman.
• Shetland Sheepdog.
• Labrador Retriever.
• Papillon.
• Rottweiler.
• Australian Cattle Dog.

Rest assured your mixed-breed dog, or one of any other breed, given good stimulation, will be able to learn just as many words as the best of them. Of course, you need to devote time to it, and be patient and consistent.

Chaser, the Border Collie Who Recognises Over a Thousand Words

If Stanley Coren put Border Collies in first place in his ranking of breeds skilled at learning words, the dog Chaser seems to have proven him right. This Border Collie holds an impressive canine record for memorising words. She recognises over a thousand.

In case you'd like to beat it, her carer, psychologist John Pilley, wrote a book explaining what the learning process was like. Sadly, Chaser passed away in 2019 at 15 years old, a year after her carer.

Do Dogs Understand Sentences?

What's known is that dogs understand a single word better. That's why, during their training, it's good to pick a single term for each command and always use the same one. Likewise, the terms used shouldn't be too similar to each other.

For example, if our dog is called "Fuss", it will confuse them if we tell them to walk beside us with the German command "fuss" (heel). By choosing our words carefully, we convey the idea clearly, and as a result, it'll be easier for them to learn.

To achieve this, they need to link the word with the idea through repetition. It will be far easier for them to memorise the command if we pair the word with a gesture under the same conditions, that is, a single gesture for each command, always the same one.

Can Dogs Count?

Studies by psychologist Stanley Coren and other researchers also examined dogs' behaviour regarding numerical concepts. Coren showed dogs had the ability to count up to four or five.

What's more, they could also detect calculation errors in very simple sums. For example, they knew one and one wasn't three. This is because they have innate abstract notions about the quantities of objects in front of them.

Bibliography Andics A., Gácsi M., Faragó T., Kis A. and Miklósi Á. 2017. "Voice-Sensitive Regions in the Dog and Human Brain Are Revealed by Comparative fMRI". Current Biology. Vol. 27, Issue 8. pp. 1248-1249. Aulet L., Chiu V., Prichard A., Spivak M., Lourenco S. and Berns G. 2019. "Canine sense of quantity: evidence for numerical ratio-dependent activation in parietotemporal cortex". The Royal Society Publishing. Coren, S. 1994. The Intelligence of Dogs: Canine Consciousness and Capabilities. New York. Free Press. Pilley, J. and Hinzmann, H. 2014. Chaser. Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows 1000 Words. Oneworld Publications.