Owners who spell out words like P-A-R-K or V-E-T to keep secrets from their pets may have the right idea, as a new study reveals that some dogs can learn the names of objects simply by eavesdropping on human conversations.
The research, published in the journal Science, found that a rare group of “Gifted Word Learner” (GWL) dogs possess a talent previously thought to be unique to humans: the ability to learn vocabulary through passive listening, much like a toddler.
While most dogs struggle to learn the names of objects — despite easily mastering commands like “sit” or “stay” — this specific group can memorise the names of hundreds of toys. Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest have now shown that these dogs do not need direct training to expand their vocabulary; they just need to be in the room.
The toddler parallel
At around 18 months of age, human children begin to learn new words not only when spoken to directly but also by overhearing interactions between adults. The study aimed to see if GWL dogs shared this social-cognitive ability.
“Our findings show that the socio-cognitive processes enabling word learning from overheard speech are not uniquely human,” said lead scientist Dr Shany Dror. “Under the right conditions, some dogs present behaviours strikingly similar to those of young children.”
To test this, the team observed 10 gifted dogs in two scenarios. In the first, owners looked at the dog and repeated the name of a new toy. In the second, the “eavesdropping” condition, the dog passively watched as the owner spoke to another person about the toy, without addressing the animal at all.
Remarkably, after hearing the toy’s name for a total of just eight minutes across several brief sessions, seven of the 10 dogs successfully learned the new words.
When the toys were placed in a different room and the owners asked, “Can you bring Teddy?”, the dogs retrieved the correct item. The success rate was high in both scenarios, mirroring findings from studies on human infants.
The researchers also tested the dogs’ cognitive limits with a more complex task. Owners showed the dogs a toy, then hid it in a bucket before naming it, creating a delay between seeing the object and hearing the word.
Despite not being able to see the object while it was being named, most of the gifted dogs still made the connection.
“These findings suggest that GWL dogs can flexibly use a variety of different mechanisms to learn new object labels,” said senior scientist Dr Claudia Fugazza.
However, the researchers caution that ordinary dog owners should not expect their pets to suddenly start understanding complex conversations. Gifted Word Learners are extremely rare, and their abilities likely reflect a combination of genetic predisposition and specific life experiences.
“These dogs provide an exceptional model for exploring some of the cognitive abilities that enabled humans to develop language,” Dr Dror concluded. “But we do not suggest that all dogs learn in this way — far from it.”
This research is part of the Genius Dog Challenge project, which aims to understand the unique talents of Gifted Word Learner dogs. The researchers encourage dog owners who believe their dogs know multiple toy names to contact them by email, Facebook or Instagram.
