- Instead of addressing your puppy in a high tone, you can speak extra slowly
Most dog owners will reserve a special voice for their pampered pooch.
But instead of speaking to your pup in a high tone, according to a study, it’s worth speaking extra slowly if you really want to build a bond with him or her.
That’s because dogs’ understanding of human speech relies on a much slower pace, experts say, and slowing down our speech can help us connect better with them.
To better understand how humans and dogs communicate, researchers from the University of Geneva analyzed the vocal sounds of thirty dogs.
They then studied the sounds of 27 people in five languages speaking to other people, and 22 people in those languages speaking to dogs.
Most dog owners will reserve a special voice for their pampered pooch. But instead of speaking to your pup in a high tone, according to a study, it’s worth speaking extra slowly if you really want to build a bond with him or her (stock image)
The scientists also used electroencephalography (EEG) to examine brain responses to speech in both humans and dogs.
Humans are much faster ‘talkers’ than dogs, the study found, with a speaking rate of about four syllables per second.
Meanwhile, dogs bark, growl, thump and howl at a rate of about two vocalizations per second.
When talking to dogs, the humans slowed their speech to about three syllables per second, showing that there was an innate sense that they needed to speak more slowly.
EEG signals from humans and dogs showed that dogs’ neural responses to speech are focused on slower “delta” rhythms, while human responses to speech are focused on faster “theta” rhythms.
The authors suggest that humans and dogs have different voice processing systems, and that slowing down our speech when talking to pets may have ultimately helped us connect with them better.
Dogs’ understanding of human speech relies on a much slower pace, experts say, and slowing down our speech can help us connect better with them (stock image)
Writing in the journal Plos Biology, they said: ‘Although dogs cannot produce articulate sounds, they do respond to speech.
‘Using acoustic analyzes of dogs’ vocalizations, we show that their main production rhythm is slower (than that of humans), and that human-dog-directed speech is halfway between them.
‘Research on neural and behavioral responses to speech shows that comprehension in dogs depends on a slower speech rhythm than in humans.’
Previous research has shown that dogs show greater brain sensitivity to speech directed at them than to speech directed at adults, especially when spoken by women.
Hungarian researchers measured dogs’ brain activity using MRI scans and found similarities between the way babies and dogs processed speech with exaggerated intonations, commonly known as “baby talk.”