I've never owned a dog, but I'm curious about this profound question!!
If a stranger shouts your dog's name, will it respond?
If your dog is called Fido but you decide to call it Rover, will it respond to Rover? Immediately, or after a while?
Yes, I think they do. My son had a rescue dog and he responded when I call his name.
And how do owners know their dogs real name?
Is there a Rottweiler named Marybelle which is only aggressive because people keep calling her Growler?
My dog is called Harry.
He's responded to Gary, Barry, Marry, Carrie....
Idiot 🙄
Ours was called Dora when we got her, but we changed it to Lola. She took to the new name very quickly but she was still quite young at the time.
Mine all seemed to reply to 'walk' or 'walkies' or 'get your lead boy'.
Our dog's called Cupar.
If anyone calls him Cooper he runs away.
Hope that helps 😉
Our current dog was between 3-5 years old when we got her and we did not know her previous name.
It took a couple of weeks for her to pick up the new name but she is very dim.
Yes she recognises her name if other people call her. I don't think she knows her surname though.
Our dog was called Fenton. Didn't really respond even to us calling it
Yes of course they do!
We have two rescues, one was called Bingo but is now Badger although he does still respond to both names even after 3 years. The other was called Troy but is now Redge, he has no idea who Troy is but knows he is Redge.
Depends. I've known Labs with such a large vocabulary they picked up words even if you spelled them out, but greyhounds often don't understand a single word you say, they do best-guess based on context. And yes that can include their own name...
My current dog is a ball of anxiousness, he'll only respond to people calling him if he knows them and actually likes/trusts them otherwise they get completely ignored. My last dog would listen to anybody as strangers which just friends he'd never met.
Bella responds to Bella, Bell, Bells regardless of who calls her name. She doesn't like the vets so when her name is called there, she hides under the chair. Pretty sure she knows her name. She also knows her favourite dog walker by name and gets very giddy if she's mention. So we gave the dog walker a code name. She figured that out pretty quickly.
My dog is called Harry.
He’s responded to Gary, Barry, Marry, Carrie….
Idiot 🙄
My name is David, I’ve responded variously to Mave, D, Ravey, Dave, Wavey, Sexy, Plophead, Oi, Bollockchops and Tosser.
Wally 🙄
My dog knows me variously as a number of names also. What a pillock.
Yes of course they do!
Poor Oakley... he looked so put out waiting for his call. Steeler and Gadget are clearly inseparable.
Inca responds to Inca, Dinky, Stupid, Stinker, etc. - I'm putting this down to her being very clever and recognising more than one name!
She doesn’t like the vets so when her name is called there, she hides under the chair.
How the hell to dogs just know that going to the vets is never a good thing?!
Because you do. And they can read you.
Because you do.
True... it's always bloody expensive!
Recently switched vets. She was fine inthe car. Got to the car park and she didn't want to know. There must be a common smell they recognise.
She doesn’t like the vets so when her name is called there, she hides under the chair.
How the hell to dogs just know that going to the vets is never a good thing?!
Our dog knows both his vets on a first name basis and his ears go way up when either of their names are mentioned 😆
Dogs, and cats, pick up on the sound on the name rather than the exact name.
For example one of my cats is called Betsy. If I call Betsy, Pepsi, Bopsy, Itsy she will run in. If I call Tom, Stan, Brenda etc,. she does not.
She doesn’t like the vets so when her name is called there, she hides under the chair.
Our old Whippet was the same, I used to have to pick her up because she would not walk in to the consultation room on a lead. One day she put her paws either side of the door frame as I was carrying her in so I had to turn around and walk in backwards.
Our current Patterdale is as dumb as a stump and just walks in wagging her tale, in her mind everything in the world is great.
Dogs, and cats, pick up on the sound on the name rather than the exact name.
So the exact opposite of that video above? Where she appears to use the same tone for all of the different names?
So the exact opposite
Well the exact opposite would be that dogs know words. And I don't believe they do. All the word stuff in their brain is taken over by smell translation.
Saw a programme on telly the other day, this fella taking his labradors out into field - throwing or hiding toys for them. They weren't allowed to go fetch until he said their name. Was very clever. But I still don't think they know words. Words are part of human communication only as far as I'm concerned. 😀
So the exact opposite of that video above? Where she appears to use the same tone for all of the different names?
Haven't watched the video, just saying what I see in my experience of 25 years with cats and dogs (currently have 4 cats and two dogs and have had 6 cats at most) so quite a lot of testing to come up with the statement I made.
Don't bother trying it with chickens though as they really haven't got a clue what their name is.
I wonder if in these videos they just train the dogs to move in sequence, the name itself doesn’t actually matter.
My resident idiot responds to Nala, Nala-Bear, Bear, Booboo, dumbdumb, dumbarse and fatdog (she isn't). The cat just ignores everything we say.
So the exact opposite of that video above? Where she appears to use the same tone for all of the different names?
Probably depends on the amount of time spent training them and to an extent the breed. You'd have to train them to each new command, and if you said something similar to a command they'd probably make a best guess just like people would.
A friend has an 18month old Rough Collie that's so well trained to do so many things he picks things up before you even realise. For example like a lot of dogs he has a habit of relaxing on his back with his legs spread wide. This has drawn comments about his balls. Cue a trip to the vets and a slightly awkward conversation where the vet uses various technical and euphemistic terms for his nuts and his owner says "you mean his balls"? Followed by the dog rolling on his back on the table and spreading his legs on command.🤣
It was one of the first things tested at dog-training classes.
My auntie's dog could be made to run to the window and bark a lot if anyone said 'kittycat!'. Didn't matter who.
My wife's family dog would come running if I said 'walk' despite barely knowing me, and it would also do the same if you said double-you eh ell kay.
but greyhounds often don’t understand a single word you say, they do best-guess based on context. And yes that can include their own name…
I think you're confusing ignorance with wilful ignorance, certainly judging by mine.
Tone and context definitely comes into it though, he can tell the difference between "bugger off and stop trying to eat that", "if it wouldn't be too much trouble could you come here some time this side of the weekend" and "okay here we go, bring on the nonsense".
He definitely recognises his name though, he just chooses not to respond when it doesn't suit him.
Words are part of human communication only as far as I’m concerned
But that sounds as if you’re more concerned with your beliefs/‘concerns’?
Whether or not dogs or other animals can learn to recognise and act upon words (sounds which convey an instruction, emotion, need, object etc etc) of human invention is surely a different question as to whether or not they are employing ‘true language*/true communication’*?
*undefined here.
I think generally they know their owner’s voice rather than their name, per se. One of our previous dogs not only knew his name, but also the names of a number of different toys. We’d hide them about the house and he’d go and find them to order 🤣 he’d ignore the others that we’d also stash and bring back the one as requested.
I think generally they know their owner’s voice rather than their name, per se
I've done a fair-amount of dog-sitting and dog-walking over the last two decades for approx eight or ten different dogs, and my experience is that they react/answer me even as a relative stranger (with a different voice to their owners)
One of our previous dogs not only knew his name, but also the names of a number of different toys. We’d hide them about the house and he’d go and find them to order 🤣
But would they be able to correctly identify those different toys by someone else’s voice?
I wonder if in these videos they just train the dogs to move in sequence
In that one - yes. A couple of the dogs move before they're called.
I would say largely yes. Our two greyhounds seem to.
My wife's a dog walker, and all of the dogs she walks respond to their own names. Although it's amazing how many think they are also called 'what's this?'
As others have mentioned, training must play a big part in it. A friend hadn't even taught their dogs to respond to calls for dinner!
I think generally they know their owner’s voice rather than their name, per se.
Nope. I don't know of a single dog that doesn't respond to (by looking at) a stranger calling their name. It's fairly simple to train a dog not to go to a stranger calling them, but much more difficult (not impossible) to train them not to acknowledge a stranger calling their name without at least a quick look in their direction when at ease rather than mid instruction from their owner/trainer.
I wonder if in these videos they just train the dogs to move in sequence
Maybe, but they're not very good a queuing then! Or the owners could be behind the camera gesturing to them in addition to their names being called. Who knows. It's cute though.
In that one – yes. A couple of the dogs move before they’re called.
Then the next question is did they initially train the dogs to respond to name or sequence by touching them, or by calling their name?
ie did the dogs
A. First learn to recognise their name and then to naturally pre-empt* the sequence? (assuming the names are always read out in sequence)?
or
B. First learn to count/sequence (and the name is immaterial or at best a trivial cue?)
*IME dogs are impatient when made to wait and have to be very well trained not to be.
My sister's two dogs knew their names and were trained to ignore anything not directed at them. So long as you started the command with their name, you could easily have one dog coming, one staying or one fetching, one walking at heel.
They knew their toys too - tell them to get ROPE or BALL or TEDDY and they'd bring back the correct toy. Usually took them a couple of days to learn a new toy.
I don't have a dog and I don't know the answer but..... this is a great thread and has given me a good laugh.
Dogs are really not that clever, they just learn by association. Even Border Collies have to be whistled at.
I’ve known Labs with such a large vocabulary they picked up words even if you spelled them out
My 10 month old lab knows his different balls and toys by name and will bring me the specific one I ask for. Ridiculously clever dog.
But that sounds as if you’re more concerned with your beliefs/‘concerns’?
They're the only ones I've got. Apart from facts. And there ain't no facts on here.
they just learn by association
How else to you learn a name?
A friend hadn’t even taught their dogs to respond to calls for dinner!
I thought it was the other way round?
Dogs are really not that clever, they just learn by association.
No, they are, more than some folk give them credit for. Some are thick as pigshit but that applies to people too so not really noteworthy.
Our 10 month lab knows to react to her name, knows the toys Fox, Elephant and Racoon by name, when she got Racoon it took just 3 goes before she got that one. Also knows me and girlfriends names.
Asking if she wants to go for a walk will get her jumping up even if half asleep.
Apart from facts. And there ain’t no facts on here.
I shall endeavour to fetch you some 🐾🐾
From rover.com
How Dogs Understand Humans
Dogs learn words through a combination of deductive reasoning and positive reinforcement, but it’s unclear if dogs are able to conceive of themselves as an entity with a name. (It’s thought that perhaps they don’t.)
In other words, when I say, “Good morning, Henry,” to our Catahoula, he isn’t thinking, “There’s Mum saying hello to me, whose name is Henry!”
He might simply be thinking, “There’s Mum. She’s making that sound that usually means something good is about to happen. I predict breakfast!”
Dogs, of course, also read context and body language. When I grab the lead, it doesn’t matter what I say: the dog expects to go out.
Dogs certainly think of themselves (as beings) in certain ways: “More food for me!” Or, “This pee smells like mine!” Or, “That dog is not me.” But the extent to which dogs conceive of themselves as having a self, or whether or not they can imagine an autobiography about their lives—well, it’s hard to say (and for most dog lovers, that’s just fine.)
The native language of a dog is body-language so as a dog-owner (or potential dog owner/someone who wants to get to know dogs) it would help a lot to learn about their native language as well as teaching them human words. Meet them halfway, so to speak? (Thinks: us humans often say one thing and yet mean another)
Dogs also tend to train humans to use high-pitched and emotional ‘baby-talk’ speech, as they tend respond better to that tone than something less expressive. I suppose if they are ‘forced’ to learn words rather than their native body language then we as part of the bargain would do well in most cases to up our game in both speech and body-language in pursuit of better results and bonding?
So, abstract thinking or understanding complex maths. Not really on a dog's agenda is it?!
They just 'associate' a sound with a result. As above, it's probably more to do with how it's said and other factors than the name itself.
So, abstract thinking or understanding complex maths. Not really on a dog’s agenda is it?!
Brilliant deduction Holmes 😉. I imagine even if they could do calculus it would be pretty boring compared to let's have fun/eat/destroy stuff/cuddle/swim/drink/play games/bonk/run/have a silly 5 minutes/sleep like a dog. They have a strong case…
it’s probably more to do with how it’s said and other factors than the name itself.
Yes, I imagine like English toddlers French from teachers who refuse to first learn English.
English toddlers *learning French…
So where human toddlers probably diverge from dogs (when learning words) is the point where they begin to learn that the word "dog" refers not to all four-legged animals, and not just to Ralph, but to all members of a particular species? How do they learn the meanings of verbs like "think," adjectives like "good," or words for abstract entities such as "mortgage" and "story"?
While I agree that dogs most likely don’t place complex mathematics high on their agenda (I don’t claim to know how much hey place simple maths on their agenda - ie how long to until walk, how many YumSmax vs how many Gnoravits, or do they (like ants) calculate distance by how many steps they take?
As for abstract concepts - I suppose in order to quantify, one would need to determine whether you mean it literally or abstractly 😉. ie what is ‘abstract concept’ in a literal sense? And is ‘it’ defined/determined by it’s complexity or by it’s existence?
Once that is established, then one could attempt to apply it to/measure it against a dog’s daily concerns.
I think this depends on exactly what you mean by 'know'.
This is Ada at 8 months demonstrating that she knows her release word (OK) and isn't just responding to my voice. You may be able to tell from the drool that this was a lot of effort for her!
@finephilly ie one simple definition of abstract thinking is ‘the ability to mentally sort objects into categories’
Ability to do that?
Experiments show:
Humans? Y
Dogs? Y
Birds Y
But it’s less simple because Human A and Human B may have widely differing ‘agendas’ about categorising and sorting. ie Harry may think it a life and death issue while Mia more happily skips through such concerns in any typical day and would prefer other people to be worrying about that on her behalf if at all. And dogs too are very much like this, ie Dog A vs Dog B may also vary/differ widely with regards to personal concerns and mental abilities/strengths/weaknesses (beyond simple survival)
So, abstract thinking or understanding complex maths. Not really on a dog’s agenda is it?!
They just ‘associate’ a sound with a result. As above, it’s probably more to do with how it’s said and other factors than the name itself.
Its superstition - lots of animals are superstitious and the more superstitious they are the better we can train them. They associate an act or action with an outcome (punishment or reward) and will continue to expect that outcome overtime theres that action even if more often or not they don't get that outcome.
Anyway it may well know its own name - but does your dog know yours? No they just think about themselves. Thoughtless, selfish, bad-breath, superstitious bastards.
My dog is called Harry.
He’s responded to Gary, Barry, Marry, Carrie….
Idiot 🙄
My mum's dog is called Domino. I shorten it to Dom but he also responds to Dog, Fog and Bog. It's always funny when he's off the lead and just yelling "Dog!" and he appears, amuses my 2 year old niece every time.
I always wanted a cat called Dog or a horse called Cow
This is Ada at 8 months demonstrating that she knows her release word (OK)
My labs the same. I'll tell him to "wait" and not touch the treat/ball/toy. I can talk away to him or someone else and he won't touch it until he hears me say "On you go"
Our dog's called Blacksmith. Every time I go near him he makes a bolt for the door.
Boom Tish.
Our dog knows his own name, and his toys by name. We also have to be careful about using the word "walk" in any tone or context, because he goes bonkers.
On the other hand, he walks into wheelie bins on walks because he's too busy looking at cats, so I'm not convinced he's that bright.
Our dog, above mentioned Ada is quite fond of watching helicopters and tractors but she usually sits down to watch so dont walk into things
Might have to take her to an airshow at Shuttleworth at some point 🙂
I always wanted a cat called Dog or a horse called Cow
My other half used to have a cat called Fido.
She also had a hamster called 3.99
My labs the same. I’ll tell him to “wait” and not touch the treat/ball/toy. I can talk away to him or someone else and he won’t touch it until he hears me say “On you go”
A friend was got in from a run, put some food down for her dogs and got distracted by other stuff - kids shouting for her and so on. She had a shower, went back downstairs and both her dogs were sitting there looking at their full food bowls cos she'd forgotten to give them the release word to eat. She was part mortified but part very proud of them!
I like the 3.99 hamster name
Our cat knows his name, but also seems familiar with being called "dickhead" "****er" "shitbag" "fluff face" and "stinky boy"...
I don't think pets know their names as such, they just get familiar with the human mouth sounds that accompany any attention they receive (positive or negative)...
Interesting
Of course they do. Even if someone never owned a dog, it seems like the something everyone just knows. Like where does milk or bread come from.
IME dogs know their own name, other dogs' names, and people's names.
The cat just ignores everything we say.
You're just staff and no importance in its life.
My dog just understood tone and intonation, and may have known i was using her name, but wasn't picky.
She was extremely attentive. If i called her name in the normal pattern she'd respond. Or if i swapped a letter or two. If i changed the tone she wouldn't.
Likewise she'd Sit, Shit, Fit, Kit, Mit ... or Heel, Feel, etc as long as I said it in the same tone.
She would also bark at the doorbell ... even if it was on the TV.
In terms of understanding the concept of a 'name' wouldn't dogs have the ability to call out to specific dogs in a pack?
My dog clearly knows that a combination of sounds (whether said by me or others) are made to attract her attention with no specific result intended (as opposed to 'stay', 'come here', 'dinner', 'left', 'right' etc), but I don't know if she understands the concept of a name!
If you named a dog "ding-dong" (with appropriate intonation) would it run to the front door and bark every time you called its name?
Probably not if you had a brass bell at the front door.
Dog A vs Dog B may also vary/differ widely with regards to personal concerns and mental abilities/strengths/weaknesses (beyond simple survival)
Exactly. Grouping all dogs the same is like grouping all people the same. I have 2 dogs which are brother and sister. They are not similar in any way at all in how they act, react etc,.
Neither are what I would call intelligent but they get through their lives well and have fun doing so and are probably having a better time than a lot of humans.
Like where does milk or bread come from.
Fortnum and Mason, yes?
Of course they do. Some refs if anyone wants them.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaf3777
Pilley JW, Reid AK. 2011. Border collie comprehends object names as verbal referents. Behavioural Processes. 86, 184–195.
Pilley JW. 2013. Border collie comprehends sentences containing a prepositional object, verb and direct object. Learning and Motivation, 44, 229–240.
Ratcliffe VF, Reby D. 2014. Orienting asymmetries in dogs’ responses to different communicatory components of human speech. Current Biology, 24, 2908-2912.
...and why wouldn't they? They've evolved alongside humans for the past 15,000 years or so, with selection pressures in favour of agreeableness amongst other things. And we've pretty similar brains in the scheme of things
if they could do calculus it would be pretty boring compared to let’s have fun/eat/destroy stuff/cuddle/swim/drink/play games/bonk/run/have a silly 5 minutes/sleep like a dog.
I mean I like all that stuff, bar calculus which I've not done since age 17. I can have conceptual level thoughts about these things, just about, which I doubt a dog could. But in terms of how I feel about stuff we're using the same parts of our mamalian brains.
That's not to over anthropomorphise, thinking of those shite "what did you do" guilty dog videos. But it's not just tone of voice or whatever - I can be trying to call a friend's dog over with encouraging words and tone, but then remember the name and over they come, or ears twitch depending on dog, whateer, it's pretty obvious they know what I mean regardless of their inner understandings and self-reflaction. Or mine for that matter.
Non dog owner btw and never lived with one. Our cats may know our names for them, but if they do they're not saying.
Our Dog whilst recall is not her strongest trait if there is another Dog or interesting smell to investigate will respond eventually to her name Luna or Lunatic
She also recognises our family names and her Dog besties.
That’s not to over anthropomorphise, thinking of those shite “what did you do” guilty dog videos. But it’s not just tone of voice or whatever – I can be trying to call a
Yes I think the jury is still out on those ‘secondary’ emotions in dogs. Although a dog can without doubt feel envy, the so-called ‘guilty’ look is most likely a visible stress or fear of the dominant pack leader (you) about to reprimand the dog for some ill-doing.
I have a cousin like that. He doesn’t feel ‘guilt’ per se, he just looks guilty when he’s confronted about something he did that was ‘wrong’ 🤣. I also know at least three men with NPD and I genuinely sense more genuine empathy from my dog (and he’s fairly low on the empath scale, even for a dog) than I do from those humans. But they (humans) will learn (to varying degrees) to try and display it where it’s considered proper even if they don’t genuinely feel guilty.
Guilt is (a subsetof) shame? I honestly don’t know an accepted definition of ‘guilt’ so whether or not a dog (or a cousin 🤣) feels ‘true’ guilt would depend on a definition.
*edit
Here’s one I found
https://www.nicabm.com/guilt-vs-shame/
So going by definition of ‘helpful guilt’ - a dog does display psychological discomfort when *confronted* with something it has done wrong. Whether or not that wrong thing is ‘objective’ is another question. As is whether or not the dog feels psychological discomfort after the wrongdoing but *before* the confrontation?
I suppose you would say a dog consciously understands they are called 'fido' and that it is an identifier for them individually, as opposed to just a familiar sound they hear quite a lot.
They have much better hearing than humans so that should be borne in mind. ie they could still discern the word 'fido' from 2 different people.
As for brains though, I find it hard to believe they understand the concept of naming and certainly haven't seen any evidence of it!!
For sure, they have rituals and interactions with each other but as we're mainly examining working/domestic animals, some natural behaviours may be clouded or repressed.
I still think they're pretty thick, in the grand scheme of things.
