The dog is mans best friend but how similar are dogs really to us? Most dog owners would agree that dogs have the ability to show us when they are happy or sad. Many would also swear that they express behaviours similar to guilt when they have done something wrong. The question still remains however, if this proposed communication is intentional from the dogs’ side or if what we see is simply behaviours that has had a beneficiary effect during the dogs’ evolution and thus have become the status quo. Do dogs understand human communication?

 

So far scientists agree that dogs seem to be special from any other animal in their ability to use human communication. Dogs have been domesticated longer than any other animal and other domesticated animals also express some spontaneous ability to use human communication. Thus domestication is one possible explanation for the enhanced cognitive ability of dogs.

 

But too little is know about how dogs perceive human communication for scientists to be able to say anything with certainty. In my study  I examined dogs’ understanding of human communication. It has been proven that dogs can use human pointing gestures as a clue when searching for hidden food.  If they can also use competition and forbiddance as a clue, that would indicate that dogs do understand more about our communication than previously thought.