Small smart dog

Sit! Stop! Obedient boy! Many of us use these words with our closest animal friends every day, and a new study recently conducted suggests that dogs may actually be able to understand a good portion of what we say and even pay special attention to how we say it.

The results, published in the journal Science, may prove what dog lovers used to believe, which is that their close friends can process language differently from the belief that has prevailed for many years. "We believe that words are something specific to humans, but in reality dogs can process word meanings and speaking tone in a way much like what humans do," says lead researcher in the study, Atilah Andiks, a neuroscientist at Otvus Lawrand University in Budapest.

Scientists have long believed that the human ability to form words - the building blocks of language - arose as a distinct brain mechanism to support the ability to communicate. Andyndix explains that, saying that words are arbitrary sounds for which a person assigns meanings. In general, this ability is not evident in other animals, and Andex points out that although dogs cannot pronounce words, it appears that they can understand a large group of them. Dogs sit, catch what is thrown at them, shake hands and cuddle, in response to the caresses of their human owners every day.