Researchers from the ELTE Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary have discovered that dogs are capable of recognizing their owners’ voices, marking the first evidence of voice-based individual-level recognition in dogs. The findings were published in the journal Animal Behaviour.
While previous studies have shown that dogs can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar voices, as well as identify the sex of a speaker, this new research is the first to demonstrate that dogs can identify specific individuals based solely on voice. According to Kinga Surányi, a Ph.D. student involved in the study, “Prior research had established that dogs are sensitive to certain acoustic features in human voices, but the ability to match a voice to a specific individual had not been conclusively shown.”
Voice recognition, a skill involving the ability to distinguish individuals within the same social group, is an essential tool for communication in many species. While this ability is well-documented in primates like rhesus macaques and even in horses, it had not been observed in dogs until now.
To test whether dogs possess this skill, the researchers invited three members of the same dog-owning family to participate in the experiment. Each dog interacted with their three owners, all of whom were equally familiar to the animal. The researchers then recorded the owners’ voices and played them through loudspeakers positioned behind the owners, who remained silent and motionless. The dogs were asked to approach the person whose voice they heard.
Over the course of the study, 31 dogs participated, successfully identifying their owners based on the pre-recorded voices on 18 separate occasions. “The dogs demonstrated a clear ability to recognize voices, often looking longer and approaching the person whose voice they heard,” Surányi noted.
The study found that dogs performed well above chance when matching voices to owners. Notably, the dogs were most accurate when responding to their primary owner’s voice. Anna Gábor, a postdoctoral researcher on the project, explained, “This could be because dogs tend to have the most frequent vocal interactions with their primary owners and are more attuned to their voices.”
The study offers new insight into the communicative abilities of dogs, revealing that they can not only distinguish between familiar human voices but also attribute those voices to specific individuals. This ability could enhance interactions between dogs and humans, facilitating more nuanced communication across species.
Future research will explore whether this ability is common among other mammals or if it is a result of specific evolutionary adaptations in species that have evolved close relationships with humans, such as dogs.
As Gábor concluded, “The study suggests that dogs have a deep understanding of human voices, not just recognizing whether a voice is familiar, but also knowing exactly who it belongs to.”
Related topics:
Study Reveals Key Factors Affecting Dog Food Choices
Demographics Shape Dog Food Preferences, Study Finds
Reviving the 90s Craze: Knitting with Dog Hair
