Scientists have revealed the secret to better communication with dogs: slowing down speech

Scientists from the University of Geneva, together with behaviourists and linguists from France, conducted a study that showed that humans intuitively slow down their speech when communicating with dogs. This change helps pets better understand human commands and promotes better interactions between species.

The results of their study are published in the journal PLOS Biology.

The researchers analysed 143 recordings of audible vocalisations from 30 dogs, including growling, howling and whining. They also examined 106 speech sequences addressed to other humans and 149 sequences addressed to dogs in five different languages. They used short phrases in the imperative mood to assess the dogs' behavioural responses.

The dogs were found to produce sounds at an average rate of 2 ± 1.1 vocalisations per second. When humans communicate with each other, the rate of vocalisation is about 4 ± 1.9 syllables per second. However, when addressing dogs, humans slow down their speech to about 3 syllables per second, which is closer to the natural rhythm of pet vocalisations. Interestingly, this slowing down is not affected by the individual characteristics of the person speaking.

With the help of non-invasive electroencephalography scientists compared the brain activity of dogs and humans when perceiving speech. It turned out that in dogs the reaction to human speech is centred on delta rhythms (0.5-4 Hz), whereas in humans - on faster theta rhythms (4-8 Hz). Э

this suggests that our species have different sound processing systems, but that slowing down speech helps dogs better track modulations and possibly understand commands.