So it's true, dogs really can talk!

Who knew that I would be quoting the words of Scooby Doo on this blog but in the words of Shaggy,  "

Like...no way man!" DOGS CAN TALK! 

The telegraph have released today that a study taken has shown that dogs have a surprising ability to make humans understand what their barks and growls mean. Apparently women are more perceptive to the different growls and barks than men.   Researchers found women correctly at identified the dog's intentions 65 per cent of the time, compared to 45 per cent for men. 

(well, we do listen more )

Scientists from Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary wrote in the journal Royal Society Open Science: "It is known that women have a higher emotional sensitivity and probably this higher sensitivity can help to differentiate better the context of the growls."

The volunteers were given the task to identify the different dog noises. Play growls and food guarding growls were recognised as having a distinctively different pitch characteristics. As well as identifying what the growl was being used for and in what setting, the volunteers also had to rate the growls on a scale according to five different emotional states - aggression, fear, despair, happiness and playfulness.  I'm pretty sure some of those would be really difficult to tell the difference between! 

Friendly dogs had a larger number of shorter, less separated growls, the research showed. 

"Overall, participants correctly classified 63 per cent of the growl samples - significantly more than would be expected by guesswork alone, said the researchers."

So dogs really are able to make their owners understand what they're trying to say through their barks and growls! So now you know they really are telling you all about their day when you walk through the door, just need to get the basics down and we'll be fluent! 


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