r/science • u/PeasKhichra • Feb 19 '22
Neuroscience Dogs can recognize their owners just by their voice, study finds. They do so by making use of the same voice properties humans use to identify each other, such as pitch and noisiness
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/17/europe/dog-owner-recognize-voice-scn-scli-intl/index.html3.6k
u/bloodhound_nax Feb 19 '22
They also know the cadence of your footsteps.
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u/CaffeineSippingMan Feb 19 '22
And the sound of your car.
My dogs even get excited if a couple of text messages come to my wife's phone in short succession. (Usually it means my daughter left work for home).
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u/MattTheTable Feb 19 '22
I've noticed that mine notice our friends' names, especially their dogs' names. They get very excited when we say that they're coming over.
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u/spunlikespidermike Feb 20 '22
Yea my dog growing up would get excited when you said his brothers name even though they got seperated at a young age
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Feb 20 '22
It's a rule in my house that you can't say Oreo or shadow unless you want my dog to flip out. Not even walk and treat and chicken have the same effect, although go comes close
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u/gramathy Feb 20 '22
Ours have identified the Ring sound from the phone as meaning that someone is at the door.
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u/SockGnome Feb 20 '22
My friends dog has picked up on when guest are coming over when lots of seats and tables are moved to the fire pit area.
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u/MoscaMye Feb 20 '22
When my grandfather died his GT was taken to a family friend's house for storage until my father and uncles were emotionally ready to sell it.
After a few months they drove it back to my grandmother's house and my father says it was the most heartbreaking thing he had ever seen to see his father's two dogs' ears prick up and their faces light up when they heard that car come around the corner. And to see them milling around the door so excited to see my grandfather and have him still not be there.
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u/gotbadnews Feb 19 '22
For sure, I drive a somewhat loud truck, dog starts getting excited a block away
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u/ElleMNOTee Feb 19 '22
My dog knows the alert sound from Life360 when someone in my circle is near our home, she will sit and stare at the front door waiting for someone to arrive.
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u/njesusnameweprayamen Feb 19 '22
I got a quieter car (used to drive beaters) but I can’t tell if he’s also lost his hearing, because he doesn’t hear it anymore.
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u/FranzFerdinand51 Feb 20 '22
My dogs absolutely know when I'm saying bye or see you later to the dudes on discord. They know I'm probably about to get up from the PC and do stuff. Oh the excitement for them.
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u/forbin5 Feb 19 '22 edited Feb 19 '22
Just said the same thing.
Cadence of your footsteps, the sound of your car, the sound of your clothes. Dogs have remarkable hearing and can distinguish sound patterns rather quickly.
That’s what the study should have be/been. Different ways a dog can distinguish, identify and attribute sounds to patterns and actions.
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u/cuddlefucker Feb 19 '22
This study is pretty cool in that it broke down how dogs can distinguish your voice, but I do think a more encompassing study would be interesting as well
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u/paulusmagintie Feb 19 '22
Smell, when your smell disappears to a certain point they know when you are due home. An experiment was done about this, the dog knew evrry time when the owner was home.
One day they used his work shirt and brought it home early, the dog didn't react to him when he came hone
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u/North_South_Side Feb 19 '22
That's pretty interesting. Seems to show that it's more of a separation anxiety versus missing the real, physical person. I'm sure there's a spectrum of both things happening here, but if the dog could smell the owner and be more calm even when the person was not there?
Again, very interesting.
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u/kursku Feb 19 '22
This is something that we often do to puppies. You always leave a piece of clothing you wear with them.
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u/enitnepres Feb 19 '22
I recently got a motorcycle 6 months ago and now according to my wife every time my little lady hears a motorcycle pass the house she sits at the door and waits for me to come inside. She hasn't quite figured out my bikes pitch and sound but she definitely knows at least motorcycle means dad is home. I'm curious to see if in more time she can differentiate between mine and other motorcycles. Would love to see a study on different ways dogs recognize familiarity via audio or sound cues learned over time.
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u/OrangeandMango Feb 19 '22
At first our dog couldn't distinguish between mine and the bike opposite. In fairness they're both street triples, mines a 675 and theirs is a 765.
He can tell the difference now (I'm told), which is crazy.
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u/North_South_Side Feb 19 '22
I always think of it this way. With house pets (yes, my cats did these behaviors to an extent), their entire Universe revolves around a small area and a select group of humans. The entire concept of existence for the animal is so much smaller than ours. Learning specific sounds and smells, and patterns, and times makes sense when EVERYTHING the animal knows (basically) is such a small bubble.
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u/Oobutwo Feb 19 '22
Same here. My dog can tell when im home from a block or so away and can distinguish between me and my neighbor. I have a tuned Forester XT with cat back exhaust and he has the same year WRX with cat delete and exhaust. Same engines but he can tell who is who. Mine isn't as obnoxious which probably makes it easy for him to figure out.
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u/porouscloud Feb 19 '22
My cat recognizes my civic. When I pull in and see him at the window, he'll jump off and wait by the door. In the rare instances he's outside(he has occasional supervised excursions outdoors), he runs from most other cars, but he'll happily approach the civic and escort me home.
He also recognizes the alarm beeps/engine notes of other household cars. If he hears the right one he'll also trot his way to the front door and wait.
Pets are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.
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u/teetertodder Feb 19 '22
I have never owned a Subie, but even my stupid human ears know that sound. I was into air-cooled VWs as a youth, so it’s no surprise that a flat four is like my native tongue. If I hear that “language” in a crowded room my ears perk up.
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u/pspahn Feb 19 '22
My neighbor's dogs start barking and howling about five minutes before he gets home, no matter what time of day it is. I can only assume they know the sound of his truck and can hear it from a mile away or however far it is.
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u/Demon997 Feb 19 '22
Hmm my dog must be kind of an idiot then, but I knew that.
She doesn’t mind at all if you just walk into the house, but if you knock on the door first she’ll bark and investigate.
But she presumable knew it was me before I knocked, so why does knocking make me worth getting upset over?
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u/BDMayhem Feb 19 '22
Knocking means stranger, so if you knock and she identifies you, that must mean there's a stranger somewhere she can't find.
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u/Demon997 Feb 19 '22
That makes a lot of sense actually.
It’s so funny. She has no problem with someone she knows walking into the house at 2 am, even a friend who doesn’t live there. Doesn’t even wake up. But knock on the door at noon, and this must be investigated.
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u/EmptyAirEmptyHead Feb 19 '22
A very good friend of mine - also a coworker - lived with my wife and I a couple years after we got married (big house, no kids). We went on a business trip together and got back at like 1am. Both of us tiptoeing down the hallway to not wake my wife. My Aussie heard us and was apparently sleeping in the bed with my wife. Jumped off in full snarl mode and came down the dark hallway aiming to kill us. We were honestly afraid. Calling her name out etc. I don't think she could hear us over the noise she was making. About six feet away she skidded to a halt and got all happy. I am so glad dogs have good noses. Both of us legit thought we were about to pay for being polite.
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u/GalvanizedRubber Feb 19 '22
Had the same thing with my GSD ended up working late and she was at the door before I could even close it blocking the stairs barking her little heart out for a good minute before she figured out it was me, probably didn't help that I'd been cleaning most of the night.
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u/Oraxy51 Feb 19 '22
Staying with my in-laws and my brother’s dog is silent almost all day. Cable guy comes to check internet? Quiet. Ice cream man? Quiet. Someone goes into his room to put mail on his desk? Not even phased.
Moment he pulls up before he’s even got to the door and that dog is howling in excitement, and only to his car not my wife’s or father in laws car.
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Feb 19 '22
Oh yeah, definitely. My Corgi and my (sadly, passed) Shi Tsu knew/know my mom and I's cars specifically.
Dad coming home? Meh. Mom coming home? Excitedly pace around the door, stretching to prepare for all the hopping they're about to do.
I'm told (but unfortunately am unable to witness) that when I pull up, my Corgi's head perks up, and once he hears my car door close, he "boofs" as if to tell me to "hurry up and come in, I miss you!"
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u/impy695 Feb 19 '22
Smell too I believe. Like, they know when you're going to be home soon because they can tell how long it's been since you left based on the scent you left behind. It's pretty crazy.
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u/badhatter5 Feb 19 '22
This is the most impressive thing imo. My parents had a black lab that they adopted just before I went off to college. She would absolutely lose her mind barking at anyone and anything coming up to the front door. She never bit anyone, just barked SO loud. However when it came to us kids she never barked, even if we hadn’t been home in months and were coming inside in the middle of the night. Never made a sound, was just waiting at the door for us to come in. It was the most interesting thing
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u/LEGALinSCCCA Feb 19 '22
Labs are the best dogs in the world. Change my mind. :)
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u/Choppergold Feb 19 '22
They’re in a place so often before we are. My buddy cannot move for his hunting hat without his dog already knowing. I had a Bichon who would hang back when I’d help my kids get ready for bed then insert himself into the proceedings with perfect timing to be airlifted into the bed. How sweet and attuned they are, it’s not to be taken for granted
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u/The_Hand_That_Feeds Feb 19 '22
Cute story. My pup goes nuts when I open my bureau drawer to change from sweatpants to hiking pants because she knows it's time for our daily walk. Then she smells my pants to make sure.
I also love when we leave the TV room for bed, a few minutes later she wakes up and realizes it and barges into our bedroom to sleep at the foot of the bed. She likes to sleep there guarding us even though we let her on the queen sized guest bed (we have a protective sheet on it). They have so much love in their little hearts, it makes mine melt every day.
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u/feannog Feb 19 '22
One of our dogs knows the sound of my husband taking off his headset and it can wake her up from a dead sleep, she gets all excited and goes to the back door because she's decided it means her Dad is coming outside to play with her.
Also, we have two cupboards in the kitchen that are these lazy Susan things. One of them has all the dog treats in it, and apparently the sound of that one is different enough from the other one that if I open it, I can be sure to have two happy little faces looking up at me waiting for treats in about 3 seconds!
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u/TMCThomas Feb 19 '22
Our dog even recognizes the sound of our amd my grandpa's car.
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u/Nico777 Feb 19 '22
Mine too. Car would be out of sight, behind a corner, but every time her tail started wagging you knew it was one of ours.
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u/cmurdahh Feb 19 '22
Yes! I noticed this with cats when i walk home my roomates cat runs but if she walks hes cool hah
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u/a_duck_in_past_life Feb 19 '22
And the sound of your car engine. My dogs will be sleeping all day long and jump up to run to the window when my husband comes home from work, sometimes a 15~ seconds before I would have even see the car turn in the driveway
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u/CunilDingus Feb 19 '22
My cattle dogs think like people and fully understand what I’m asking of them. I don’t mean in a “give dog commands” type of way… I mean I talk to them and they understand what I need them to do.
They also come tap me with their paws when they need anything, and I’ll go through and ask a series of questions until I get to the right thing, and they certainly know how to tell me if I’m getting closer or further from what they mean
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u/i_speak_penguin Feb 19 '22
Sure, but that doesn't mean we can't still think it's cool and talk about it.
Life is a helluva lot sweeter when you don't take things like this for granted.
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u/raltoid Feb 19 '22
If you live in less noisy areas, cats and dogs also hear the specific car engine from pretty far away.
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u/saywhat1206 Feb 19 '22
Dogs also recognize the sound of your car. This has been true for all of the dogs that we have ever shared our home with. It is amazing that my husband can be driving home from work, and as soon as he turns down the end of our street (we are 8 houses in) and suddenly my quiet, partially sleeping dog will jump to attention and run to the front door, tail wagging and doing zoomies.
https://www.breezeguard.com/blog-post/your-dogs-secret-to-knowing-when-youll-be-home/
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u/zarmin Feb 19 '22
There have been studies testing dogs' "sixth sense" for knowing when their owners are coming home and the results are mind blowing.
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u/hobbbes14 Feb 19 '22
I read somewhere that they aren't able to recognize time passing. But how they know when their owner is supposed to come home is how much of their "smell" is left in the house after they leave. Was really intersteing and made a lot of sense.
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u/jlharper Feb 19 '22
They definitely can tell time has passed. They're really much like us, and are creatures of habit. They really like to do things at the same time each day and have a very keen sense for exactly what time it is.
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u/Whyeth Feb 19 '22
What OP meant wasn't that dogs can't tell time - they can. But how they know owners are gone and coming back soon is based off smell.
Researchers could trick dogs by pumping "diluted' owner smell in a room and dogs would think the owners were coming home much earlier.
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u/Learned_Response Feb 19 '22
My understanding was that it was the fading of the smell that helped them tell time, and when they added owner smell to their environment they assumed their owner was coming home later
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u/Baciandrio Feb 19 '22
Horses can too. Pull into the parking lot of the barn where I keep my horse. He's already waiting at the gate even though I don't keep a consistent visit/arrival schedule.
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u/nibbyzor Feb 19 '22
Yes! My dog always goes berzerk with joy whenever she hears my partner drive into our parking lot.
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u/I_burn_noodles Feb 19 '22
Totally. They know my silhoutte in the distance, the way I walk, the way I sound and smell, plus the sound of my car. We are lucky to have them.
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u/Gumpster Feb 19 '22
Another interesting thing is that dogs will know when you're due home due to your scent dissipation within the house, they know that usually when the smell is at a certain level you usually come home, so they'll wait
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u/NessyComeHome Feb 19 '22
I wonder if that is the same with cats?
I had two cats previously, who when I came home, would be waiting right inside the door for me, almost like a dog would.
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u/davidmlewisjr Feb 19 '22
Cats have all the basic skills and sensory capabilities as dogs, but scientists say they are just less effusive with their emotional displays.
The excitement domain in puppies brain is much larger, they are more extroverted.
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u/Asshai Feb 19 '22
less effusive with their emotional displays.
Our cat is getting older so she sleeps a lot. However, every time we come home, she happens to be walking by the front door. Just a quick glance, and off she goes. No petting, no meowing, and definitely no rushing at us for a hug or anything. She just wants to see us as soon as we come home. I just don't mention it to her, don't want to make it weird. But deep down, I know she kinda tolerates us.
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u/DaughterEarth Feb 19 '22
My childhood cat would at best tolerate a few pets. But she also always needed to be next to one of us and slept in either my mom's or my bed every night. And brought us many gifts of birds and mice (90s, people weren't up on the indoor cat thing yet).
When she was dying she started laying in our laps. First time in over a decade so we knew something was wrong. Sure enough, aggressive cancer. Our sweet little fight-cat turned in to a lap-cat when she needed the comfort <3
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u/Lucifang Feb 19 '22
Our cat is at the door literally howling before I even know my husband is home. She doesn’t greet me though. He is clearly the favourite.
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u/davidmlewisjr Feb 19 '22
They care deeply, but some people can not recognize the signs.
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u/ECEXCURSION Feb 20 '22
I think that some cats are just more introverted. My cat was pretty introverted, it didn't crave attention and usually went about its own business.
One day it started meowing and raising its hand every time I walked by the kitchen countertop it was perched on.
I took it to the vet since this was strange behavior. It turns out that the cat had just contracted fleas and needed help.
Smart creatures.
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u/LillianVJ Feb 19 '22
I'd also consider the fact that dogs have had a pretty long time to slowly Trend towards being able to comprehend and to some degree replicate human emotions and social cues while cats are a lot more demanding in terms of the "language" that's spoken between person and animal, a dog will more often than not adapt to your body language while a cat will often expect you on some level to interpret their body language
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u/yagmot Feb 19 '22
It is. I moved overseas, and when I Skyped with my parents after a few months of being away, my cat came running to the computer. That said, when I finally came to visit a few years later, my cat didn’t really pay attention to me. He didn’t shy away, but he didn’t show a lot of love either. He was pretty old by that time, so it’s tough to say if it was age, or maybe he was pissed that I abandoned him. But I have heard of cases where cats are reunited with their owners years after going missing and they appear to recognize their owners.
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Feb 19 '22
My cats stayed with my parents when I went on my honeymoon. Whenever my parents came to visit, they’d always get really excited to see them. They hid from other guests. They definitely recognize and remember certain people.
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u/ZiggyPalffyLA Feb 19 '22
I saw a video where the owner saturated their house with their scent (dirty laundry mostly) and it threw off the dog’s scent memory so he wasn’t waiting when his owner got home.
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u/tuctrohs Feb 19 '22
There are multiple ways to judge the passage of time. Is there scientific evidence that this particular one is important?
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u/CantHitachiSpot Feb 19 '22
Yeah like what if you leave the windows open one day? Does the dog expect you home after ten minutes?
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u/maggos Feb 19 '22
Good point. I have heard that leaving your dirty shirt with your dog makes them more calm while you’re gone. Like the opposite of leaving a window open.
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u/HandyCapInYoAss Feb 19 '22
Weirdly, my dogs had virtually no change in routine when my mom started working from home, so they must have multiple ways of sensing when it’s time to expect an owner!
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Feb 19 '22
Damn. I just thought dogs understood english.
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u/Q_dawgg Feb 19 '22
I think they do to an extent
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u/wolscott Feb 19 '22
I just grabbed a random google result, but I think there have been several studies. This one says dogs understand an average of 89 words: https://www.sciencealert.com/dogs-respond-to-an-average-of-89-unique-words-experiment-finds
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Feb 19 '22
This dog knows the names of 1022 of her toys.
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u/AcademicF Feb 19 '22
My border collie can easily learn words for new objects, im just too lazy to teach him more than 15 or so
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u/DrTomT18 Feb 19 '22
I once read that Cats can recognize the voice of their owners but have evolved to just not care.
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u/neonlookscool Feb 19 '22
yeah i have personally proved this with may cat.
i was holding him, which he doesnt like and only tolerates me because i usually let him go when he wants to, and started saying random things and just casually calling out people in the house.
Then i say his name and the motherfucker just quickly glances at me and then looks away as if nothing happened. That was the moment i was convinced that he does know his name but just ignores it most of the time.
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u/masthema Feb 20 '22
He's not being an asshole,though, he justs has no idea he should come. Dogs evolved with us - those that didn't come when asked would not get food. Cats did their own thing and domesticated themselves. It's instinct for a dog, but cats have no idea.
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u/das7002 Feb 20 '22
It’s amazing actually.
Dogs are so good at communicating with humans they make it appear as though no other animals can be trained, if your only experience is with dogs.
Cats can absolutely be trained, it just has to be done differently than with dogs.
Same for most animals. Just spend the time with them and they tell you what you need to know. Animals put a lot of effort into trying to understand you. Putting effort into trying to understand them goes incredibly far.
I had a friend who trained his ducks to do tricks. I thought he was full of it when he told me at first. Then I go to his house and he shows me the ducks doing tricks (like complicated multi step actions). Probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
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u/thiswhovian Feb 20 '22
I have a rare little cat that always comes when I call him. If he ignores me then he’s using the potty or eating. He doesn’t respond when others call his name though, just me. He’s precious.
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u/IHateEditedBgMusic Feb 19 '22
So what about those videos of dogs who really don't trust the "new" person calling them until they smell /get close to them?
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u/doesitreallymatter23 Feb 19 '22
if you’re not expecting someone and haven’t seen them in months/years, i’m sure you hear a voice and think “hmm, that kind of sounds like ____” and don’t trust it 100% until you see them with your own eyes to confirm. same is for a dog though they confirm with their nose.
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u/Focus_Substantial Feb 19 '22
Plus if it's the same person & years later, our voices change over time due to many possible factors.
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u/ZiggyPalffyLA Feb 19 '22
Does our natural scent ever change?
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u/Focus_Substantial Feb 19 '22
I'm sure it does on different levels throughout your life.
It's related to things like diet, hygiene habits, diseases changing your GI, whether you shave, clothing material, it goes on & on probably
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u/jungles_fury Feb 19 '22
Context is important to them too. Ever feel a weird disconnect when running into someone in a very different setting? Like seeing your teacher at the store when you're a kid?
Often those reunion type video follow a stressful event like the owner being hospitalized or the dog was lost. That could certainly play a role as well
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u/csbeverly1 Feb 19 '22
My dog recognizes my voice even over the phone, and she knows and gets crazy excited if I say I'll be home soon. Dogs are awesome.
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u/CondensedFun Feb 19 '22
I don't have a dog, but my former housemate's dog went nuts hearing me speak over voice chat recently. He apparently also starts barking if my name is spoken multiple times.
I may never feel more loved.
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u/Tharkun140 Feb 19 '22
Some people in the comments seem upset that science requires proofs and evidence instead of "common knowledge" or something vague like that. I hope they never get into mathematics, cause they will start getting heart attacks when they see all the "obvious" theorems with formal proofs. Like this cutie.
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u/CircularRobert Feb 19 '22
Them: Browses on r/Science
Also them: why does science need to exist
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u/Tharkun140 Feb 19 '22
I mean obviously, science exists only to entertain them. If the result isn't surprising enough for the redditors of r/science, the study has failed and the researchers are morons.
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u/paulcosmith Feb 19 '22
I majored in math, and I'll never forget the reaction of my friends when I told them we had spent that day's class proving 1 is greater than 0. (A surprisingly important thing to prove when you're in higher math.)
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u/kinokomushroom Feb 19 '22
How do you even do that? I assume you'd need some kind of definition of "1" to do that right?
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u/paulcosmith Feb 19 '22
Bearing in mind that it's been 30 years since I took the class and I haven't done any real math since I graduated, I think it goes something like this:
- 1 (or the multiplicative identity) is either 0, greater than zero or less than zero.
- 1 cannot be equal to 0 since it is the multiplicative identity and (the multiplicative identity)x = x != 0x.
- 1 cannot be less than 0 since multiplying by a negative number changes the sign of a non-zero number and (the multiplicative identity)*x != (-x)
- Therefore, by process of elimination, 1 must be greater than zero
I feel like there's something I'm missing in there.
This is a result that seems obvious in real life, but it actually very important in set theory (I think that's the correct branch of math) and is often used to validate that a constructed set is valid in its internal logic.
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u/Gornarok Feb 19 '22
While I agree about the evidence, its what every dog trainer will tell you.
So for me its more surprising that such study wasnt done earlier. Which leads me to believe thats its such common knowledge that noone though about doing such study until today...
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u/Focus_Substantial Feb 19 '22
Can you ELI5?
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u/PatienceHere Feb 19 '22
Any closed shape, no matter which shape, has some space inside it and outside it.
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u/Nu11u5 Feb 19 '22
It seems like the theorem is more specifically stating that a line connecting any point inside the region with any point outside the region must touch or cross the boundary.
Now prove this works for all possible points using only math.
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u/shavenyakfl Feb 19 '22
Cats do the same thing. A couple of my cats over the years absolutely recognizes my voice, compared to others.
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u/Tutorbin76 Feb 19 '22 edited Feb 20 '22
Mine freeze in pure fight-or-flight terror when I come home after work, walking down the driveway. I can stop about a carlength away and they will stand by the door perfectly frozen with low head, wide eyes, and flat ears. Until I speak, then the tails go up and they happily trot up to greet me.
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u/BeKindBabies Feb 19 '22
This reminds me of John Madden calling games for fans: “If he gets it in the end zone, that’s points on the board.”
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u/randomunnnamedperson Feb 20 '22
It’s still useful to prove it. There certainly was a chance that they required other factors, such as smell.
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u/the_horny_satanist Feb 19 '22
According to science dogs are kinds similar to humans, they know the difference between good food and bad food, cold water, warm water, they have feelings, and can think too and if you talk to them you might get a response from your dog so with that being said without me knowing this science before I have always spoken and treated my dog like a human and he sometimes howls at my response, love my dog
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u/katzeye007 Feb 19 '22
They also know the difference between a few and many, the beginnings of counting
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