Their ability to key into speech is uncanny. My youngest, a BC/ACD mix is a sponge for commands. I've been training dogs by using "building block" commands for years. BC's run on praise, ACD's run on rewards; both pick up commands like nobody's business. The youngest showed a propensity for running and jumping (clearing a 4' fence flat-footed like a mountain goat -- to my great dismay!). It took about 5 minutes (and a handful of treats -- she IS half cattledog after all <lol&gt to redirect her to jump through a hulahoop. She got the concept of "around" and "through" right away.

It amazes me how creatures who are supposedly bereft of language centers grasp commands almost immediately, then can generalize the building blocks into more complex tasks. One thing I've noticed with my dogs is that the borders, once having grasped a command, will do it by the book, exactly the same way every time. A cattledog seems more likely to generalize and will vary execution of a task to fit a new situation.

Maybe that's just my kids. I never said any of us was normal <lol>

They love showing off how smart they are. We put on a show every time we go out together. They come home all confident and happy having been the center of attention

Thanks for the post. Any post with a border in it gets my K/R.

Even at that, my male border collie has figured out what it means. I have two and they pick up on voice commands very quickly and can always be given in normal conversational tone.

Whenever I would say the word she would become all excited. Finally, if I had to say it, I spelled it. It didn't take her long to figure out what it meant.

so smart.....Or else mine just knows she can command me.

The latter is probably the case. They're extremely quick to figure out who's boss. In this house is usually the one with thumbs to open the cookie-box. Just usually, LOL

A cattledog learns just as quickly but will find every possible way to skip the task and go straight to the treat.

As soon as they see me out, they zoom over with a ball, Frisbee or stick to throw. They understand and respond to all commands and are the most loving of dogs.

...to anyone considering getting one.

They aren't the best dogs around kids because they will often try to herd them, which includes nipping at their heels and can be quite frightening to small children. Both of my BCs are rescue dogs. One was rescued from a family who had a small child in which the dog wasn't compatible.

herding...

Border collies are just generally the best at it, and due to their widespread use for that purpose are still being bred for it. Not all border collies will do this with kids just like all herding dogs, but it's just more likely that they will.

Our cats and dogs often respond to things we humans are saying to each other as well as to the specific or group of animals.

I think that our furry family members are limited limited in language only by the physical inability to form human words. Even so, my little Shih Tzu often responds to being given a treat with two little one syllable grunts that sound remarkably like "thank you." And no one taught him to speak.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk.

Very cool article. Anyone who's owned dogs can corroborate these findings, at least anecdotally, to some degree or another. AFAIK it doesn't appear that dogs have shown the ability to convey language in the way that they're responding to it here, but it's interesting to see the depth of their skill at interacting with human speech.

X-post @ Pets?

Neil Degrasse Tyson

with little to no formal training, responds to words, gestures, and tone of voice. She probably could have been taught to do some amazing things by someone with the time to do so.

Here, though, she just knows simple words and gestures, like "come," "sit," "down," "stay," "out," and "ah," which means no, or don't, or stop.

She responds just as well to a hand gesture for any of the above.

She's the only dog from a herding breed I've had. I've wondered if other "herding" dogs are as safe with cats and chickens, as loyal to home and to one person, as uninterested in chewing or digging or running off, as she is.

If she can, she can post here without abuse.

No one gets to post here without abuse.

In fairness, a lot of the news is frustrating and disturbing these days, so it is not that surprising that many of us would have nerves close to the surface.

in the title of an OP?