By Shauneen Miranda

If you have ever wondered how well dogs can understand humans, the University of Maryland’s Canine Language Perception Lab has some answers. 

The Canine Language Perception Lab conducts research on how dogs understand what people say to them and how it compares to infants.  

Amritha Mallikarjun, a Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience and cognitive science, started the research to find similarities and differences between how canines and infants think and learn.  

“It’s difficult to tease apart auditory functions from linguistic functions using just infants, but we can test dogs who have excellent auditory functions,” Mallikarjun said. 

Although dogs do not have the same linguistic system as people, Mallikarjun said these studies can teach researchers about infants’ language processing and dogs themselves. 

The research lays more ground toward understanding the language processing system between young children and dogs and “the role of the developing linguistic system in children,” according to the lab’s website. 

“The lab has shown me and many others how many innate language processing skills humans and dogs alike possess,” research assistant Veeda Baradar said.  

For Baradar, a Ph.D. student in audiology, the results have shown her the detriment noise has on language processing. 

Mallikarjun recently published a study on dogs’ perceptions of their names using different levels of background noise.

Over 600 dogs, including purebreds and mixes, have participated in the lab so far.

Dog owners vary from university students to locals in their thirties and even retirees, said research assistant Rebecca Wolf.

“The people that have come in from the community have been awesome, which is why we have such a big following,” Wolf said.

Owners can accompany their dogs during the entire study, which usually lasts around 10 minutes. 

Wolf and Mallikarjun stressed how easy it is for dogs to participate in the research. Mallikarjun shared that all people need to do in order to participate is email dogs@umd.edu and express their interest. The research team will send instructions on the next steps. 

“The lab is not only an amazing place to work, but it is also wonderful to participate as well,” Baradar said. “Participating in studies is at the core of research, and it’s our duty to further the knowledge in a field you love.”

Featured photo courtesy of Devon Milley.