Can dogs do grammar?

[JudyN]

Can dogs understand two-word expressions? I have in mind thing like 'Black ball', 'Let's go home and see Daddy', 'Fetch Mummy's shoes', 'Let's go to the kitchen and get your tea'.

Once when Jasper ground to a halt on the way home from a walk I suggested that if we went home we'd see Daddy. Not surprisingly, he was then even more determined not to move and looked in every direction, trying to spot OH. Is there any evidence that dogs can link two known words and realise that if they go to the kitchen they'll get their tea, or will they just be confused about why you're saying two words they know but not connect them? If I was able to teach the difference between 'black' and 'white', and 'ball' and 'rope', could a dog then understand 'Fetch black ball', 'fetch white rope' etc?

[minkee]

I'm fairly sure they can. For instance Scout knows 'Jump up' to jump up into my arms so I can catch her - I've tried saying "Jump up Dan" and she has done it. That's the only real example I can think of though Others are more just taking orders in a string (eg. "take it, go up" = take this thing I'm holding then go up the stairs - she doesn't have to understand how each one relates, just go and do one then the other).

What I DON'T think they can do, is understand tense. For eg. Sit will always mean 'Move my bum to the floor'. So saying 'Good sit!' won't mean 'Wow you moved your bum to the floor really well there!' they'll only wonder why you're telling them to bum to the floor when it's already there. If that makes sense! Same as saying we WILL see Daddy doesn't make any sense. "Daddy" means "There is my Daddy right there" or "Go to my Daddy right now" and never "Well if I wait 10 minutes maybe I'll see Daddy". What do you think?

[dontpugme]

I remember watching a clip on youtube from an Ian Dunbar seminar thing. I can't get the link right now cos I'm on a bus for my school's band trip. He mentioned a little bit of this. He kept repeating as an example “Come here...take this...to Jamie” He said he would give the dog a note saying it was time to eat dinner or something and dog would bring it outside to Jamie. It was very entertaining.

[wvvdiup1]

It seems from my experiences with working, training, or just owning dogs, that dogs do know the "Verb/Noun/Pronoun" and "Pronoun/Noun/Verb" or whatever combination thereof, sentence grammar, but everything else seems to be just "garbage" to them.

Good question though!

[Horace's Mum]

Horus can follow 2-3 signs in a string. Possibly it is easier to spot this with him because we have less signs than you guys say words. I have a few other deafie owner friends who have noticed similar - usually 2 but occasionally 3.

Struggling to think of examples off the top of my head, but something like "bed-settle" will send him to his bed and lie down, whereas "bed-stay" will send him to his bed and he will sit and stay until released. Even more effective when the bed is in another room

Slightly different but just as interesting is that he definitely understands context - many of our signs crossover depending on the circumstances. I also use some signs as individual signs, or combine with another to mean something completely different, eg "where-food" to mean search for the food of the scent on my hands, but "where" on its own means show me what's wrong, when he is trying to tell me something.

[Nettle]

I think they understand key words but I would hesitate to presume any more than that.

[JudyN]

Thinking about it, Jasper does understand 'Find Daddy'. I sometimes ask him to 'Fetch Mummy's shoes' and he occasionally manages it, but only if the shoes are a few feet away and I'm gesticulating wildly He possibly links 'Mummy' to me rather than the shoes, which would be confusing.

I'd like to work on giving him something and asking him to take it to OH. The main problem is that he's too ready to drop things he's been given. Unless they're edible, of course! I've a feeling a note wouldn't get to OH in one piece, either!

I wonder how much he pick up from all the gesticulating and encouragement I give him, which could be regarded as 'filler' in between the words he knows. So often he seems too understand what's said even if I'm pretty sure he doesn't know the individual words, so he may pick up more from the 'filler' than I think.

[Nettle]

he may pick up more from the 'filler' than I think

Yes; this week I inadvertently demonstrated to a new client how to get her dog off the sofa without using any words. The dog had never been trained to get off the sofa but had been given the usual Get Down Now! stuff accompanied by (accidental) confrontational body-language.

I made a space for him to get off into, body-blocked him and pointed at the floor. He got off, wagging his tail and grinning (a most lovely dog) and then I realised what I had done all the while talking to the client about something different.