Page 52 - Issue 2_2018
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ATCA National Weekend Results Study Shows Dogs Really
Hendersonville Kennel Club Do Respond to Baby Talk
Supported Entry
5-25-2018
Judge Vicki Abbott By Linda Lombardi
BOB - GCHG CH Temora Say It With Bacon Admit it: you’ve used baby talk to communicate with your dog. The
BOS - GCH CH Temora Southern Comfort exaggerated intonation and hyper-articulation of vowels is thought to
BOW - Temora Livin’ La Vida Loca help human infants learn language and bond socially. But dogs aren’t
WD - Temora The Hawk going to start speaking anytime soon, so . . . what’s the point?
RWD - Ryba’s A Night At The Opera
WB - Temora Livin’ La Vida Loca Well, a recent study published in “Animal Cognition” last month, found
RWB - Dreamtime Serendipity that dogs actually respond well to baby talk.
SEL Dog - GCHG CH Dunham Lake Unanimous Decision
SEL Bitch - CH Temora Bacon’s Bitz Researchers at the University of York in the United Kingdom tested
BOBOH - CH Temora Bacon’s Bitz two different types of speech on dogs. One type was a normal, conver-
VETERAN - CH Dunham Lake Moon Dreams sational tone you’d use when speaking to another adult, with subject
BRACE - CH Dragonfly’s Rolling On The River matter pertaining to human-oriented topics. The other was what
CH Dragonfly’s Proud Mary researchers called “dog-directed speech,” using exaggerated intona-
tion when talking about dog-relevant subjects, like treats and walks.
Spartanburg Kennel Club, Inc. To make sure the speech being tested was consistent, recordings were
Supported Entry used. Two experimenters sat with speakers in their laps that played
recordings of their own voices. A leashed dog was brought into the
5-27-2018 room, and researchers measured how much time he spent looking at
Judge Charles Olvis each person while the speech was being played. After the recording
ended, the dog was allowed off leash, and the time spent with each
BOB - GCHG CH Temora Say It With Bacon person was measured. Researchers found that dogs spent more time
BOS - GCH CH Bluquo’s Night To Remember looking at the person who spoke in baby talk, as well as more time
BOW - Ryba’s A Night At The Opera sitting with that individual once the recordings were over.
WD - Ryba’s A Night At The Opera
RWD - Christhill Argyle Tapa A second experiment was conducted to determine whether the
WB - Temora Livin’ La Vida Loca choice of dog-related topics was the only factor keeping the canines’
RWB - Christhill Paisley Bluquo attention. Dogs once again heard recordings, but this time the intona-
SEL Dog - GCHG CH Dunham Lake Unanimous Decision tion and subject matter were inconsistent. In one recording, the baby
SEL Bitch - CH Temora Bacon’s Bitz talk was paired with human topics. In the other recording, normal
BOBOH - GCH CH Bluquo’s Night To Remember conversational intonation was used to discuss walks and treats. In this
VETERAN - CH Dunham Lake Moon Dreams experiment, the dogs had no preference, showing that the combina-
BRACE - CH Dragonfly’s Rolling On The River tion of baby talk and dog-relevant subject matter was needed to keep
CH Dragonfly’s Proud Mary their attention.
Spartanburg Kennel Club, Inc. One question that remains to be answered is whether the prefer-
5-28-2018 ence is entirely learned or has an innate component. It’s possible that
Judge John Boozer III puppies are born with a preference for high-pitched sounds, but they
could also have a learned association with baby talk, seeing that it’s
often used in positive situations, like when attention and treats are
BOB - GCH CH Ludlu’s Marshmallow Attack given. Previous research found a preference for baby talk in puppies as
BOS - CH Wismiss Redhawk Here Comes The Sun young as 2 months old.
BOW - Ludlu’s Break Of Dawn
WD - Roachan’s Hedge Fund King Past studies have also shown that we don’t actually talk to dogs in the
RWD - Temora Blackrange Welcome To The Dark Side same way we talk to babies. While both kinds of speech have similar
WB - Ludlu’s Break Of Dawn pitch and intonation, dog-directed speech lacks the vowel exaggera-
RWB - The Farm’s Spirit Of Rock And Roll tion we use with human infants. So, rather than being a silly habit, the
SEL Dog - GCHG CH Temora Say It With Bacon slightly different ways in which we talk to babies and animals are quite
SEL Bitch - CH Samabel Star Spangled Girl sophisticated. We have an unconscious ability to match our speech to
BOBOH - GCH CH Temora Rhythm And Blues
the potential language abilities of the listener.
Just another reason to baby talk to your dog with confidence.
Reprinted with Permission 2018
www.akc.org
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