Poll: do cats and dogs understand us?

[flying_babyb]

What do you think?

 

[TheLittleRoo]

At least I know dogs do. Did you see the study in which two dogs were given food treats for doing a behavior. Then one dog stopped getting a treat for the same trick the other dog got a treat for. He totally stopped doing his trick. I remember the study concluding that dogs get jealous, which is something I know cats do too just from knowing my own two cats over their lifetimes.

Now, that's relational to them between two cats, but I also think they understand much more of what we do/ say than we give them credit for. I can say "dinner" and my cat knows enough to jump off the couch and follow me.

My cat knows when I'm sad, he just comes over and lays beside me and doesn't complain when I hold him tighter, even though he normally would get up and leave if I tried this not-sad.

 

[MontanaZoo]

One of my dogs does and will also look at you like you are stupid if you don't understand what he's telling you. Look at you, look at food on table, look at you, bark...

The other one will look at you with his head tilted like he's never heard of that before, what, outside, what's outside, what strange language do you speak.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I'm not sure..these guys look pretty confused...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uuqXXT7VYo

 

[rgf207]

Animals don't understand language but rather actions and sounds. Teaching your dog to sit does not mean they know what the definition of "sit" is. They just understand that when you say "sit", they sit down. That is how you tought it. You could use the keyword "banana" and it would still not be any different. This also works with hand signals.

Dogs do, however, understand body language and tone. When I am upset, my dog knows it. She will constantly be by my side when I am upset. She tries to comfort me.

 

[Ppufi]

I know my cat does. He's learned how to open doors, play the piano, and he trys to communicate with us. My cat also knows when we're sick, because he'll play extra attention to you. He acts more human than cat, really.

 

[flying_babyb]

Ive awalys wondered this. my one cat will just look at me like Im nuts when i talk to him. I wonder what there thinking when you talk to them. Mine just looks dumfounded. Though I think he knows what a mousieee is.

 

[tevagirl]

If I ask our dog if she wants to go out (to potty) she'll pretty much ignore me. If I ask her is she wants to go to the beach she'll beat me to the door.

Curse words make her nervous therefore if my husband picks up any type of tool whats so ever she'll hide in the bedroom. (Actually she used to hide under the bed but since she's a bit too fat now to fit under there she just sticks her head under it.)

 

[Stacerita]

Yes, I think they do. At least mine understand me. They know that if I say "nap time" they are to hop in the bed but keep off the pillows.

 

[singingpixie]

Mine is at least really good at picking up my tone. My roommate has a dog who is the most insane, hyper dog I've ever met. He constantly obsesses over things that only he sees, runs laps around the apartment barking, etc. He's also deaf. One day he was sitting in the kitchen barking at the top of the refrigerator because I'd put things up there that he didn't like. I kept getting up to stop him, only to sit back down and have him start again. Frustrated, I looked at my dog Dax and said "will you please make him stop?" (obviously I didn't expect her to do anything, I was venting). She gets up, goes into the kitchen next to him, and barks at him. When he doesn't respond (because he can't hear her), she paws at his shoulder to get him to look at her, then barks. Any time his focus went to the top of the fridge again, she'd repeat the process. Eventually she herded him out of the kitchen. I love my dog. I'm sure she recognized the fact that I was frustrated, and knew that when I'm frustrated like that it's usually over something the other dog was doing... therefore when I asked her "to do something" she guessed right. Or else she was just sick of listening to it too!

 

[MeanLaureen]

Depends on the animal. I have one dog that understands me but another dog that doesn't have a clue.

 

[sandy6879]

I think they understand and then decide if they would like to pay attention or not. I work from home and have 3 of them around me all day - I have gotten to know their wants/needs pretty well and I think they have me figured out too,

 

[Magic Mom]

They can understand us, but they seldom listen........

 

[stahshee]

I know my cat does. He's learned how to open doors, play the piano, and he trys to communicate with us. My cat also knows when we're sick, because he'll play extra attention to you. He acts more human than cat, really.

my one cat can tell when dd and I are sad