🐶 Could dogs one day talk? Science answers

What if your dog could one day talk to you? This idea, which has permeated stories for centuries, is now being examined by scientific research. While talking dogs still belong to fiction, experts are questioning the biological limits and technological tools that could expand exchanges with our companions.

A new synthesis, conducted by researchers from Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, addresses this question seriously. This work analyzes the anatomical, cognitive, and evolutionary factors that shape the way dogs communicate with humans. Their aim is to distinguish established knowledge from exaggerations and to map the still-unexplored paths.


From an anatomical point of view, dogs do not have the same vocal structures as humans. Their larynx and vocal tract are adapted for barking, whining, or growling, but not for producing the articulated sounds of speech. On a cognitive level, although they grasp many words and gestures, the ability to construct sentences remains beyond their reach.

From an evolutionary angle, if speech constituted an advantage for dogs living with humans, it would probably have developed to some extent over generations. However, this phenomenon has not occurred. Researchers show that domestication has certainly refined communication, but without crossing the threshold into a language.

Thus, scientists explain that rather than trying to make dogs talk, it is more promising to better grasp their current modes of expression. They indeed use vocal and non-verbal signals rich in information, which we can learn to interpret to deepen our relationship with them.

These reflections also have implications for the study of human language evolution. Dogs, as comparative models, help illuminate the early cognitive stages preceding speech. Furthermore, lessons learned from dog-human communication feed into the field of ethorobotics, which aims to design more effective interactive robots.

Ethorobotics and interspecies interactions

Ethorobotics is an emerging field that combines the study of animal behavior and robotics. Its ambition is to create machines capable of interacting spontaneously with animals, drawing inspiration from the communication rules observed in nature.

For example, by understanding how dogs interact with humans, engineers can program robots to use comparable signals, such as head movements or sounds, in order to establish a connection with dogs or other species.

These advances find practical applications, such as in animal-assisted therapies or wildlife monitoring. Ethorobotic robots can thus replace or complement human interactions in certain settings.

Moreover, this method allows for testing hypotheses about communication without the distortions related to species, by providing a controlled environment to observe how signals are received and understood.