Dog-owners often talk to their dogs in a particular style that’s very similar to how caregivers talk to babies, which is known by researchers as ‘child-directed speech’. ‘Dog-directed speech,’ which also involves speaking more slowly, in a higher-pitched voice, with a simple vocabulary, is sometimes referred to as ‘Doggerel.’
A team of researchers at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary measured the brain activity of family dogs as they listened to dog-directed speech, child-directed speech, and ordinary adult conversational tones. It emerged that their brains were much more responsive to dog- and child-directed speech than to the ordinary adult tones, and also that they were more responsive to women’s voices than men’s, perhaps because women’s voices tend naturally to be higher and more melodic.
If you’re a dog-lover, whatever language you use to address your beloved pet, there’s no need to feel silly if you do so using a version of baby-talk. Science is on your side!
