Toy exploration in gifted word learner dogs and typical dogs

Abstract Labelling has a pronounced effect on increasing infants’ attention to objects. At the same time, infants actively seek social cues when presented with novel objects and early signs of communicative intent are considered essential for language learning. Although no other species has been shown to possess language in its integrity, a small group of rare individual dogs (Gifted Word Learners, GWL) shows a limited subset of language-related skills: the capacity to form an extensive vocabulary of object verbal labels rapidly. Comparing these dogs to typical dogs that lack this capacity provides a unique opportunity to study the relationship between vocabulary acquisition and other cognitive traits in a non-human, non-linguistic species that evolved and developed in the human environment. The present study compares the object preferences and tendency to seek social interactions of GWL ( N = 10) and typical ( N = 21) dogs. During a two-week familiarisation phase, the caretakers and the dogs engaged in play with four dog toys, only two of which were labelled. In contrast, the other two were not labelled during the playful interaction. The subsequent test phase consisted of two trials in which these four toys, along with two novel ones, were placed on the floor, and the caretakers remained passive. The dogs were given 90 s to explore freely. The results did not provide evidence for significant differences between GWL dogs and T dogs’ exploration of the labelled, unlabelled and novel objects. GWL dogs, however, demonstrated a significantly higher propensity to interact with their caretakers while holding a toy in their mouths, notably, mainly presenting the novel toy to their caretakers. GWL dogs’ tendency to interact with the passive caretaker may suggest a greater interest in the social aspect of interacting with objects.