June 4, 2026, 3:03 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
That dogs respond to our voice probably surprises no one. But what exactly do the animals perceive? And how much information can be conveyed solely through the sound of the voice? Researchers have explored these questions in a recent study, gaining fascinating insights into the communication between humans and dogs.
Do Dogs Understand More Than Just Our Words?
Dogs often respond remarkably precisely to their human’s voice. But do they really understand our words, or is the actual message in the tone?
A research team led by Anna Gábor and Attila Andics from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest investigated this question. In the study published in the journal “Cognition,” titled “Cross-species acoustic codes for yes and no in human nonverbal vocalizations,” the scientists examined whether humans can convey basic messages solely through their voice. This did not refer to a “yes” or “no” as an answer to a question, but rather an action-related “Okay, you may” or “Stop that.” The researchers refer to encouragement (“do it”) and discouragement (“don’t do it”).1
They also wanted to know if such signals could be understood by another species. Therefore, they focused on dogs, which are known to be particularly attentive to human sounds. The researchers tested whether the animals could recognize from the voice whether they were being encouraged to act or discouraged.
How Researchers Tested Dogs with a Single “Bü”
The study involved 52 human-dog pairs. Additionally, there was a control group where the dogs had to solve the same tasks without vocal signals from their owners. Participants were not allowed to use words or commands. Instead, they were to communicate with their dogs solely using the meaningless syllable “Bü.” They could freely vary tone, volume, and emphasis.
Four situations were tested: Owners were to encourage their dog to either come or go away (“Yes/okay, you may”) or to prevent them (“No/stop that”).
The prompts referred either to the owner themselves (“here”) or to another location (“there”). The researchers then analyzed the recordings to see if the different messages could be identified by typical patterns in the voice. They analyzed pitch, volume, and duration of the sounds, among other things.
Also interesting: Can dogs deliberately deceive us? A new study provides answers
Even Without Words, Dogs Understood the Message
Initially, it was shown that the voice indeed had an impact on the dogs’ behavior. The animals responded significantly more as intended when their owners used the syllable “Bü” than in the control group without vocalizations.
Subsequent analyses revealed that the messages “Yes/Okay, you may” and “No/Stop that” could be clearly distinguished by characteristic vocal features. A statistical method recognized these two categories with an accuracy of 77 percent–significantly more than would be expected by chance.
Simply put, the encouraging signals typically sounded somewhat higher, shorter, and more even than the discouraging signals. These patterns appeared regardless of whether the voice was male or female and whether the message referred to “here” or “there.”
The target locations “here” and “there” could also be distinguished by the voice. However, this difference was significantly weaker than for the messages “Yes/Okay, you may” and “No/Stop that.”
More Than Just a Tone?
The results suggest that humans can convey basic messages even without words. According to the researchers, ancient communication patterns shared by many mammals could be behind this. The study provides intriguing insights into how closely human-dog communication–and possibly the evolutionary roots of our language–are connected.
Does My Cat Understand Me When I Meow at Her?
Dogs understand slow speech better than fast speech
Not All Questions Are Answered
The results indicate that dogs can distinguish between encouraging and discouraging messages. However, it is less clear whether they recognized the information about “here” and “there” solely from the voice. The experimental setup also directed the dogs’ attention to specific locations, so this influence cannot be completely ruled out.
Additionally, the study exclusively used the syllable “Bü.” Whether similar acoustic patterns occur with other sounds or in different situations will need to be shown in future research.
The Tone Makes the Command
If you feel that your dog often understands what is meant just by the tone, this study might be right. The results suggest that dogs can understand basic messages like “Yes/Okay, you may” or “No/Stop that” even when no understandable words are spoken.
This could explain why communication between humans and dogs often works so well–and why sometimes a certain tone of voice says more than many words.