Dogs can learn new words just by overhearing human conversations, a study has found. Many dog owners find they have to avoid saying certain words, such as walk, park or treat, because they trigger an excited reaction in the animal.

Dogs can learn new words just by overhearing human conversations, a study has found. Many dog owners find they have to avoid saying certain words, such as walk, park or treat, because they trigger an excited reaction in the animal.

More than 40 years ago, psychologists found signs that children living in noisy places were having trouble learning to read. They suspected that the noise interfered with language learning. Now, their suspicions have been confirmed, this time in the lab.

Both toddlers and Gifted Word Learner dogs can learn new words by listening to people, providing new insight into the social and cognitive cues involved in learning language.

K?" Both parents and dog owners know that some words should not be spoken, but only spelled, to prevent small ears from eavesdropping on the conversation. At the age of 1.5 years, toddlers can already learn new words by overhearing other people.