Dogs can understand people?

It is, perhaps, understandable that to some, observing animal behaviour leads them to conclude that dogs, (and cats for that matter) have supernatural abilities. However, their actions are explained not by any 6th sense but very good natural ones. Can dogs understand people? Yes and no. No, they cannot understand language as we understand it. But the can learn to recognise, body tension, tone of voice and even learn to recognise a word. But there is a world of differance between learning to recognise a word and understand it. So, when I say 'walk up' to my dog and she walks on her hind legs, she does not think that walk up means walk on her hind legs only that she is conditioned, to react in a certain way to this particular sound pattern she has learnt to recognise, because I have rewarded her in the past for such behaviour. Many animals can read the state of your muscle tension, reading a relaxed state engenders relaxation in them, the same is true of voice tone. all the best urban

Usually the dog of yours understands you better than another dog from a neighbour. You know, that dog must have been used to its own master for each action. Besides, you are new to it and that could be the reason as well.

I'm also sure dogs and cats undrestand a whole lot more than we usually give them credit for. They also think and reason at a pretty high level for many things. I have to laugh when scientists say (and yes, I've actually read this!) that dogs have no object permanence. All you need to do is ask the dog to go find his ball, and he'll look for it! If that's not a sign that he can picture and remember things, I don't know what is.

Yes, you are right and i also feel the same way, that dogs are half humans, specially living with humans, they understand everything. I also have a pet dog,and he knows what mood we are in, and behaves the same way, he knows when we are not feeling too happy and sad, and he comes and snuggles close to us, trying to make us happy, when we are happy, hes always there and wags his tails around, sharing our happiness. They have this human like quality, instinct too, maybe living with us. My dog also knows when i am not feeling too upto it to take him out or am sleepy, so early mornings, after hes tried a few times to wake me up to take him out and realises its not worth it, he sits by our bedside and simply waits for us to get up, and to be taken out. He understands perfectly that nows not the right time, i should wait. There are times when guests have come and he knows hes to behave himself and we just have to give him a look, and hes out of the room, he knows hes not to be around. When weve ended our meal time, its his meal time and he loves to be fed aand thereafter taken out, i guess he knows his routine too. And he knows when its his bath time,and time to play with everyone or simply sit in his bed and time to sleep too. Hes just like another family memeber in our house, and we all love him so dearly.

lol my dog trainer insists that dogs don't speak English but they seem to understand when my hubby tells them no and stop.... Maybe it has more to do with his body language?

Dogs do not have 6th sense but they can understand humans. Humans means that the owners of the dog. When we take care of the dog so much, the dog is always with us and it keeps seeing all our activities, it can observe what we like and what we dont. So dogs can understand people with whom it lives but not others.

I think that dogs and cats have an understanding and a sense that we humans do not, and that they understand a lot more than we think they do.