Can Baby Talk Really Improve Bonding With Your Dog?

We can’t help it – we tend to devolve into baby talk or a baby voice when we are with our beloved dogs. They’re cute and we just can resist it! It may seem silly, but there’s some good news – science has proven that our dogs recognize this vocal shift, and they actually like it!

Here’s the thing – we’re not the only animals that do this. Apes also perform this vocal change when they’re talking to their babies, and in both humans and apes, it strengthens the bond between parent and child. So it begs the question – would dogs, with their preference and sensitivity to higher-pitched sounds (as is with children), also prefer this sort of baby speech?

Researchers at Animal Cognition wanted to put this to the test. They managed to get 37 canine volunteers, and then brought them leashed one by one into a room with two people. Then, a recording of the humans’ voices was played – one of them was in normal speech, another one in baby speech. After that, the dogs were taken off their leashes, and the scientists measured the time they spent with each person.

As it turned out, the dogs preferred the person who was the source of the recorded baby talk – and if that person continued using that sort of tone, they would spend more time with them. Later tests proved that in order to get this sort of reaction, you would have to combine consistent baby talk with their favorite words. What an interesting study!

Feature Image Source: Pixabay