Can dogs rapidly learn words?
The Family Dog Project research team at the Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest is investigating exceptionally talented dogs who seem to learn words in the absence of any formal training, but simply by being exposed to playing with their owners in the typical way owners do, in a human family. "Such rapid learning seems to be similar to the way human children acquire their vocabulary around two to three years of age," says Adam Miklósi, head of the Department of Ethology and co-author of the study.