How to Talk to Your Dog
Who wouldn’t talk to this puppy with Doggerel?
If, after reading this article, more men are talking to their dogs in high-pitched, sing-songy voices, my work will be done.
Okay, I have some explaining to do. First, I want to introduce a word I had never heard before. It's "prosody," the study of the intonation, stress, and rhythm of speech. Next, for our purposes, there are three broad categories of prosody: Adult-directed speech, Infant-directed speech (motherese), and Dog-directed speech (also called doggerel). If you think about it, most of us change how we speak depending on who we are addressing. Our Adult-directed speech uses a lower pitch and is less "musical." When talking to an infant, our pitch is higher and it's more rhythmic. Studies have shown that infants are more attuned to "Infant-directed" speech than the adult version.
Further, infants are more responsive to women's voices, which are naturally higher pitched, than men's.
Here is the kicker: it's the same with dogs.
In a study done by Anna Gergly and Anna Gábor at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology in Hungary, they placed family dogs in an fMRI (I could never do that, so bravo for the dogs that lie still!), and then played the voices of different people, voices of men, women, and children with varying categories of speech. Researchers found that the auditory processing regions of dogs "lit up" more and showed more significant activity when they played Infant and Dog-directed speech rather than Adult-directed speech. And, sorry, guys, this was especially true when the speakers were women. The researchers noted that women tend to "hyperarticulate" their vowels in non-Adult-directed speech and use a wider pitch range than men. Further, women tend to talk more to dogs during play and use more exaggerated prosody. (who in your household, when a dog stretches after a nap, says in a sing-songy voice, "Good big stretch up puppy!")
Why is this so? With infants, research suggests that babies learn their mom's voice and intonations in the womb and the pre-verbal stage of life. But what about dogs? The researchers postulate that it can't be because of early exposure to human voices because a puppy's ear canals are closed until puppies are about three weeks old. Thus, they muse that it might be because mammals, in general, have a sensitivity to high-pitched (female voice) sounds. The co-evolution of dogs and humans over more than 6000 generations of dogs led to dogs being more responsive to that "sing-songy" voice. Over those thousands of years, humans learned to use that voice to get the attention of their dogs.
A couple of implications. First, Dr. Stanley Coren, Ph.D., who writes about the dog-human connection for Psychology Today, noted that in his research, he found that four out of five companion dog trainers are women. (guard and hunting dogs are trained primarily by men) Could that be because dogs are naturally more responsive to women? It hurts me personally to admit it, but our Chihuahua-Terrier mix, Maisie, sprints to my partner Laurie every time they make eye contact when I bring our dogs back from a walk.
Next, primarily for us guys, if we want to get the attention of our canines, it might be time to practice talking to them using Dog-directed speech. You know, a higher pitch, focus on the vowels, and a bit sing-songy. You may be thinking, "No way!" Or you may use that voice in the privacy of your home when you're sitting on the couch, and you call your dog to sit next to you: "Come on, sweetie, jump up, you can do it, yes you can!" But you'd never use that voice at the dog park or in public.
And yet, it's 2023. Times have changed. John Wayne is no longer the model of masculinity. And more importantly, we have science letting us know that "doggerel" is the best way to get the attention of your dog. So, the next time you want your dog to come, sit, or stay, experiment a little. I'll go first. In a higher-pitched voice: "Here, Maisie! What a good puppy! You are the best puppy; yes, you are! Wanna treat? Stop barking at everybody! You're so good!"
See, it's not hard at all. Someday the dog park will be full of guys using doggerel and what a day that will be.
Hersch’s latest book, “Dog Lessons: Learning the Important Stuff from Our Best Friends” is available at your local bookstore (support your local bookstore!) or online!