When talking to dogs, human adults use pet-directed speech similar to infant-directed speech which is known to engage infant attention and promote language learning.
Researchers led by Nicolas Mathevon of Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY) in the US showed that puppies are highly reactive to dog-directed speech but that older dogs do not react differentially to dog-directed speech compared to normal speech.
Yet, human speakers employ dog-directed speech with dogs of all ages, suggesting that this register of speech is used to engage interaction with a non-speaking, rather than just a juvenile, listener.
It remains an open question whether puppies react innately to dog-directed speech and exactly why adult dogs showed a lack of preferential reactivity to dog-directed speech.
Also Read
We use similar strategies in other situations where we believe our listener may not fully understand us, such as when speaking to elderly people or linguistic foreigners.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content