Dogs can recognise around 89 words and phrases

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A border collie

A new study has found that dogs can recognise on average 89 words or phrases. The project involved asking 165 owners to choose from a list of words, identifying those that their dog consistently understood. The worst performing knew 15, while the best could distinguish 215. Researchers found that among the terms often understood were “treat”, “breakfast”, “dinner”, “garbage”, “poo” and things to chase, such as a “ball” or “squirrel”.

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