THIS IS NEWS? Dogs’ speech recognition: New study shows they listen beyond tone.

A new study conducted by animal behavior and mammalian cognition experts at the Universities of Lincoln and Sussex, and Jean Monnet University, reveals that dogs may be far better at understanding human speech than previously understood.

The group’s research paper, “Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) recognize meaningful content in monotonous streams of read speech,” published in Animal Cognition, explains that dogs actually “listen in” when we are speaking, even if the speech is not directed at them. According to the findings, dogs possess the neurological capacity to passively sift through information and commands relevant to them when humans are talking.

Humans and dogs have lived symbiotically for more than 14,000 years, yet despite our mutualistic bond, there remains a poor understanding of whether dogs do understand what we say.

My Golden knows what end credits music sounds like — any end credits music — and perks up because the movie is over and dinner is near.