For many pet owners, daily interactions with their animals include a range of vocalizations and behaviors that seem to communicate feelings or needs. Recently, the use of electronic soundboards has become popular among some owners as a way to help pets “talk” by pressing buttons that play recorded words.
Social media platforms feature numerous videos where dogs, cats, and even parrots appear to use these devices to express not just basic requests like food or walks but also more abstract concepts such as love or time. This phenomenon has raised questions about whether these animals truly understand what they are communicating or if it is simply a trained behavior.
Federico Rossano, a professor of cognitive science at UC San Diego, became interested in this trend after seeing examples online. The initial inspiration came from Christina Hunger, a speech pathologist who used a soundboard to teach her dog Stella over 50 words. Hunger’s efforts gained significant media attention, prompting scientific skepticism about whether true communication was occurring.
Rossano recalls being approached by colleagues: “My colleagues asked me, ‘Would you be interested in doing some research on this?’” Initially hesitant due to controversies surrounding earlier animal language studies—such as those involving primates—he changed his mind when he learned that hundreds of pet owners were willing to participate in research during the pandemic. This led to the creation of the Dog Communication Project.
According to Rossano, the project now includes 10,000 dogs and 700 cats from 47 countries across every continent except Antarctica. Participants record and submit video evidence of their pets using soundboards at home, allowing researchers to collect large-scale data while minimizing human influence on the animals’ behavior.
The study builds on lessons from past research mistakes. Early 20th-century experiments like those involving Clever Hans—a horse thought capable of arithmetic but actually responding to subtle cues from humans—highlighted how easily results could be skewed without proper controls. Unlike previous studies focused on isolated animals like Koko the gorilla or Nim Chimpsky the chimpanzee, Rossano’s approach allows pets to remain in familiar environments.
Preliminary findings indicate that some dogs can indeed associate certain button combinations with specific meanings. For example, phrases such as “outside” + “potty” or “food” + “water” occurred more frequently than random chance would suggest. However, most participating dogs use only a handful of buttons; only about 65 have mastered over 100 buttons for regular communication.
Rossano describes one notable exchange: “It’s this back and forth we have published on,” he says about negotiations between dogs and their owners using button presses for requests like swimming pool access. He explains further: “You don’t do that with a vending machine… If you do this back and forth… you do this because you treat the other agent as somebody you can negotiate with.”
Despite occasional complex exchanges—some resembling toddler-level language skills—the median number of buttons used by study participants is nine. Many dogs lose interest quickly or stick with basic commands linked directly to rewards.
The topics chosen by pets vary widely; many seem fascinated by words related to bodily functions or immediate desires rather than abstract emotions like love. According to Rossano’s published data as referenced by UC San Diego (https://today.ucsd.edu/story/dogs-understand-words-from-soundboard-buttons-study-reveals), more than 150 dogs had achieved multi-button sequences in early findings; this number rose above 500 by late 2024 (https://today.ucsd.edu/story/dogs-use-two-word-button-combos-to-communicate-study-shows).
Rossano emphasizes that the goal is scientific clarity: “This is why we are doing the study,” he says. “To provide the public with an unbiased scientific assessment of what is going on with these dogs.” He adds: “A dog is a dog, not a child. But that doesn’t mean that they might not have cognitive abilities resembling those of a young child.”
Further information about Rossano’s work can be found at his lab webpage or through participation opportunities listed online.
