Dogs Get the Point

Dogs have a human 2-year-old’s capacity to understand pointing gestures, and it takes them basically no time to learn visual communication, says new research from a Hungarian university. The studies found that canines are also predisposed to read other visual cues from humans, such as gazing and head-turning.

Is he just playing the "I'm confused" card?

While some of this may not sound all that surprising, the research is particularly interesting because chimpanzees—who are viewed as humans’ closest ancestors—often fail the pointing test, indicating dogs may simply understand us better.

My dog always seems to get the pointing thing (whether or not she chooses to ignore it) but I’m waiting for the moment when she’ll grasp verbal communication. For instance, as in, “Can you please stop obsessively licking my hand?” or “Do you really need to circle 27 times before going to the bathroom?”