People usually slow down their speaking pace when they talk to dogs, which helps the animals understand them better, a team led by Eloïse Déaux from the University of Geneva reports.
The findings, published in the journal PLOS Biology, show that people slow down their speaking pace from the usual four syllables per second to around three syllables per second when speaking to a dog.
The researchers write that this is probably because the pace of communication among humans is generally higher than that of dogs.
These animals bark, growl and whine at a speed of about two vocalizations per second. The authors of the study believe that humans and dogs have different voice-processing systems.
Slowing down speech might ultimately have helped humans build a better connection with the animals.
To obtain these results on communication between dogs and humans, the scientists analysed the vocal sounds of 30 dogs and 27 people who spoke in a total of five languages with other people.
Additionally, the communication of 22 of these people with dogs was also analysed. The researchers examined the brain activity of humans and animals via electroencephalography (EEG).
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