Do you suppose dogs think in yips, barks, and growls? Many respond to the names we call them, and many obey verbal commands and hand signals. Does that mean they think, at least at some level, in human languages?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Dogs can understand the meaning of hundreds of words, a trait that many animals share. What they can't do, and no animal has yet demonstrated, is the ability to combine words into meaningful grammatical sentences. IE they can't tell the difference between 'dog bites man' and 'man bites dog.' So no, they aren't really thinking in languages.
Druvius
Level 8
Nov 26, 2019
1
There was a female Gorilla that used sign language with the ability to understand and communicate in sentences. My cat died Coco sad.
@lucy666 No, Koko couldn't use language. [skeptoid.com]
I don’t know but I doubt it. Humans can think and act without using language. Think of an athlete, say a hockey player. While playing hockey there’s not time to verbalize your thoughts, and most of the thoughts are subconscious anyway.
For a dog, responding to a voice is probably little different than responding to a smell. Since dogs don’t talk there’s no need for them to formulate words in their minds.
I do think that dogs are consciously aware though. They communicate well with body language, and they can read our body language very well.
WilliamFleming
Level 8
Nov 26, 2019
1
All animals, with vocal cords, communicate with sounds... We call these sounds, language... A dog doesn't "understand " the word but does associate the sound with a particular action...
Cutiebeauty
Level 9
Nov 26, 2019
2
All non human animals comunicate with either body language or vocal language. We the human animal just needs to learn how to LISTEN to them. They can be so subtle in sound that unless you have connection and understanding of that creature you will not : hear : or understand what they are thinking. A Rabbit for example communicates in very low frequencies as it is a prey animal. Sound may get it killed. So low that a human needs to be in an intimate distance to even realise that they make any sounds at all. My Buddy rabbit is a chatterbox in vocal as well as physical language. Yes, I said Buddy as he is. 
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