So far we all know how good dogs are learning new tricks like sit or down. Now learning the names of things like their toys is much harder. Scientists know a group of dogs that can remember hundreds of names belonging to their toys. In a recent study they found out some dogs could also comprehend new names from eavesdropping on their owners. 

Scientists conducted a research that consisted of ten gifted dogs. Their owners would hold a new toy in their hand and talk to somebody else about it. They would then put the dogs in another room and tell them to fetch that specific toy from a pile of many. Seven out of ten dogs learned the name of their new stuffed toys. study author Shany Dror with Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary and the University of Veterinary Medicine in Austria, said “This is the first time that we see a specific group of dogs that are able to learn labels from overhearing interactions.” The dogs were even able to do the experiment when the toy was put in a box and the owners talked about it to another person. 

Only some other animals have demonstrated this ability like apes or parrots. Apparently children under the age of two years old can learn new words from eavesdropping or listening, which includes the words the people around them might not have intended. Now not dogs can learn things like this, so the probability puppy learning how to do this is low.