This is a strange one~~~BUT???

Question

This ones about human and canine interaction ( please bare with me on this one ) Given the fact that humans and dogs have co-existed for thousands of years , and that our canine buddys are fairly intelligent and understand and respond not only to language but to emotions as well . Do you think that in time dogs will evolve enough to communicate through speach??( told you it was a strange one lol )

i know that a dog doesnt have vocal chords as such , but surly evolution is driven by the enviroment in which the amimal lives and i for one talk to my dogs all the time lol just got me wondering :oD

Answer 1

Wouldn't it be lovely but then again the reason we love our pets so much is because they don't answer us back, I would love my dog to tell me that she feels ill, has a headache, is having pmt,or just that she loves me etc. I must say though that she doesn't need to talk as I know how she feels all the time anyway just by looking in her eyes. I have conversations with her and her with me,why have the power of speech when it is so ugly most of the time. xxxx

Why is everyone on here so negative about this question it is a lovely idea and what is wrong with wishing,some of the really stupid questions get sensible answers so why attack this one.

Answer 2

-We- evolved to be able to speak, and if you go back far enough we share a common ancestor with the dog (and every other form of life on earth, for that matter). So I wouldn't say it was out of the question.

However, after the tens or hundreds of million years it would take for dogs to develop speech, you might not recognize them as dogs. They would have much bigger brains, and would have lost their snouts because the skull that has such a big brain can't support a snout. They would probably have developed the ability to walk upright. Perhaps the would have developed hands that could grasp.

The thing is, dogs are already just as completely evolved as -we- are, just to a different task. Their life requires some intuition, the ability to communicate and 'read' emotions on faces, etc. They just don't need speech!

Answer 3

It's a slight misconception to say that evolution is driven by the environment in which an animal lives. Evolution of new traits depends on random mutations, filtered by natural selection (which is driven by the environment, among other things). If an animal doesn't get the right mutations, it won't develop a new trait.

The other thing that determines evolution is ancestry. Dogs won't develop human-style vocal chords, because they don't descend from an animal that had them: their last common ancestor with humans was probably a shrew-like creature, which didn't have vocal chords. Mutations may cause them to develop some sort of enhanced vocal apparatus, but whatever it is it won't be human-style.

The best example of this is whales: despite living in the sea for millions of years, they haven't developed gills. What they have developed is lungs that can hold their breath for hours; but they still need to surface to breathe air eventually.

That's not to say that we won't ever be able to communicate with them in some fashion. But it's unlikely to be via speech as we know it today.

Answer 4

Great question!
Dog evolution is one of the most dramatic examples of selection. In only a few thousand years, humans have artificially selected of their desired characteristics in dogs, and thus created hundreds of vastly different breeds, all of whom are the same species. However, I don't think dogs will evolve the ability to speak any time soon. Speech is a very complex ability, and even if we select for dogs that have an enhanced vocal cord, learning how to speak still requires a very complex, highly specialized brain.

Answer 5

No dogs won't talk because they don't have the skull and larynx development to do it. However very interestingly it is thought that the dog is the reason we do..
Our skull shape is ideal for talking and having a very sophisticated communication system unlike Neanderthals which Homo Sapiens out-evolved. Neanderthal man's skull gave him better vision and smell but less communication skills. Homo Sapiens were less sophisticated and messier in their settlements. It is thought that this caused wolves to scavenge on the edge of their settlements - eventually providing the early warning system that Homo Sapiens' poorer senses didn't give... Hence dog and Homo Sapiens had a symbiotic relationship - one getting food and the other protection. Homo Sapiens could then develop speech and language in preference to smell and sight and out-evolve Neanderthal man and the domestic dog was born - the oldest domesticated species in existence....
So dogs may not talk but they might well be the reason we do!!!

Answer 6

I'm glad my dog hasn't evolved speech, I'd never get a word in edge-ways. In fact I think cats are far more intelligent than dogs and seem to have the ability to communicate by thought at least mine does. He as an uncanny way of letting me know when its supper time.

Answer 7

I do not think that dogs have the vocal cord construction necessary for speech. We ma evolve to a place where we can communicate with dogs better. Apes have been taught sign language.

Answer 8

No way, bud! Speech requires much more than intelligence. In fact, one population of humans can't speak somewhere in Europe. A dog's windpipe just isn't shaped to sound human. Of course, dogs can be taught some simple phrases, like "run around" or "I want my mama." Just watch America's Funniest Home Videos sometime!

Answer 9

GOD said " all things are possible through him ." humans and animals have co-existed for billions of years, no one knows for sure except GOD himself. canine are more intelligent than we really know. for example, on a curtain night around 12:00 am all animals bow on JESUS birthday, we as people don't really know when his birthday is, sad isn't it??? only time will tell what the future holds. i say yes. i hope this helps you in your travels.

Answer 10

errr sorry i don't see how that will ever happen.
they have a voice-box, yes but it's not designed to form words just canine barks, woofs, growls etc etc.
unless you move it's jaw like the That's Life dog,
that said sausages.
( if you're old enough to know about it ).
a dog can't move it's mouth adequately to form human speech.
sorry.
good idea though,
would make understanding my hound easier!