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These words might get better results

Dogs have been known to learn hundreds of words, but now a new study has found that our clever canine companions can repeat actions multiple times after hearing the words 'do that again'.

According to the University at Buffalo, dogs can understand the concept of repetition and don't even have to be trained 'again' on the specific action in order to repeat it on cue. Whether it's spinning in a circle or lying down, researchers worked with three dogs to test whether they could voluntarily think back to what they had just been doing — and they could.

As part of the test, dogs performed various actions to see if they could remember what they had done. The first set of instructions included learning simple tricks, such as lying down and walking around. This was followed by the dogs learning the word 'again' with a hand gesture, asking them to reproduce the action after they had completed it.

"We found that dogs could be trained to repeat specific actions on cue, and then take what they'd learned and apply it to actions they had never been asked to repeat," author Allison Scagel, who conducted the study as a doctoral student in Psychology at UB, told Earth.com.

"Our findings showed that they were able to apply the concept of repetition to new situations. More generally, we found evidence that dogs are capable of forming abstract concepts […] placing them in an expanding category of other animals that includes bottlenose dolphins and chimpanzees."

It was previously thought that only humans were able to have an awareness of past personal experiences, however the study suggests that dogs too can remember memories of their own recent actions.

"Our findings showed that they were able to apply the concept of repetition to new situations," adds Allison. "More generally, we found evidence that dogs are capable of forming abstract concepts. This is an important step toward a greater understanding of how other species form abstract concepts. And we're learning that humans aren't that cognitively unique after all."

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