Dog-Language Research
Currently, our research is focused on dogs: Observing (through video) dog vocalizations and behavior in specific contexts; classifying the complex forms of communication that occur; and working with computer programs to effectively and accurately decode and translate into US-English.
The foundation of our research is based on the work of Dr. Con Slobodchikoff, an animal behaviorist and conservation biologist. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Con studied the social behavior and communication system of prairie dogs by doing careful experiments teasing apart the structure and meaning of prairie dog alarm calls.
Over the course of 30 years, Con and his students made incredible discoveries and gathered evidence that support the possibility that animals might have languages that meet their needs as well as our languages meet our needs.