ScienceDaily (July 21, 2009) — New research shows babies have a handle on the meaning of different dog barks – despite little or no previous exposure to dogs.

Infants just 6 months old can match the sounds of an angry snarl and a friendly yap to photos of dogs displaying threatening and welcoming body language.

The new findings come on the heels of a study from the same Brigham Young University lab showing that infants can detect mood swings in Beethoven’s music.

Though the mix of dogs and babies sounds silly, experiments of this kind help us understand how babies learn so rapidly. Long before they master speech, babies recognize and respond to the tone of what’s going on around them.

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Six-month-old babies can match the sounds of happy and angry barks to pictures of happy and angry dogs.

(Credit: Image courtesy of Brigham Young University)

Brigham Young University (2009, July 21). Babies Understand Dogs, Bark-matching Study Finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 24, 2009,