Does Your Dog Really Understand You?

I ran across this article on canine communication skills which I found very interesting. I particularly like this sentence:

"...evidence that humans and dogs may be undergoing cognitive convergent evolution with each other based on our close social relationships over the millennia."

This article targets another which goes into more detail about the convergence of canine/human understanding.

"However, although wolves are generally equal to or better than domestic dogs at memory tests and tasks involving general problem-solving abilities, wolves (even those raised by humans) are simply unable to match the performance of dogs at spontaneously using human social cues to solve problems."

We often take it for granted that our pup "gets it" which is expecting an awful lot from a different species. Yet it's a two way street in that you know when your dog wants something, isn't feeling well, that something is going on. Without an awful lot of sleuthing, you can usually figure it out—not much different than your pup trying to perceive your desires.

I find it exciting to think that we (humans and dogs) are able to communicate and that it will only get better (my extrapolation). When I talk to Bella, she cocks her head. I know not all dogs do this (Bella is my first pup that does), and that doing this doesn't mean that she truly understands what I'm saying. But the action makes it look like she is concentrating and trying to intuit my conversation. I know I've asked her numerous times, "What is it that you're trying to tell me?"

Right now she's telling me it's time for our morning walk.