Are Dog’s Talking Buttons a Lie? New Study Says They Might Not Understand a Word!

Those viral videos of dogs “talking” with buttons might not be as impressive as they seem. A groundbreaking new study from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest casts serious doubt on the effectiveness of Augmentative Interspecies Communication (AIC) buttons—those recordable sound devices made popular on TikTok and Instagram—for actually conveying meaning to dogs.

Published in Scientific Reports on April 28, 2025, the study found that dogs' ability to recognize and respond to recorded speech drops dramatically when sound quality is poor—a major issue with AIC buttons.

Researchers tested 17 dogs on common commands like “lie down,” “spin,” and “raise a paw” using three different setups: live human speech, a smartphone speaker, and AIC buttons. While dogs nailed the live voice commands nearly 100% of the time and did decently well (about 70%) with smartphone recordings, their accuracy plummeted to just 30% when responding to commands from AIC buttons.

Why the steep drop-off? According to coauthor Dr. Tamás Faragó, AIC buttons distort key sound frequencies essential for dogs to recognize human speech. “The loudspeaker preserved most of the human voice’s frequency range, but the AIC buttons cut out the frequencies dogs need to understand,” he explained.

Even dogs known for extraordinary language skills, known as Gifted Word Learner (GWL) dogs, struggled. These dogs, capable of learning the names of dozens of toys, were taught new names using only smartphone-recorded audio. Their success rate at retrieving the correct toy hovered around 70%, but when tested with live human speech, their performance improved—despite never having heard the name spoken aloud before. This suggests that while dogs can generalize from recordings, natural speech offers a major boost in comprehension.

Lead author Fumi Higaki shared her surprise at the results: “I assumed dogs perceived recorded words the same way we do. But they often looked puzzled and struggled, especially with the AIC buttons. The results were consistent across different dog groups and tasks.”

So, what does this mean for all those dog parents investing in "talking" buttons? The research team advises sticking to good old-fashioned face-to-face communication. “These devices might be fun,” said project leader Dr. Claudia Fugazza, “but if you really want to connect with your dog, your natural voice—and a little playtime—will go a lot further.”

Bottom line: a dog might be a genius—but even the smartest pups prefer your voice over a plastic button.