Study reveals the words dogs love most

Our loving four-legged pals played a helping hand in making sure 2020 was made easier; they provided us with laughs, smiles and happiness throughout bleak times.

Intrigued to uncover what sends our household pals into a tail-wagging frenzy, experts at OnBuy.com conducted a three-month study to find out which words and phrases our pooches love to hear the most. In a bid to rank the most exciting phrases, OnBuy surveyed 4,389 pet owners across the UK to uncover their dogs' favourite words. After the top phrases were discovered, they then analysed the heart rates of each dog once each phrase was mentioned - the results were as follows:

Results

Leads at the ready, the most paw-rific word is ‘walkies’ with an average heart rate of 156 BPM (beats per minute)! With a resting average of 115 BPM there was an average increase of a whopping 36% once the phrase was mentioned.

In second place, and closely following ‘walkies’, are the words ‘dinner’, ‘food’, and ‘eat’ - raising our pooches heart rates to an average of 152 BPM (32% increase). 

Normally given for appraisal, is it any wonder that ‘treat’ makes the top three words dogs love the most? This tail-wagging term gets their heart rates up to an average 151 BPM (31% increase). 

OnBuy’s study can also reveal that the least loved words and phrases by dogs are ‘shall we go home?’, ‘roll over’, ‘speak’, ‘come on then’, and ‘paw’. 

Which breeds were the most excited by ‘happy’ commands?

The top five breeds who got the most excited by ‘happy’ commands were French Bulldogs, Beagles, Rottweilers, Labrador Retrievers, and Dachshunds (sausage dog)!

In first place are French Bulldogs, with each command increasing their resting heart rate by 28%!

Following closely behind are Beagles, increasing their average resting heart rate by 26%.

The native German Rottweiler comes in third place with an average increase heart rate by 23% on average.

In fourth place is one of the most popular dogs in the world, Labrador Retrievers. After, hearing ‘walkies’, ‘treat’, and other commands, Labs’ resting heart rate had shown to increase by 21% on average.

Securing the final spot for the top five is the Dachshund, or more commonly known as the Sausage Dog, having an 18% heart rate increase when hearing happy commands.