While many dogs owners think their pets really do understand them, a new study has found they really do have a'rudimentary' understands of words. It could help explain the'squirrel phenomenon' where dogs instantly perk up, become agigated and even start hunting for squirrels when their owner tells them one is close by. However, researchers have been unclear what is actually happening in the canine brain - and how much they really understand. Eddie, a golden retriever-Labrador mix, was part of the study, along with his toys Piggy and Monkey. For the study, 12 dogs of varying breeds were trained for months by their owners to retrieve two different objects, based on the objects' names.