That's fair to say. Any comprehension is understanding even if it is just rote learning of single words to commands. You're right, just because the dog doesn't

That's fair to say. Any comprehension is understanding even if it is just rote learning of single words to commands. You're right, just because the dog doesn't understand 50+ words for 'drink' (water, coke, pepsi, coffee, tea, etc etc.) doesn't mean it isn't understanding in the same comprehension as if you got a 3 year old to bring you a 'drink'. I don't know what I was thinking, I must have been in a state of sleep deprived idiocy. The simple fact you can teach a dog in human linguistics to sit when you say 'sit' signifies its understanding. You wouldn't get this response in an animal that all its communication skills are genetically encoded. I remember reading about how Native Americans used to hunt Wolves with pitfall traps and how wolves would teach their young how to avoid the traps, like they would hunt a deer, they can also do the same with poisoned meats. These clearly show wolves are capable of understanding abstract concepts. Unless sink holes are a natural predator of wolves I doubt there's a genetic cue for "you see that flat piece of ground, you'll fall through that into a big pit" or "you see that steak, that's poisoned, but the one sat on the side of that metal contraption in their yard isn't!" I was thinking of understanding along the lines that we can understand multiple meanings and abstract ideas. However, 1:1 learning is still understanding, and clearly Canis Lupis is capable of learning abstract ideas so a dog certainly has the ability to (even if we have to rebreed it into the species).