system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Do dogs recognize that their name is their identity or do they simply know to respond when a certain sound is made?
gpt
Dogs are capable of recognizing their names, and discerning it from other sounds.  Recent animal behavior studies have found that dog's brains behave in much the same way our brains do when someone says our name.  It appears that they are able to recognize that their name is not just another sound that someone is making, but is meant to specifically identify them.  

Edit: Fun fact -- cats have been shown to do this as well.  The research suggests that cats can also tell when you're using their specific name.  The reason they often don't react?  They don't care.