Posted on 07/06/2025 7:33:22 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(WLOS) — In downtown Spartanburg’s Morgan Square in South Carolina, you’ll see the "I Love You” statue created by students from The South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, and a statue commemorating Revolutionary War hero Daniel Morgan.
But the most talked-about piece of public art on the square may be the one that honors border collie Chaser, known as “the smartest dog in the world.”
“She knows a thousand words,” said Spartanburg philanthropist Monty Mullen. “She had 1,000 toys and they were all named, and she could identify them.”
Chaser was owned and trained by Dr. John Pilley, a retired professor of psychology at Wofford College.
“He started teaching her the names of objects, and everything was through play,” said Dr. Pilley’s daughter, Pilley Bianchi. “Everything was through positive reinforcement and engagement.”
Dr. Pilley knew that border collies are among the most motivated and intelligent breeds, and he set out to prove it. He taught Chaser the names of over 1,000 objects, which she learned to identify on command. In 2011 Dr. Pilley published a peer-reviewed scientific paper documenting Chaser’s amazing vocabulary.
“And the findings were so tremendous that it hit every major newspaper. It went globally viral in 48 hours in 72 countries,” said Bianchi, who helped her father write the best-selling book, “Chaser, Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words.”
Stories and live appearances soon followed on national television. A 2014 profile on 60 Minutes helped push sales of the book to 50,000 copies in the U.S.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson hosted a PBS segment on Chaser for the Scientific series Nova, and that caught Mullen’s attention. She met Chaser and the Pilley family at a book signing at Spartanburg’s Hub City Bookshop and still has a signed copy of the book.
Dr. Pilley passed away in 2018, and his best furry friend and research assistant Chaser, one year later. Mullen, who leads The Balmer foundation in Spartanburg, took action from there.
“I thought she was from Spartanburg; she was born and raised here. And she was smart and made a name for herself, and she needed to be remembered," Mullen said.
Mullen launched a fundraising campaign for the Hub City Animal Project, and in the process, commissioned sculptor Betsy Scott to commemorate Chaser in bronze.
“I still get emotional when I go and see her,” Bianchi said, ”and what I love so much, is that kids come and they sit on top of her.”
Imprints of Dr. Pilley’s boots were added to the project to honor the bond between the man and his faithful companion.
“My father said, ’If you give a dog your heart, they’ll give you theirs,’” Bianchi said.
I once had a very smart Black Lab, Cinder. She knew the different names of her toys too, and would bring you the one you asked her to fetch. ‘Bone’ ‘Ball’ ‘Baby’
She was a great dog. Lived to be 15. ;)
Cinder, great name.
I had a border collie named Barney. He knew his left from his right and could probably have tied shoes if he had opposable thumbs. Incredibly intelligent with quite the personality to boot. He would begrudgingly offer up each paw to have his nails clipped because he knew his award awaited in the closet by the door... Frisbee time.
She was a total surprise present to me for a birthday one year. She was given to me in a copy paper box.
We had a Dog Naming Contest at the party and one of the kids wanted to name her ‘Cinderella’ so we settled on ‘Cinder’ because she was all black. :)
I’ve read about Sergeant Stubby! :)
I’ve seen the 60 Minutes segment. Truly an amazing dog
Very.
Such a cool statue unlike that junk in New York City.
Occasionally a deer or two would wander into the yard.
Being the ever-alert dog, Freckles would jump up from the floor and run
full speed at the deer.
And WHAM! Right into the glass door.
Every time, for about 3 1/2 years until she learned and remembered
that the door was made of a clear invisible material with magical
powers which fortunately she never broke. Sturdy glass.
We had a Border Collie named Ringo.
Unfortunately, he loved to ‘herd’ vehicles that passed by our home, which was his demise.
One day he staked out a vehicle that came up our lane. An elderly woman who had “Watch Tower” literature got out of the car and for some reason bent over.
Ringo took the opportunity to nip her in the butt. That was the last time she ever came around.
Jake the Farm Dog was also among the smartest dogs in the world. I sure miss him. 7yo died from pancreatic cancer. 😭
Alas, He was not a good critter killer instead he would herd ground hogs, etc
I painted a beautiful oil portrait of her for a high school art project, but my mother cut the painting out of the frame in order to use it to frame a picture of my brother. She then tossed the canvas :( If I ever got another dog, it certainly would be another toy fox.
Don’t know if it was this dog, but the researcher gave it a good test. Laid out 5 or 6 toys. He had taught it the names for all the toys except one. He asked for the unnamed toy. The dog hesitated. He kept asking, the dog finally figured out, this toy must be the one he wanted.
We had a black & tan Rat Terrier at one point. We also got him from a farm. ‘Chester The Molester.’ He really loved my ex more than me, but he always slept under the covers at my feet for some reason. He had a very LARGE personality, for sure. :)
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