Posted on 12/22/2010 6:53:43 PM PST by decimon
N THE age-old war between cats and dogs, canines might just have struck the killer blow. A border collie called Chaser has been taught the names of 1022 items - more than any other animal. She can also categorise them according to function and shape, something children learn to do around the age of 3.
Chaser follows in the footsteps of Rico, who trained at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Rico had a "vocabulary" of 200 words and could identify new objects in a group of familiar objects by a process of elimination, according to a study published in 2004.
To find out whether there was a limit to the number of words a border collie could learn, psychologists Alliston Reid and John Pilley of Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, started an intensive training programme with Chaser.
Over three years, they taught the collie the names of 1022 toys by introducing them to her one by one, getting her to fetch the toy and then repeating the name to reinforce the association.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
When I say “squirrel”, my dog looks up into the trees and I’m amazed at that.
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I have an Aussie and we have to spell c-r-o-w and c-o-y-o-t-e plus any other word he knows or he goes nuts if we say the word, as in, he is on guard. They are very intelligent dogs.
We have even tried saying cabbage, cauliflower, clandestine, cauldron, catch, crapper; whatever, he knows the difference. It’s hilarious!
Dogs are special gift from God IMO.
Oh, too bad about your BC. Ours is 11. He is SO smart it’s scary. Has those little beady eyes darting around, looking for trouble. Picks dental floss out of the trash and lays it in a little line with his black lips. And he goes NUTS with the ‘crack pen’ — a little laser light.
None of these things prove he is smart, of course, but he sure is funny.
Looks like Scooby-Doo wasn’t just fiction!
Oh a face to melt your heart!
I had an Australian shepherd that I totally loved - Valentine was so smart.
Now I have a standard poodle who just turned 15, smart and good indoors as well as athletic - also great dogs.
Yes, I’ve often thought that dogs are a gift from God. In fact when I hear some of the amazing dog hero stories I wonder if they’re emissaries from the angels.
We now have to spell words backwards (especially “w-a-l-k”, “P-a-r-k”, “g-o”).
ping
Awe shoot! My dog knows all that stuff too. He’s just intelligent to perform like a circus animal...
"The production side of communication is missing."? I don't understand what's meant by that. The dog produces the object from another room when told. Is this person saying parrots are smarter than dogs because they can talk?
My buddy had a black lab that knew hundreds of words. He trained him from a puppy, and could speak sentences to him and he’d act in a way that he knew what was said.
That was a great dog.
I love Bulldogs, just couldn`t afford the price for one ( nor would I pay it for a dog ). Both our dogs were shelter rescues.
I had a friend who owned a Chocolate Lab, and that was a very smart dog, high energy too. Our lab mix ( vet says mostly lab and maybe some sheperd too, looks like a lab though ) is lazy and quite uncoordinated. It will trip over its own paws... and falls down the steps from time to time. She is a very sweet girl but sheesh she is not too bright.
I would agree but not limit it to just dogs. All of our pets are gifts from God.
But per the dog part, it’s probably why the muslims hate them. Dogs don’t like lying scheming evil bastards that may one day strap explosives onto them.
One of the best I ever had I lost last week.
Someone dumped her off here when she was a pup. She is mostly black lab with a bit of whatever mixed in. She pretty much looked just like a lab.
I could not keep a collar on her. She did not seem to mind them and would calmly let me put one on her. I would then find the remains of the collars a few days later chewed into pieces.
She may have been the sweetest dog I have ever had. She craved affection but also gave it. I could not keep her from roaming. Twice I had girls stop by and ask if she were mine (this is when she had the collar off), they wanted her if not.
I live only a couple of hundred yards from a rural intersection and regularly cars or trucks will park off the road and wait for something or someone. Chloe would go up to them every time and they would invariably roll down their window and play with her. I would see her with her paws on the door licking them etc.
I am sure someone took her thinking she was a throwaway. She seemed really smart in that she picked up things really quickly.
The Border Collie has been bred for working ability (intellect) over several centuries more intensively than any other breed. They are not judged for conformation as are other breeds hence the wide variation in color and other traits in the breed. They are undoubtedly the most intelligent breed but that is due to the extreme selection pressure placed on that trait.
ROFLMAO! Dyslexia is such a burden to carry. Sorry for your dogs troubles and hope therapy gets them o-v-e-r it, r-e-v-o. Roflmao!
Chimpanzees and dolphins are lodging a formal complaint against this conclusion.
My BC has ADHD. Does ritalin work for dogs?
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