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. ;)
I’ve seen the 60 Minutes segment. Truly an amazing dog
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.
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.