All dogs are smart but some of them are smarter and talented in learning words quickly than others, according to a latest study published in Royal Society Opens Science.
In the study, the authors claim that the gifted and brilliant dogs can learn up to 12 new toy names in just one week. Moreover, the authors also found that they can remember new names for at least two months. The dogs presented their exceptional skills as part of the Genius Dog Challenge, a series of live broadcasted experiments, which became viral over social media.
Lead researcher Shany Dror (Family Dog Project, Eötvös Loránd University) noted that the canines can easily learn words that are linked to actions, such as “sit” or “down”. However, a few of them can learn names of objects also.
BORDER COLLIES
The researcher said that they managed to find six dogs after they searched for more than two years around the world for dogs that had learnt the names of toys. The six ones that they came across are Max (Hungary), Gaia (Brazil). Nalani (Nederland), Squall (Florida), Whisky (Norway), and Rico (Spain). All of them are Border Collies.
Head of the research team Dr. Claudia Fugazza said that these dogs had the ability to learn new names of toys in a remarkable speed.
In the new study, the researchers wanted to push the limits of their talent. As such, they challenged the owners to teach their dogs the names of, first, 6 and then 12 new toys in only one week. The researchers said that they were amazed by the performance of the dogs. They said that this was not much of a challenge for these talented dogs. They learned the names of 11 to 12 toys easily. The researchers also tested the dogs one, and two months after they had learned the names of the new toys and found that they still remembered those.
Shany Dror opined that Border Collies were a breed used as herding dogs and most of them are very sensitive and responsive to the behavior of their owners. Though ability to learn names of toys appears to be more common among Border Collies, the researcher said that they found in a recently published study that showed that even among this breed it is very rare. They also said that this characteristics was not unique to this breed.
STUDY OF GIFTED DOGS
Adam Miklósi, head of the Department of Ethology at Eorus Lemone University and co-author of the study pointed out that the study on dog is a good move for studying human behavior as they evolved and develop the human environment. “With the help of these dogs we hope to better understand the factors that contribute to the development of talent, the researcher said.
