Is your dog this smart? (1 Viewer)

[Seth--L]

http://www.npr.org/display_pages/fea...e_1952976.html

 

[Jordan_E]

Oh hell no! My dog is dumb as a stump, and that only insults stumps! But she's my dog...

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Yes my last dog knew all of her toys by name and could easily reconize at least a couple dozen words...esp walk It got to the point we'd have to spell out words we didn't want her to react to like car and walk etc. She'd also remember where she left all her toys and you could tell her to go find "thing" or "fuzzy bunny" and would know where they all were...or if you moved them on her she knew the names of the rooms so that you could say "go fetch thing from downstairs" and off she'd go! We also used to play hide and seek with her which was a hoot.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Border collies are smart dogs to begin with. Let's see 'em train a Lasa Apso. My wife had one when we were dating... quite possibly the most stubborn dog I've ever met.

 

[PhillJones]

Damnit, that dog's smarter than I am.:frowning:

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I'm always amused when these scientists "discover" something about dogs or cats that is obvious to anyone whose ever actually had a pet and bothered to interact with it.

 

[Richard Travale]

Actually I read somewhere that being stubborn is a sign of intelligence in dogs.
Or was he "just look at you like Santa's Little Helper" stubborn?

 

[Philip_G]

DEFINITELY not.

 

[Micheal]

My dog recognizes many words that we have to spell in order to not alert him. He's a Lab/Shepherd mix. (Named Nova)

He also does all of the normal tricks... sit, lay down, play dead, crawl, etc...
He has the best nose of any dog that I've had. I play a game with him by hiding his treats after dinner. He always finds them in short order.

I love the big lug!

 

[Julie K]

Anecdotes are not scientifically valid data.

Those of us who have lived with pets are certainly familiar with their ability to understand some words. But are they really understanding the words or is it something else? The case of Clever Hans shows that it is unwise to uncritically accept any given animal behavior as evidence of higher intelligence. The owner of Clever Hans believed he had taught a horse how to do arithmetic. Instead, he had taught a horse to learn subtle and unconscious human body language.

So, assuming the scientists in this study were careful to avoid such traps, I would say that yes, this discovery is most significant as it provides real evidence of animal cognition (and perhaps the ways in which it compares and contrasts to human cognition) under controlled conditions.

 

[Joe Szott]

I don't think my kids are that smart

(they never put away the toys I tell them to.)

 

[Grant B]

My dogs have selective hearing.... but so does my wife. Must run in the family or something.
Unlike most dogs, Scotties were breed for independence; a trait I admire and I respect it since they never abuse it. I rarely hold their leash when I walk them and they understand it. Even when a hated skate boarder comes down our street, they wait for me to pick up the leash before they try to chase the skateboard.
I once bought a RC fire engine that made noise that they loved to attack. Once I handed the remote to someone and they just stared at it until I got it back. No matter what I did, they only played with it when I had the remote(hidden at times!). That was right up there with asta barking at Tom .....from then Tom & Jerry cartoon.

 

[Shawn C]

Yeah, our Bichon knows "Upstairs" "Downstairs", most of the names of his toys and can fetch them on command.

I tried to teach him to lay down on his stomach and put his head down on the ground, but it turned into lay on your side and flail your legs like crazy. Oh well.

 

[Shawn C]

Yeah, our Bichon knows "Upstairs" "Downstairs", most of the names of his toys and can fetch them on command.

I tried to teach him to lay down on his stomach and put his head down on the ground, but it turned into lay on your side and flail your legs like crazy. Oh well.