How to Tell If Your Dog Is As Smart As You Think
Dogs are like babies: everyone thinks their dogs are exceptionally smart. But how do you know if your dog is really smart or just adorable? Of course, they react to their own name, or to a good word (“walk” or “treat”) or a bad word (“veterinarian” or “bathhouse”) – although this may have more to do with survival than a strong indication. in English.
But now a recent article published in the journal Nature indicates that some dogs have skills that were previously thought to be limited to humans. Here’s what you need to know about it and how to tell if your dog is a genius.
How to Take a Canine IQ Test
In a study published in the journal Nature , the researchers found that some dogs can recognize the name of a new object after hearing it just four times. And, according to Dr. Ian Hoole , professor of biology at Keill University, who wrote about the article for The Conversation , you can repeat the test at home on your dog. Here’s what to do:
- Start with a basic test. Place a few objects in front of them that are familiar to your dog.
- Out of your dog’s line of sight, say, “Bring [toy / item name].” Keep track of how many objects they were able to recognize based on their name alone. If they were able to identify many of the familiar objects in this way, you can move to the next level to see how quickly they learn the names of the new objects.
- Show the dog two new objects, name each object, and then let him play with them for a while.
- After repeating the name of each toy four times, ask your dog to choose one of the two new toys. (Do not include acquaintances so that they do not choose a new one during the exclusion process.)
- Do this several times and keep track of how many times the dog selected the correct item when asked by name.
In the study, the first two dogs were able to identify one of the new toys more often than by chance, but when the experiment was repeated with 20 other dogs, none of them showed this level of ability when it came to quickly remembering the name. new object.
But does it really show anything?
It depends. The researchers noted that more work needs to be done before it can be determined whether certain dogs are indeed gifted in the intelligence department, or are the result of training or their breed (or some combination of the two).
For example, Hoole notes that the Border Collie and Yorkshire Terrier are known to be mentally motivated and may do better on such a test. On the other hand, dogs traditionally used for hunting or racing, such as saluki and greyhounds, may not be interested in toys or please their human and refuse to cooperate with the training or test component of the experiment.
But this does not mean that they are not smart: like humans, dogs are not all driven by the same thing. (Except for treats.)