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Some ‘uniquely gifted’ dogs can remember names of objects for 2 years, study finds
We all think our dogs are really clever, but a new study reveals that some pooches actually are geniuses.
It found that a rare portion of ‘uniquely gifted’ pets can remember the names of toys for an impressive length of time.
Study finds dogs can remember object names
The study, which was published in the Biology Letters journal on September 4, tested the memory of five uniquely gifted word learner (GWL) dogs. These are rare canines which have the ability to learn object labels.
Five dogs were asked to retrieve 12 toys two years after they were taught their names and four of them were able to remember between three and nine of the labels. This proves that dogs do form a long-term memory.
The dogs were taught the names of the 12 toys in just one week. The objects were then hidden and only brought out on three occasions, for a memory test at one month, two months and two years later.
There was “no significant reduction” in their recall of the labelled objects after two years in comparison to the tests at one month and two months.
Researchers believe that if the dogs had been exposed to less objects to begin with, for example, six rather than 12, their performance would have been even better.
Three owners (of the dogs Max, Rico and Squall) spent only 30 minutes per day teaching their dog the toy names, while another owner (of the dog Whisky) spent up to 1.5 hours per day teaching. The final owner (of Gaia) spent up to 5.5 hours.
Gaia demonstrated a slightly higher performance than the other canines, suggesting that the dogs’ recall would have been improved after two years if longer had been spent teaching them the names of the objects.
‘Uniquely gifted’ dogs were all Border Collies
It’s not clear which breeds have this ‘uniquely gifted’ talent, but all five of the dogs used in the study were Border Collies. The black and white Scottish sheepdog is widely considered the most intelligent dog breed, traditionally used on farms to herd sheep and cattle.
A Border Collie called Chaser, who passed away in 2019, was recognized as the world’s smartest dog due to her ability to learn words, the American Kennel Club explains. In total, she could identify more than 1,000 proper nouns.
Another Border Collie called Jumpy holds a Guinness World Record for skateboarding 100 meters in less than 20 seconds, while Striker, a Border Collie in Queb�c City, set the dog world record for rolling down a car window fastest.
They have an extremely high IQ, able to learn commands far quicker than any other breed. Psychology professor Stanley Coren, who wrote the book The Intelligence of Dogs, found that Border Collies can learn a new command with less than five repetitions.
In comparison, most intelligent dog breeds can learn a command in between 25 and 50 repetitions and have a 50% success rate on the first try. This means Border Collies learn five times faster than other canines.
Cohen ranked the 20 most intelligent dog breeds in the 1990s. After the Border Collie, it goes: Poodle, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Doberman, Shetland Sheepdog, Labrador, Papillon, Rottweiler and Australian Cattle Dog.
The next 10 smartest dogs are: Corgi, Miniature Schnauzer, English Springer Spaniel, English Springer Spaniel, Schipperke, Belgian Sheepdog, Collie, Keeshond, German Shorthaired Pointer and Flat-Coated Retriever.
Most family pets don’t show any behavioural evidence of being able to learn object labels, but it’s possible with any of these intelligent breeds. Set up your own toy memory test at home to find out if you own a uniquely gifted word learner dog!
