How to tell if your dog is as smart as you think they are

Dogs are like babies: everyone thinks theirs is exceptionally intelligent. But how do you know if your dog is actually smart or just adorable? Of course, they respond to their own name or to a good word (“walk” or “treat”) or a bad one (“vet” or “bathroom”) – although this may have more to do with survival than with a command. solid English language.

But now, a recent work published in the journal The nature, indicates that some dogs are capable of an ability previously considered to be limited to humans. Here’s what to know about it and how to tell if your dog is secretly a genius.

How to administer an IQ test to the dog

In the study published in The nature, researchers found that some dogs are able to learn the name of a new object after hearing it only four times. And, according to Dr. Jan Hoole, a biology lecturer at Keele University, who wrote about the paper for Conversation, it is possible to replicate the test at home with your own dog. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Start with a basic test. Place several objects that your dog is familiar with in front of them.
2. Standing out of sight of your dog, say, “Bring it [name of toy/object.]Keep track of how many articles you have been able to recognize based on their name. If they have managed to identify many of the familiar elements in this way, you can move on to the next level to see how quickly they can learn the names of new objects.
3. Show the dog two new objects, tell them the names of each object, and then let them play with them for a while.
4. After repeating the name of each toy four times, ask the dog to choose one of the two new toys. (Do not include any that are familiar, so do not choose a new one through the removal process.)
5. Do this repeatedly and keep track of how many times the dog chooses the correct item when you asked for the name.

In the study, the first two dogs were able to identify one of the new toys more frequently than accidentally – but when the experiment was repeated with 20 other dogs, neither of them demonstrated this level of skill when it came to quickly learning the name of the toy. a new object.

But does that really show anything?

Depends. The researchers pointed out that more work needs to be done before it can be determined whether some dogs are really equipped in the intelligence department or whether it is a product of their training or breed (or a combination of them).

E.g, Note Hoole that Yorkshire border collars and terriers are both known to be mentally motivated and can perform better on a test like this. On the other hand, dogs traditionally used for hunting or racing – such as saddles and greyhounds – may not be interested in toys or like their people and may refuse to cooperate with the training or testing component of the experiment.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t smart: like humans, dogs aren’t all motivated by the same things. (Except for the goodies.)