The Daily Yap....News for Dogs....

ScienceDaily (Aug. 10, 2009) — Although you wouldn't want one to balance your checkbook, dogs can count.

They can also understand more than 150 words and intentionally deceive other dogs and people to get treats, according to psychologist and leading canine researcher Stanley Coren, PhD, of the University of British Columbia. He spoke Saturday on the topic "How Dogs Think" at the American Psychological Association's 117th Annual Convention.
Coren, author of more than a half-dozen popular books on dogs and dog behavior, has reviewed numerous studies to conclude that dogs have the ability to solve complex problems and are more like humans and other higher primates than previously thought.
"We all want insight into how our furry companions think, and we want to understand the silly, quirky and apparently irrational behaviors [that] Lassie or Rover demonstrate," Coren said in an interview. "Their stunning flashes of brilliance and creativity are reminders that they may not be Einsteins but are sure closer to humans than we thought."
According to several behavioral measures, Coren says dogs' mental abilities are close to a human child age 2 to 2.5 years.
The intelligence of various types of dogs does differ and the dog's breed determines some of these differences, Coren says. "There are three types of dog intelligence: instinctive (what the dog is bred to do), adaptive (how well the dog learns from its environment to solve problems) and working and obedience (the equivalent of 'school learning')."
Data from 208 dog obedience judges from the United States and Canada showed the differences in working and obedience intelligence of dog breeds, according to Coren. "Border collies are number one; poodles are second, followed by German shepherds. Fourth on the list is golden retrievers; fifth, dobermans; sixth, Shetland sheepdogs; and finally, Labrador retrievers," said Coren.
As for language, the average dog can learn 165 words, including signals, and the "super dogs" (those in the top 20 percent of dog intelligence) can learn 250 words, Coren says. "The upper limit of dogs' ability to learn language is partly based on a study of a border collie named Rico who showed knowledge of 200 spoken words and demonstrated 'fast-track learning,' which scientists believed to be found only in humans and language learning apes," Coren said.
Dogs can also count up to four or five, said Coren. And they have a basic understanding of arithmetic and will notice errors in simple computations, such as 1+1=1 or 1+1=3.
Four studies he examined looked how dogs solve spatial problems by modeling human or other dogs' behavior using a barrier type problem. Through observation, Coren said, dogs can learn the location of valued items (treats), better routes in the environment (the fastest way to a favorite chair), how to operate mechanisms (such as latches and simple machines) and the meaning of words and symbolic concepts (sometimes by simply listening to people speak and watching their actions).
During play, dogs are capable of deliberately trying to deceive other dogs and people in order to get rewards, said Coren. "And they are nearly as successful in deceiving humans as humans are in deceiving dogs."

Hmmm..how smart are the humans who need a scientist to work this out for them....come on guys....we are even smarter than your realise....

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Labrador love

I had a friend visit this week.....she's a big beautiful and sexy Labradour and her name is Rani. I am I beleive in love. Rani stayed two days and I was off my fight against evil a bit because of it! I just could not waste time on anything but her...I'm feeling a little guilty now but truth be told nothing untoward seems to have occurred in the neighbourhood or at home as a result. Lucky its been a quiet few day out there....

Rani and I had some great moments on the beach....but I did have to protect her from the other dogs.... she went a bit far out into the ocean for my liking too so I stayed on the sand and whined for her to come back in... I was watching for sharks you know, just in case.......she seemed not to hear me but I gave her a talking to when she came back in!

We shared our food too...I did let her have more though....she has those gorgeous curves to service....

Anyway, now she is gone again until next visit and I am back to my job protecting all and sundry...the humans in my pack reckin there's a little extra oomph to my bark today too.....
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1 comment:

Katie and Gizmo said...

Aww how sweet, love is in the air.

I've never been in love myself. Don't tell anyone but I think I might be gay!
My previous owners tried for 3mths to get me to breed but I wouldn't have a bar of it and ran away. That's how I found my mum.
My mum took me to the vet so now I can never be a father.

Anyway good on you.

Cheers
Gizmo

October 23, 2008 at 10:02 PM

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