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....

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Showing my teeth......and a spot of painting

Its been a long week folks….the pack have been off supporting running boy in a surf competition and I have been left to mind the territory with Soft Girl who has been busy with University stuff…(lots of oil paints and brushes in her bag for me to amuse myself with!! Although she is not so good at sharing)…I have a little blue paint on my rear at the moment due to an angry brush stroke from soft girl who says my nose should not be pressed up against her work....how else am I supposed to check it out for foreign bodies? She is insisting on painting air patrol too, it makes me want to bare my teeth....but to humour her I just turn the snarl into a grin....

I am torn about staying as I know the pack are off with no -one to protect them…Dogness only knows how they’ll get on! But the Territory needs looking after.... and soft girl just cannot be left alone without protection so I am doing the duty…I do my recky in the mornings going from room to room and spending some quality time looking out of the windows checking the peripheries…then it’s the verandah for a bit of neighborhood dog watch.

I make sure I wake soft girl up early too so that she doesn’t fall behind in her work….she feigns grumpiness but I know deep down she appreciates it!

I’ve really been using this time wisely…working on my leaping skills…getting good elevation and springiness….I am currently into practicing via jumping from furniture to furniture…and apart from knocking over a few silly items that are obviously in my way its been a productive exercise…

I got into a bit of a scuffle with some really bad dogs earlier this week …we were walking up by the lighthouse when I spotted them…total ruffians…they pretended to be friendly, but I knew otherwise and I showed them my teeth just to keep them in line….sniffing around the grumpy old guy and the old girl like there’s no tomorrow…honestly some dogs have no sense of propriety! Unfortunately my showing the teeth brought out their true colours! The fight was on… that is until the grumpy old guy picked me up and took me away…..I was mortified…how embarrassing…didn’t he know I was doing him a favour….those damn dogs are still out there and what if they spy him when he’s alone, who can tell what manner of sniffing and licking will go on and what diseases these guys might carry????

Its an ongoing battle to keep these humans in line………grrrrr
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