Other articles with keyword "DOGGIEPING" since 12/29/04
Posted on 06/10/2007 8:15:08 AM PDT by blam
Dogs 'as bright as a 14-month-old child'
By Tim Shipman, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:56am BST 10/06/2007
Dog lovers have long argued that their pets are practically human.
Just how close they are to the truth is revealed by research showing that the creatures have the intelligence of a toddler.
As with humans, they have the capacity to decide whether to copy others' behaviour, depending if it makes sense to do so.
Researchers at the University of Vienna trained a female border collie called Guinness to use her paws to push a bar that released a treat, rather than using her mouth as dogs prefer.
Two sets of mixed breed dogs then watched Guinness pushing the bar - one set when she had a ball in her mouth, the other while her mouth was empty. Eight of 10 dogs in a third group that had not seen Guinness perform pushed the bar with their mouths as expected.
The set that saw Guinness perform with her mouth empty copied her action and used their paws, thinking that it must be the best way to achieve success.
However, the group that watched their canine instructor with her mouth full overwhelmingly used their mouths, apparently reasoning that she had only used her paws because her mouth was full.
Lead researcher Friederike Range said: "The fact that the dogs imitate selectively, depending on the situation, has not been shown before… We were very surprised to see this 'selective imitation' by the dogs. They didn't just copy blindly what they saw."
Before dog lovers start drawing up a list of challenges for their clever pets, however, there is one crucial caveat - a dog's intelligence is estimated to be equivalent only to that of a 14-month-old child.
The experiment, published in Current Biology, an American journal, has divided canine experts
In a separate test, toddlers who watched their mother turn on a light switch with her head because she was carrying a tray, were able to judge that she had only done so because her hands were full and that, when possible, they should use their hands for switches.
Zsofia Viranyi, of Eotvos University in Budapest, co-author of the dog study, said: "The behaviour was very similar to the children who were tested in the original experiment.".
Some dogs that is. My dogs STILL think the deck stairs only go up! ;o)
We have four Basenjis, currently, and two of them are very bright. One of the four, though, I’m not so sure about. LOL
Oh, baloney. Mine’s at least as smart (and as well behaved) as a two year old.
Border Collies may well be the smartest overall. Labs are pretty darn bright, but not as smart as the BCs (I own two Labs, or they own me, not sure which.)
I'd be willing to bet that nothing is dumber than your average Afghan Hound. I've seen smarter rocks.
You KNOW dogs are smarter than democrats, and the president. How many dogs do you know who would allow hoards of foreigners to take over the house without a fight? Come on!
My old German Shepherd (and my current is very smart with word association, too - I just don’t use as much variance now) knew not only what EXACT toy you meant of hers, but what GENERAL toy you meant. You could say “pork chop” for that particular toy, but if you said “toy”, she could pick up any of them. Same with “ball” - there was “basketball” and “tennis ball”, but if you used the general term, she could get either of them. And she knew not to confuse “toy” with “ball”, so saying “ball” she would not get a “toy”.
“How many dogs do you know who would allow hoards of foreigners to take over the house without a fight?”
My current German Shepherd. She only scares them with her love for them.
I have a 14 month old and my pug is WAY smarter! ;o)
ROFL!
Can you see him case as “Jack Wilson” in Shane?
Instead of black leather vest, hat and gloves, it would be more like the leather-man in the Village People, which is what my lovely and talented lady calls the “Grand Bargainers”.
It was still funny. ;o)
>When I started studying French, I’d practice around the house. I would coo “Est-ce que mes chers amis voudraient quelque chose a manger?” and stuff like that, and she’d get very agitated and bump her head against my leg and look up at me as if saying “Stop that.” If I switched back to English, she calm down, but French made her stare at me most unhappily. It was funny.<
A very successful handler of American show dogs is Japanese. He speaks in his native language to his client dogs. He has had good success with many dogs, but the dogs that he has gotten as little puppies, to which he speaks Japanese are the ones with which he has had far stronger bonds, and which have been more successful winners.
Cats can learn by watching also. “Kink the Cat” learned he shoud grasp both sides of the beer can when he drank his beer.
Yep, that describes mine perfectly. He knows the difference between the “red” ball, and the “blue” ball. He always brings back exactly what you ask for. Sounds like you are like me, in naming their toys; “tree man” is one of his favorites.
We have a 7-year-old miniature Schnauzer named Kramer — hands down the smartest dog I’ve ever seen. My husband agrees and so do many of our friends. We have been spelling words in front of him for a loooong time now. Especially t-r-e-a-t and b-o-a-t-r-i-d-e and b-a-t-h and we’re pretty sure he knows the spellings now. G-r-e-e-n-i-e is the newest spelling which happens to be his favorite treats.
He knows the names of all of his toys and will go and get them when we ask - even a toy that he hasn’t played with in a long time. One night my daughter and I were watching the movie “E.T.” and talking about it — a few moments later in comes Kramer with his “alien” toy. We were amazed! Another time we were watching “The Devil Wears Prada” — and not talking about it — yet in trots Kramer with his “shoe” which is a plush high-heeled shoe! (Don’t ask...)
He watches dogs on TV. When we go for a boat ride around the lake, he knows were all the dogs live and will jump to his seat in the boat to scan the shore as we drive by in hopes of seeing one of his friends. He especially likes a house that also has 2 miniature Schnauzers and will bark and wag his tail before we even get there. Can he know they are the same breed?? Weird!
Yet - as SMART as this guy is - he doesn’t get it when we say “NO BARK” and he never will. He will go bark-crazy when one of us comes into the house whether we have been gone for 3 days or only 3 minutes to get the mail.
And how much longer do you believe we will have to wait before referring to anyone as a foreigner will be designated a hate crime? Not long, I think.
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