[Travelinglady]

Did anybody see the PBS show last night on animals and intelligence? It especially showed dogs who are really smart! The dog segment, for example, showed one Border Collie, trained by a college professor, who could recognize 1,000 different toys by name. If he were asked to go get one of the toys, then he could go right to it and bring it to the person who requested it. One guy came to check this dog out. He experimented by introducing a new toy--a stuffed Darwin figure--that the dog had not seen before. The guy put a bunch of toys the dog already knew behind a sofa and told the dog to "Find Darwin." The dog looked for a while and came back when he was called. "Find Darwin," he was told again. The dog was able to figure out that "Darwin" must be the toy he didn't know, so he brought it around to the man!

The show also dealt with the "social intelligence" of dogs. That is, how responsive dogs are to the needs and requests of people. For example, dogs are able to figure out what people mean when they point at something as a way of giving a cue--such as which cup a treat is hidden under. Chimpanzees didn't pick up on such a cue. The reasoning was that dogs care more about what people think and want. As one lady said, "My dog even seems to understand me better than people do!"

What are your thoughts and experiences about dog intelligence?

[lynn P.]

I completely agree PAYNE1. I love cats too but I'm partial to dogs. I often say my dog Bella actually listens better than my girls lol. When we go some where, we still let her go in her crate because she tends to eat stuff. When she was younger, we used to have to bribe her with a treat and it took a few min to get her to cooperate. Now she can tell when we're leaving and I'll look over and there she is, sitting in her crate...it's so cute. It shows how 'in tune' she is to us.

She understands many commands both, by words and hand movements. She also knows many words/phrases like treats, wanna go out, want your food etc, etc. She also knows when my youngest is coming home because the bus brakes make a sound, so she waits by the window.

When we took her for dog training when she was younger, they did this exercise called 'find me'. One of us would hold her and the other family member would hide in Pet Smart and yell out "find me'' and she would come find the person and get a treat. We use that find me trick whenever we want her to come or if she accidentally gets loose outside. She's the best and smartest dog I've ever had and I could go on and on about her. We joke and say "she lives the life of a princess" because we all adore her.

[Rohag]

I'm not sure how I would characterize the intelligence of Soul, our beloved mutant shepherd, but training was extensive and effective. After a couple years he was able to get us to do just about anything he wanted.

[kitty004567]

One of my dogs differentiates between and will bring the toy I signed for (she's deaf so I taught her ASL). My other dog couldn't care less about toys but will do more "tricks."

The interesting thing about both of them is they can tell my moods and if I'm sick/getting sick before I can. I have BP and my dogs act differently toward me during different mood phases. For instance, if I'm depressed (or sick, they generally tend to coincide) my deaf dog (a high-energy blue heeler) who generally won't sit still to get petted will come sit next to me and rest her head on my knee. She also checks on me when I'm in bed. She's not allowed on the bed but will paw at my door until someone lets her in and then put her front paws up on my bed to check on me...or just to make sure I'm still there, I'm not sure. Also if I'm sad or sick neither one of my dogs barks; like they don't want to disturb me.

When I'm up, they want to play and run with me. When my mood's "normal" they kinda do whatever they want but they do still mind. I'm always big on following the rules.

I thought Lynn's comment was interesting because my dogs also cue off my behavior. If I pick up my cigarette pack they both go tearing out the dog door because they know I'm going outside to smoke. If I open my bedroom door and incline my head they both go in. If I pick up my car keys they both start looking really sad. It's definitely interesting.

[sundog]

I did not see that particular PBS special, but I have heard about that amazing collie and his extensive vocabulary!!

I completely agree that dogs are incredibly attuned to humans, particularly to our emotions. They also have a strong need to protect us and comfort us when we're down. My hubby had a kidney stone a couple of years ago. We were away staying in a remote vacation home in the mountains at the time. Poor hubs had to grin and bear it until it passed and he was in agony for about 12 hours. Our dogs would not leave his side the entire time. They knew not to touch him or pester him in any way, but they wanted to be very close by. And he did find their presence comforting.

The intelligence of dogs is quite astounding when you get into the realm of therapy dogs, both psychological therapy dogs and medical therapy dogs. Police dogs too for that matter. It is miraculous that dogs can be trained to detect when a diabetic is low blood sugar, or when someone is about to have an epileptic seizure. Apparently there are even dogs who can detect certain cancers in humans.....

Intelligent as they are, I really adore the emotionality of dogs above all. It is so easy to know how they are feeling, and, equally, they can tell how we're feeling too. I love staring into my dogs' eyes. I feel that we are communicating pure love to one another and no words are necessary. In fact, the lack of words makes the connection all the more profound.

They do know a few words though!!! (nowhere near 1,000 of course!!!!) And they enjoy singing/howling to us!! And, as Lynn says here about her doggie recognizing the sound of the school bus, ours recognize the exact sound of my husband's truck and can distinguish it clearly from other cars.

I love dogs!!!!!!!

[Yoda]

I used to have an Australian cattle dog, Snoopy, that was the smartest dog I ever had. Sometimes he would look me in the eye and I know he had something to say. If only he could have talked.

One time my sister was feeding my animals while I was out of town. Snoopy gave my sister that direct stare into her eyes and she knew he had something on his mind but she didn't know what. Then he put his paw on his water dish with frozen water and then she understood, fresh water.

He didn't have any animals to herd so when my son came home from grade school Snoopy would grab him by the trousers when he stepped off the school bus and 'herd' my son all the way to the house.

[kitty004567]

Yoda, I totally relate! My heeler (Australian cattle dog) doesn't have animals to herd either (well except my other dog) so I have a big red ball in the back yard for her to herd around. It's amazing to watch and tends to keep her from trying to herd people...although she's not too good about resisting herding kids we still are working on that.

[whenwillitend]

Dogs are incredibly smart. And they do pick up on our moods. They really pay attention to us. They want to please, they want to be our friends. My puppy can be such a pain sometimes, just being between my feet, basically trying to just melt into me. It's cute, but can be quite annoying.

[Fresia]

Thanks for the post about this program, Payne1.

I was able to find it on my local PBS that they are running it couple more times this month so I was able to record it while I was in class yesterday. I have not had a chance to watch it yet. If you still want to catch it, check your PBS listing/website for their programming dates in case it may be run again, "How Smart Are Animals?"

Thanks again, looking forward to it.

[Lilly55]

I trained my Boxer/engbull to be my service dog. Best thing I ever did.

[IceCreamKid]

Hi Payne, I saw a clip of Chaser the Very Smart Border Collie. There are a lot of (wonderful) dogs in my neighborhood. When I walk by they bark. I always greet them and tell them "Good dog. You are a good dog." I can tell that many of them have heard this before.