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Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#61

Post by lostlogin »

knodi123 wrote: post #25
_whiteCaps_ wrote: post #20

I surprised that poodles were called out as a less obvious smart dog. My dog learned on her own that me holding keys + wearing glasses = car ride, while keys + no glasses = walk. It took me a while to learn how she knew what we were going to do.

My dog recognizes different cars by their noise profile. So he'll wake up from a nap and get excited whenever my wife pulls onto our street, but stay down for any other car. It probably helps that we're the only prius on the block, but still impressive!

EVs have a high pitched whine and our dog can hear the car from a long way out.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#62

Post by InitialLastName »

silverquiet wrote: post #8
_yb2s wrote: post #2

I adopted an older obese dog many years ago that seemed to understand hundreds of words, including the brand names of junk food. He would listen closely to human conversations. For example if someone mentioned socks, shoes, leash, walk or synonyms of those he would immediately go wait by the door for a walk.

Dogs can pick up on a lot of human things that aren't spoken; they're actually very good at body language. That and their ability to eat starch/more omnivorous diets are probably the biggest differences between them and wolves.

I once visited a wolf rescue where a wolf pup was being raised in a pen with two Great Pyrenees puppies (to socialize it with them). The biggest behavioral difference I noticed between the two was that while the wolf was willing to be (and perhaps even enjoyed being) pet and handled, it absolutely did not care that we were in the pen. It wandered off after a few moments checking out the new visitors, whereas the puppies (being puppies) wouldn't leave us alone.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#63

Post by RoyalHenOil »

bongodongobob wrote: post #44
sophacles wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good friend of mine had an Aussie who was really smart. My friend was a dog trainer, and she once told me "the secret is Grace (the dog) does most of it - the puppies learn better by watching her demonstrate, and she keeps them in line". One day a mutual friend of ours died in a car wreck. I went to see my friend and we were sitting there telling stories and grieving... Grace read the room and brought my friend her…

I believe it. Apparently that's how herding dogs train on farms. You just buy a puppy and it literally shadows the adult. They train themselves.

I have two koolies (an Australian herding breed that is very closely related to Australian shepherds, border collies, and kelpies). I got my older dog during the lockdowns when I had a lot of free time to train him, and I got my younger dog a couple years later, when I had much less time to train her.

The younger one has taught herself almost everything the older one knows, mostly by observing him, but sometimes by him actively trying to teach her. When she doesn't know something, he shows obvious signs of frustration and urging: I give a command, he does the thing I'm asking for, she doesn't react because she doesn't know the command, and then he starts growling and harumphing (and sometimes even air snaps near her face to get her attention) until she follows his lead.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#64

Post by RoyalHenOil »

nicklecompte wrote: post #22
sandworm101 wrote: post #13

Memorizing 100 names for things might seem like a big deal, but I guarantee that all dogs have memory for 100+ smells associated with things. They would call us stupid for not being able to remember the smell of more than a few dozen objects. My point: don't judge intelligence based on how well an animal can replicate human behavior. Each of them can do things that make us look like the idiots.

It wasn't clear to me from this that these dogs had any special cognitive abilities, as opposed to neurosensory abilities, e.g. maybe most dogs can't audibly distinguish human vowels and consonants well enough for this to work.

I wonder this as well. In my experience, dogs have a MUCH easier time learning hand signals than learning verbal cues. I wonder if dogs would generally be capable of learning many more words if they were taught in sign language.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#65

Post by sandworm101 »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #30
sandworm101 wrote: post #13

Memorizing 100 names for things might seem like a big deal, but I guarantee that all dogs have memory for 100+ smells associated with things. They would call us stupid for not being able to remember the smell of more than a few dozen objects. My point: don't judge intelligence based on how well an animal can replicate human behavior. Each of them can do things that make us look like the idiots.

Who can't remember the smell of more than a few dozen objects?

We remember scents. We remember how chocolate smells. We do not smell well enough to associate smell with a particular object. Then, in turn, our brains are not hardwired to associate specific smells to specific objects.

Look at our memory for faces. It isn't all about eyesight. Our brains have specific circuitry for faces. Dogs have the same for smell. Sensitivity is one thing, how the brain is wired is another.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#67

Post by 11235813213455 »

I spend lot of time watching birds, and they are really having complex conversations, definitely more than 100 "words" too. And we can say the same about ants, (it's more chemical/touch communication). Basically all animals are smart

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#68

Post by sandworm101 »

dj_mc_merlin wrote: post #33
sandworm101 wrote: post #13

Memorizing 100 names for things might seem like a big deal, but I guarantee that all dogs have memory for 100+ smells associated with things. They would call us stupid for not being able to remember the smell of more than a few dozen objects. My point: don't judge intelligence based on how well an animal can replicate human behavior. Each of them can do things that make us look like the idiots.

> They would call us stupid for not being able to remember the smell of more than a few dozen objects. Dogs obviously have incredibly more advanced olfactory systems but I feel like you're downplaying humans here. I'm pretty sure there's hundreds of very specific smells I could identify pretty well. Smell of home, pencil rubbers, chalk clouds, rotten bananas, denim.. things do have quite specific smells and there's a…

>> I could identify pretty well. Smell of home, pencil rubbers, chalk clouds, rotten bananas, denim.. things do have quite specific smells

Those are classes of things, not specific objects. We all know the smell of erasers, but can we identify the smell of a specific eraser? Part of it is sensitivity but it is also largely that our brains are not designed to associate smells with individual objects. Think of how we handle faces, which we can spot even if at a different orientation than we have seen before. Or how we can hear a specific voice amongst a crowd. Dogs do that with scent profiles.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#69

Post by spike021 »

bongodongobob wrote: post #24

I adopted an Australian Shepherd from a friend a year ago and I'm absolutely blown away by how smart he is. He even knows the neighbor dogs' names. I can say "go get spot!" and he'll run after the right dog. He knows all my family members names. He knows that "you've arrived" on Google maps means we are there. He knows that "power on" coming from my Bluetooth headphones means we are going for a walk. He gets the conc…

I have a Shiba Inu and he's very much the same. If I say "look there's your friend Bella!" He goes nuts because that's his favorite friend to play with. He can even recognize the sound of their owner from multiple apartment buildings away. Not kidding at all. He'll go frantic begging to go outside and as soon as we're out he'll perk his ears, figure out the direction to go, and take off. And then after five or so mins heading that way he finds his best bud.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#70

Post by bongodongobob »

spike021 wrote: post #69
bongodongobob wrote: post #24

I adopted an Australian Shepherd from a friend a year ago and I'm absolutely blown away by how smart he is. He even knows the neighbor dogs' names. I can say "go get spot!" and he'll run after the right dog. He knows all my family members names. He knows that "you've arrived" on Google maps means we are there. He knows that "power on" coming from my Bluetooth headphones means we are going for a walk. He gets the conc…

I have a Shiba Inu and he's very much the same. If I say "look there's your friend Bella!" He goes nuts because that's his favorite friend to play with. He can even recognize the sound of their owner from multiple apartment buildings away. Not kidding at all. He'll go frantic begging to go outside and as soon as we're out he'll perk his ears, figure out the direction to go, and take off. And then after five or so min…

Cool! Mine can hear my neighbors garage door open when they get home from work and goes nuts because his bestie is about to be let outside. Took me a while to figure that one out, haha. "How the hell are you predicting when the neighbors dog gets let out??"
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