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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

#91

Post by iskander »

My dog seems to know least the names of 6 family members, 4 friends, and names of ~6-7 other dogs (in that she can go to those individuals on command). She also knows: cat, dog, cow, horse, friend, hello, "dai lapu" (Russian for give me your paw), "sidi" (Russian for sit), sneak, "bang" (for playing dead), dinner, breakfast, bath, outside, "go potties", and probably quite a few other snippets of English.

She also knows how to open windows in a car and looks for the buttons before pressing them with her paw.

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

#92

Post by ProfessorLayton »

sandworm101 wrote: post #68
dj_mc_merlin wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 h…

Not sure how to word this without getting too weird, but It's certainly possible to identify well over a dozen people by smell alone — not just friends/family that one spends a lot of time with, but also attractive people.

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

#93

Post by robocat »

sandworm101 wrote: post #65
pazimzadeh wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Then, in turn, our brains are not hardwired to associate specific smells to specific objects.

I think you are speculating cause.

Culturally we tend not to communicate much about smells - it could just as easily be that most of us have the ability but it is never trained because it isn't much use to us.

Anecdotally I know people with a wide range of different olfactory abilities.

It is interesting to try and think of how we could test for the ability. Perhaps not testing for my pencil, but something else - a child - a dog - shoes - urine.

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

#94

Post by ksenzee »

cal85 wrote: post #48
whatsakandr wrote: post #9

If you haven't seen "What About Bunny" on YouTube, I highly recommend it. The dog has learned to use buttons to communicate her thoughts quite effectively. My favorite is "Why bunny dog?"

I just watched a few videos and it’s seems obvious it’s all down to cherry picking and confirmation bias on the part of the owner. I’ve no doubt the owner believes the dog is deliberately constructing sentences, but that isn’t what’s happening.

There are some where I think you’re right, and some where there is pretty clearly some genuine communication going on. You might want to watch a few more.

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

#95

Post by gottorf »

oooyay wrote: post #58

My greyhound/pit mix knows my names of many of her toys. She also has a range of expressions she uses to disagree with me or tell me I'm wrong. Her favorite toy is this kevlar llama unicorn that my mother has resewn for her twice. If I tell her to bring me her lobster (also kevlar) sometimes she'll shake her head, bow, and then stare intently at me. She understands the prompt for, "What is it?" and will lead me to th…

She must get it from the greyhound. My pit shows occasional flashes of intelligence, but I think she's too anxious to behave smartly almost all the time...

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

#96

Post by ahazred8ta »

treflop wrote: post #5

I know I've seen videos of animals where I thought "damn, this one must be above the bell curve." And you know, there are individual humans vastly smarter than us so I figure there gotta be the same in the animal kingdom too.

Canadian author Spider Robinson had a cat that spontaneously used a tool. The cat selected a narrow wedge shaped piece from a woodpile, carried it to the other side of the house, jammed the small end into a door crack, and levered open a locked bathroom door.

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

#97

Post by cj »

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…

My Shiba has learned the days of the week. I have a family member that visits every Thursday, and he sits by the door waiting for them (only on Thursdays).

And god forbid I work a weekend or do something off schedule, he gets stressed out thinking something is wrong.

I often joke he would be a more normal dog if he had a lobotomy. Sometimes I wish he were a bit dumber :)

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

#99

Post by deergomoo »

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…

My dog occasionally forgets our house has an upstairs. He's still a good boy though.

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

#100

Post by ta8645 »

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!

I heard about a test someone did, after wondering how their dog was always standing in the window at the end of each workday, anticipating their owners arrival home. After casting about, a theory was developed that the dog "smelled time". That is, as the day wore on, the scent of their owner, decreased in the air; at a low-enough concentration, the dog knew it was about time for the front door to open and their owner to arrive home.

To prove the theory, someone went to the owner's work at noon-time, and gave him a new shirt, collecting the one he'd been wearing for half a day. They took that worn shirt, and swirled it through the air back at the house; recharging the owner's scent in the air. The dog was asleep and away from the front door, and surprised when its owner arrived home at the normal time.

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