Looking for the smartest dog in the world

If we ask them, most people with dogs will be convinced that they live with an animal with the sea played. It is also not that they assume that as a friend they have an Einstein quadruple and even more Melenudo than the original, but perhaps the pet has learned to greet the leg, give the somersault, to be the dead … and you have to see how it looks at you, if it seems that you understand! Measuring animals intelligence is certainly not an easy task, but it does have a slope in which dogs have a huge advantage for others. So much, so we can talk about ‘dog genies’: it’s about the ability to remember and recognize words of human language. Not all simple orders that monosyllabic imperatives that meet every well -trained dog, but a few dozens of objects of objects, to the point to identify them when they are asked. If a dog does that, the owners can start cooling with some legitimacy.

Ethologists – that is, scientists who specialize in animal behavior – have documented very remarkable cases of that capacity. The best known is certain Rico, an Eder Collie from Germany who learned the names of two hundred toys and surpassed the corresponding research by the experts of the Max Planck Institute. Negen jaar geleden publiceerde een Amerikaanse professor een studie over zijn eigen hond, Chaser, ook een grenscollie, waaraan hij drie jaar intensieve training had gevolgd: zoals hij zei, Chaser kwam om een ​​​​woordenschat te verwerven van meer dan duizend speelgoednamen en bovendien was hij in staat om met hen te worden geordend ( Bailey, een Yorkshire Terrier die, zonder de noodzaak van zoveel toewijding van zijn eigenaren, erin slaagde om honderd woorden te vanquish.

Now a team of the Hungarian University of Eötvös Lord (known as Elte) has launched the Genius Dog Challenge, that is, the Great Dog’s Challenge, a ‘disguised’ competition research with which they can find more copies in this area. «There are many types of intelligence. Among people are some good with mathematics, others are exceptional musicians or artists … At Dieren we do not know whether there are these extraordinary actions, but those who participate in this challenge show a special talent in a specific area. We hopen dat het onderzoeken van uw gedrag en het testen van uw leren ons in staat stelt de manifestatie van deze intelligentie en de manier om deze te meten meer diepgang in staat te stellen, ”legt Shany Doror uit, een van degenen die verantwoordelijk zijn voor de studie. Voor twee en een half jaar, profiteerden van de wereldwijde reikwijdte van de netwerken, de leraren van de ELTE hebben zich toegewijd aan het vinden van ‘verbale’ honden en het Termination of the test until it has closed the test until the test is closed, until the end of the focus on six finalists: until the end of the focus on six finalists: until the end of the focus on six finalists: until the end of the focus on six finalists: the end of the focus on six finalists: Whiskey (from Norway), Nalani (from Holland), Gaia (from Brazil), Max (from Hungary), Squall (from the United States) and the Rich Spanish (That is the Tocayo of that German reference and lives with his owners in Torrelodones, in the community of Madrid).

The deadly whiskey

When considering the photos of these six clear dogs, an inevitable detail draws attention: they are all cross -border collies. Because? “We don’t know,” says Dorr. The ability to recognize toys for their names has also been documented in a few dogs from other breeds, but seems to occur more often with the Edher Collies, although it also forms a rarity among them. The border collies were raised as work dogs, with endurance to run through a mountainous site and control the sheep all day. That is why very energetic dogs are often very sensitive. At the moment, most owners of a border collie usually look at the problems to meet their physical and mental needs: they are a wonderful pet, but if they do not receive sufficient treatment, they can develop serious behavioral problems, “says the expert. The six finalists are confronted with two to two in toy recognition tests that are broadcast live online, Via brilliant dog challenge profiles in Facebook And YouTube: In the afternoon, at seven, Rico will beat the deadly whiskey, a port that has already identified a hundred toys because of their names before he started the challenge.

To achieve equal circumstances, the organizers sent two boxes to each house with new toys for dogs. In the first phase they had six days to learn the names of many other dolls. In the second, which starts today, they had the same period to remember twelve. «They are still surprising me! –Ror is excited. I have studied this issue for two and a half years and at the moment I have spent many hours watching videos of dogs looking for and choosing toys. I have often had to make a frame for frame! And although it can be an annoying task, it still surprises me every time I see how they repair them to identify the right object. I think the speed with which they learn and the enthusiasm they show will never stop surprising me ». As soon as the owners ask them for the toys that indicate from Budapest, the dogs zoom to another room, where the doll in question is mixed with others in a confusing stack, often the selection is immediately, without any doubt.

Beyond the Honilla (and see who then tolerates the owner of the smartest dog) is the most important thing that this comparative experiment It can be enlightening about the way the dog brain works … and also about the origin of human capacity for language. «Science is progressing with very small steps. If we find the minimum similarity between the way in which dogs and people learn the meaning of words, that would give us an indication of the evolutionary origin of our language. We have demonstrated it as a challenge to be more fun, more fun, but all dogs participating have an exceptional talent and we expect not to find significant differences between their performance. The challenge is a small part of a research project that focuses on understanding the perception of language by these animals. We hope to find more extraordinary copies and We encourage dog owners to recognize the names of several objects to contact us ». So you know: yes, except giving the leg with great grace, their pet shows an unusual liveliness by bringing the things they ask, there are some scientists in Hungary who are looking forward to it.

“We were very funny how fast I learned”

For a long time, Rico’s skills did not start a curiosity that was celebrated by their human friends. This 4 -year border Collie, born in the city of Palencia Paredes de Nava and lived in Torrelodones (Madrid), soon dominated those crazy tricks that people applaud so much, such as giving the somersault when they were ordered. «We were very funny how fast I learned. We started to buy toys and, by throwing them, we told him the name: bear, giraffe, wild boar … The people who came home caught his attention when you asked for a toy and brought it. Now you have to know about 45, “explains the owner, Sara Infante. Rico’s parents are the dogs of his brother, there in Palencia: helmet (” very smart, perhaps more than he “) and escaping (” very stubborn “).” But my brother has no time to teach them, “he clarifies.

Sara and her partner, Granada Jorge, heard of genius dog challenge for a neighbor. “We told them that we had a very smart dog and they answered that they had seen a lot of very lace -and -worn dogs,” he laughs. They tested online in full pandaemie, asked for objects, and here we are ». The last days have trained with the dolls that the organizers have sent: «It is not complicated: we throw them and tell them the name. Donkey, box, duck … Until the second or the fourth, he already knows. I am surprised to remember toys that he learned years ago ». This afternoon it will compete with the Norway whiskey (“an arrow that does not doubt a moment”) and Sara will take it more seriously than I expected: “We have the pressure that it is not the stupid dumple of the ready.”