Sep 19, 2022 19:00:00

What is a ``certain characteristic'' common to specially smart gifted dogs?

It is known that dogs have the ability to remember words, as

research results show that dogs understand 89 words and phrases on average. A study of a handful of genius dogs among such dogs found that smart dogs have one thing in common.

A comparison of personality traits of gifted word learner and typical border collies | SpringerLink
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-022-01657-x

Gifted dogs found to be more playful
https://phys.org/news/2022-08-gifted-dogs-playful.html

'Gifted' Dogs Seem to Have This One Characteristic in Common : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/gifted-dogs-seem-to-have-this-one-characteristic-in-common

Some dogs are able to memorize more toy names quickly and retain them for longer periods of time than others. To investigate the characteristics of these dogs, which researchers call ``Gifted Word Learners (GWL)'', a research team at the University of Eotvos Lorand in Hungary conducted a study comparing the personality of GWL with that of ordinary dogs. It was conducted.

Owners of 21 GWL Border Collies and 144 common Border Collies participated in the study. The age of the dogs in each group was 10 months or older, on average around 5 years old, and the ratio of males and females and the rate of castration or sterilization were set to be the same in each group. The breed was unified into the Border Collie because it is a sheepdog, so it is smarter than other dog breeds, and most of the dogs in GWL are Border Collies.

When the research team conducted a questionnaire called the

Dog Personality Questionnaire , which is used in many studies to measure the personality of dogs, to the owners, it was found that the dogs of GWL have a common point of ``playfulness''. It turns out. Among the various personalities of the GWL dogs, the playfulness was the only common feature.

Interestingly, studies of gifted humans, known as gifted, have also shown that they are playful. Gifted people generally have a personality that is open to experience, and this is related to novelty and intellectual curiosity, so the research team says that openness to experience is akin to playfulness. pointed out.

The research team also positions this research as a lead to further research on the relationship between talent and personality, and in the future it will be possible to determine whether ``whether talent arouses playfulness or whether play leads to learning''. I think it will become a theme.

For example, it is known that playful dogs acquire eye contact with humans quickly, and smart dogs that establish communication with their owners early are more likely to like play when they are played often. It is said that there is a possibility of going. In addition, dogs with a playful nature often play with their owners, which may lead to more opportunities for learning.

Ádám Miklósi, co-author of the paper and dean of the ethics department at Eötvös Loránd University, said: 'This study shows a relationship between a very high level of playfulness in dogs and their ability to learn words, such as the names of toys. It should be noted, however, that this does not mean that a playful dog is a smart dog, which is of course possible, but gifted dogs are playful with their pets and toys. It is possible that the owner came to feel that 'this child likes to play' while playing.'

For further research, researchers are asking people whose dogs can remember the names of 10 or more objects and toys to contact us through the

inquiry form on the Genius Dog Challenge site.

Home - Genius Dog Challenge
http://geniusdogchallenge.com/