UK’s cleverest canines are sought for scientific study
SCIENTISTS are on the hunt to find the smartest British dogs that can identify and fetch more than 20 different toys by name so that they can reveal what makes the animals so special.
Dr Juliane Kaminski, director of the the University of Portsmouth’s Dog Cognition Centre, has created “Finding Rico”, a project to find and study the world’s most intelligent dogs.
Rico, a Border Collie born in 1994, came to Dr Kaminski’s attention on September 11, 2001, as it was able to identify more than 200 objects by name. The ability to assign names to objects and remember it is an extremely rare skill in the animal kingdom.
Dr Kaminski wants to find other dogs capable of it and study their brains to find out what makes them so intelligent.
In the intervening two decades, Dr Kaminski has tracked down only five other dogs that can identify at least 20 objects by name, all were Border Collies.
Pleading for the owners of dogs with the ability to contact her, Dr Kaminski said: “I’ve searched for these special dogs all my career, and I’ve only ever found five, but other people have worked with others.
“I doubt that we’ll find 50 [dogs worldwide], that is how rare this is. I’d be happy if we find 20 but I’m not sure we will.” So far, the academics have received calls and emails from dog owners around the world in response to Project Rico, some of which may be genuine genius canines. However, no British dogs have been put forward.
“We are really keen on hearing from British dog owners because we haven’t heard much from them,” Dr Kaminski said.
“I’m not aware of any dog that anyone is working with at the moment in the UK but I would be surprised if there’s no dog in the UK that does this.”
Scientists are on the hunt to find the British dogs most able to recognise and fetch objects by name in order to figure out what makes them so special. Brain chemistry? Or bribery? Treats have been known to boost a dog’s IQ, even to restore hearing thought beyond repair. Many dogs suffer from being stone deaf, unable to recognise a single command – yet if offered a treat at the same time as the word “sit” is whispered from the other end of the room, their bottom will hit the floor instantly. The border collie is frequently judged the most intelligent dog breed, while standard poodles have been taught to play cards, but the concept of intelligence is ultimately subjective. Cats do not perform most of these tricks; they wait for humans to do the work for them. And that is the cleverest strategy of all.