DOGS ARE NO MORE INTELLIGENT THAN CATS

Psychologists from Exeter and Canterbury University undertook an investigation to determine how the cognitive abilities of dogs compare to those of other animals, including wolves, cats and horses. The researchers explored various aspects of a dog’s intelligence, including sensory cognition, physical cognition, spatial cognition, social cognition and self-awareness. They also analysed dogs from three different viewpoints: as carnivores, as social hunters and as domestic animals. Professor Stephen Lea and Dr Britta Osthaus, who carried out the study, stated that dogs appear to be no better than other animals at associative learning, such as when they’re being trained to respond to social cues by an owner. When assessing the way in which dogs communicate with humans, Professor Lea and Dr Osthaus found that horses were able to communicate with humans just as well as their canine peers.

They concluded that although more comparisons between the cognitive abilities of dogs and other animals are needed, “dog cognition does not look exceptional.”