By Liz O'ConnellShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA new study suggests that curiosity, focus, and self-control may be the secret traits that set genius dogs apart from others, a first step that researchers believe could lead to a puppy IQ test.
The University of Portsmouth's Dog Cognition Centre and the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena's Dog Studies Unit teamed up to study, for the first time, the characteristics that make a dog a label-learner, or canines that can recognize hundreds of objects by name alone. These types of dogs are "extremely rare," and they have an innate ability, researcher and professor Dr. Juliane Kaminski said in a statement.
The study, published in Nature Scientific Reports, examined 11 label-learning dogs from the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany. The selected dogs—border collies, crossbreds, Spanish waterdogs and pugs—each demonstrated their skills by participating in eight cognitive tasks that tested curiosity, problem-solving, learning, memory and human communication.
Researchers found three traits that set these genius canines apart: curiosity, focus and inhibition.
...The study showed that label-learner canines spent significantly more time inspecting new objects and looked at them more frequently than the control dogs. This suggests a greater curiosity toward new objects.
These smarter-than-normal dogs also showed a targeted interest in specific objects. Unlike most dogs, which may explore toys or objects randomly, label-learners focused on specific items and studied them closely.
And finally, a dog's self-control was better among label learners than among regular dogs. The study found that inhibitory control is an important cognitive skill, as it prevents impulsive reactions. But this trait did not surprise Dr. Juliane Bräuer, a German collaborator on the study.
"My own dog who is not a label learner always struggled to inhibit her preferences when solving problems," she said. "She likes a ball so much, that she would not fetch a ring when a ball is present."
One of the dogs in the study, Harvey, has been dubbed one of Britain's smartest dogs after memorizing the names of 203 toys. The study helped shed light on Harvey's unique talent, driven largely by his curiosity.
But this is just the beginning for researchers.
"We will be carrying out further research as we must explore whether these traits are part of the makeup of some individual dogs from the puppy stage, or whether they develop over time and can be influenced by training," Kaminski said.
While research will continue, the team considers this study the first step toward developing a "Puppy IQ Test" that would assess young dogs' ability to retrieve household objects by name. This type of test could help identify puppies with strong learning potential, including those well-suited to become a service dog.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Request Reprint & LicensingSubmit CorrectionView Editorial & AI Guidelines
Add Newsweek as a preferred source on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.Recommended For You
WorldFrench Farm Robbed of Entire Snail Supply Worth Over $100,0003 min read
PetsAnimal Behaviorists Reveal Why Pets Mirror Our Stress More Than We Think6 min read
Rescue and AdoptionHeartbreak at Dog ‘Losing Hope’ After 450 Days in Shelter With No Interest3 min read
Rescue and AdoptionAmazon Driver Sees Food Left for Stray Cats—Ring Cam Captures What He Does3 min read
LifeWoman Finds 4-Week-Old Puppy Alone in Field—She Knows Exactly What To Do3 min read
PetsParalyzed Kitten Found Near a School, Engineering Students Know What To Do4 min readRelated Podcasts
Top Stories
NewsWhite House Reveals New Details on Donald Trump’s MRI5 min read
NewsUncommon Knowledge: Trump Closes Venezuelan Airspace, but Not NATO Airspace5 min read
PoliticsDonald Trump Gets New Warning Over US Attacking Venezuela5 min read
NewsWest Virginia Governor Gives Update on Guardsman Injured in DC Shooting3 min read
U.S.Justice Sonia Sotomayor Warns of ‘Two Extremes’ in Supreme Court Case4 min read
NewsDonald Trump’s Tariffs Face New Legal Challenge from Costco2 min readTrending
FloridaAmazon Driver Sees Food Left for Stray Cats—Ring Cam Captures What He Does3 min read
ImmigrationGreen Card Update: New Changes for Holders in December6 min read
NWSWinter Storm Warning as 8 Inches of Snow to Hit North and Midwest3 min read
Black FridayBlack Friday Spending Raises Eyebrows Over US Economy8 min read
WeatherWinter Storm Warning As 13 Inches of Snow To Strike: ‘Extreme Caution’3 min readOpinion
OpinionForeign Energy Companies Have No Home in Our Forests | Opinion4 min read
OpinionThe Hemp Ban Shows America Still Works | Opinion4 min read
OpinionConventional Wisdom: The Somali Minnesota Welfare Fraud Edition4 min read
OpinionRedefining Professional Degrees Will Hurt Everyday Americans | Opinion5 min read
OpinionAI Is Coming for Our Most Intimate Communications. Congress Must Act | Opinion5 min read
