GabyA new study from Eötvös Loránd University points to two clear signs of a truly gifted dog. The first is the ability to learn and remember the names of hundreds of objects. The second is holding on to at least some of those names for a minimum of two years. Previous work found that only a handful of dogs can do this, and animal psychologists say Border Collies are among the breeds most likely to have the skill.
That pattern showed up in recent research by Hungarian scientists, published in Biology Letters. The team identified a small group of Border Collies that could recall certain names for at least two years, and they hope these animals will help determine which nonhuman species can retain long-term memories. Dr. Claudia Fugazza, who led the university team, said, “We know that dogs can remember events for at least 24 hours and scents for about a year, but this is the first study to show that some gifted dogs can remember words for at least two years.”
What did the researchers test? They tracked five Border Collies — Gaia, Max, Whisky, Squalla, and Rico — who had taken part in the Genius Dog Challenge, a project in which dogs learn the names of many toys. The researchers retested the dogs after two years to see what stuck. They were pleasantly surprised: four of the five dogs remembered the names of 60–75 percent of the toys. Gaia performed the best, according to the Daily Mail.
The team reported an average recall rate of 44 percent across the dogs, well above what would be expected by chance. Dr. Shani Dror, the study’s lead author, explained, “We waited two years and then retested the dogs to see if they remembered the toy names. Because a lot of time had passed, some toys were lost, so three dogs were tested on 12 toys, one on 11, and another on five.” Dr. Dror said she and her colleagues had difficulty remembering the toy names after two years, but the dogs did not.
