Science for Dogs: How Smart is Your Poodle

SciGuy: Dogs are about as smart as a 2-year-old, scientist says

Eric Berger reports:

Dogs are about as smart as a 2-year-old, scientist says

During a lecture this weekend at the American Psychological Association dog psychologist Stanley Coren will speak about how dogs think. . . .

According to Coren, the five most intelligent dog breeds are:

1. Border Collie
2. Poodle
3. German Shepherd
4. Golden Retriever
5. Doberman Pinscher

And the least intelligent five are:

106. Borzoi
107. Chow Chow
108. Bull dog
109. Basenji
110. Afghan Hound

Based upon various behavioral measures Coren says dogs have the mental ability of a human child age 2 to 2.5 years. Maybe. My 2-year, 2-month-old kid can have a conversation on the phone with her grandparents. Not sure my dog can.

Anyway, the average dog can apparently learn about 165 words and signals, while the smartest dogs can probably learn up to about 250 words. They can also count to four or five.

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