Canine eggheads enjoy playing with toys and retrieving objects.
“Gifted” dogs, who have a rare talent for learning lots of words for objects easily, also turn out to be more playful than other dogs, a new study finds.
Prior research in humans has shown a link between playfulness and problem-solving abilities, so animal behavior researchers from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, wondered if the same was true for rollicking pups.
What is a gifted dog? In the new study, it was Border collies who had proven in prior research that they were able to learn as many as 12 new words per week and then retain them for months.
To take a closer look at the possible association between giftedness and playfulness in dogs, Claudia Fugazza, a researcher in the university’s department of ethology (the study of animal behavior), and her colleagues asked the owners of 165 Border collies to fill out dog personality questionnaires. Twenty-one of the dogs were gifted and the other 114 were just randomly selected with no testing for word learning ability.
The surveys assessed the personality of the animals in five categories:
- Fearfulness, including fear of people, nonsocial fear, fear of dogs, fear of handling.
- Aggression toward people, including general aggression and aggression in certain situations.
- Activity/Excitability, including excitability, playfulness, active engagement and companionability.
- Responsiveness, such as trainability and controllability.
- Aggression toward animals, including aggression toward dogs, prey drive and dominance over other dogs.
For the evaluation of playfulness the owners were asked to rate their dogs in three areas:
- Dog gets bored in play quickly.
- Dog enjoys playing with toys.
- Dog retrieves objects, such as balls, toys and sticks.
The researchers focused solely on Border collies because earlier experiments found that the breed is more likely to be good at learning new words compared to others.
After collecting the survey responses, the researchers then compared the responses from owners of gifted dogs to those from the owners of dogs who had not been identified as gifted.
Playfulness was the only personality trait that was consistently different between the two groups.
It’s not clear from the study whether it’s the playfulness that helps the dogs learn more words, or whether the extra playful ones ended up with more opportunities to learn, said Fugazza, the study’s lead author, said in an email. That’s because gifted dogs tend to learn words for objects when their owners are playing with them.
Are playful dogs smarter?
Not exactly.
“Intelligence is the result of diverse cognitive traits that allow individuals to flexibly solve different types of problems,” Fugazza explained. “Giftedness refers to an extremely good capacity in the case of a specific skill.”
So, maybe gifted dogs are like people who score high on the verbal part of the SATs.
If your pup doesn’t learn words easily, it doesn’t mean it’s a dumb dog. Adam Boyko, an expert in canine genomics, reassures owners that canine intelligence is more than that.
“Both dogs and wolves are playful when they are puppies, but dogs really evolved to living in the human environment and to responding to social cues,” said Boyko, a specialist in the genetics of behavior and an associate professor at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. “It’s not surprising that the more playful ones exhibit better learning in the domain of learning human words. And it’s not surprising that Border collies, who are bred to respond to human cues, show the propensity to learn words more than other breeds.”
Other breeds of dogs might show intelligence in other ways, Boyko said. For example, wolves are very intelligent although they don’t typically pick up on human cues.
“But they can figure out how to escape,” said Boyko. “Where dogs would look for a person to help, wolves would see how humans did a latch and lock and then the wolves would do it themselves to get out.”
Boyko would like to take the study a step further and look at the genetics of the gifted dogs.
“This is a tantalizing correlation that might be meaningful if you are trying to build better service dogs,” he said.
One thing that can’t be determined from the study is whether the playfulness trait spurred owners to interact more with their dogs and thus teach them more words, said Dr. Nicholas Dodman, a professor emeritus at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, CEO and president of the Center for Canine Behavior Studies and the author of “Pets on the Couch: Neurotic Dogs, Compulsive Cats, Anxious Birds and the New Science of Animal Psychiatry.”
Dodman said the study is interesting but needs to be replicated in a larger number of dogs.
“I would also like to see it done in a different breed,” he said.
The new findings might help people who want to buy or adopt a puppy. It suggests that playfulness might be a good attribute to consider.
“The playful ones might be more likely to interact with a person, assimilate words more easily and be more intelligent,” said Dodman.
Courageous Puppy Cries for Help and Battles to Rescue Mother Dog from Giant Python Attack, Displaying Exceptional Bravery in the Face of Danger
A small and courageous puppy demonstrates extraordinary bravery as it raises the alarm to save its mother from the grips of a giant python in a heart-wrenching and awe-inspiring scene recorded on camera. The harrowing incident occurred in a secluded town, illustrating the remarkable link between a pup and its father, as well as animals’ resilient spirit in the face of peril.
An astonishing story of daring and survival unfolded before the eyes of startled people in a small, remote community where nature and wildlife intertwined. This heart-stopping story revealed the steadfast strength and close relationship formed by a tiny dog and its mother as they confronted a massive python menace.
The terrifying meeting occurred in the tranquillity of the village, where daily life continued according to the natural rhythms. The peace was disrupted, however, as a gigantic python curled itself firmly around the mother dog, threatening her very survival. The mother dog found herself in a grave situation while writing in the claws of the reptile predator.
But assistance was not far away. A brave and quick-witted dog, just a few months old, became a witness to the dangerous event happening in front of its eyes. The young canine understood it had to act quickly and forcefully, fueled by natural resolve and an unshakable relationship with its mother.
The courageous pup unleashed a tremendous cry for aid, its frantic appeal resonating throughout the community, with every ounce of power and courage it possessed. The urgency and anxiety in its voice were unmistakable, prompting local residents to seek the cause of the uproar.
The locals hurried towards the terrified canine, guided by the puppy’s earnest appeal, knowing that time was of the essence. As they approached the scene, their eyes widened in amazement and bewilderment at what they saw. The mother dog, wrapped in the python’s tight hold, battled feverishly for her liberation, her life hanging in the balance.
The people worked together fearlessly to save the embattled mother dog from the grip of the terrible snake. Armed with tools and their collective might, they developed a strategy to rescue the mother dog from the python’s clutches.
The villagers performed their strategy with precision, painstakingly loosening the python’s coils and eventually releasing its grasp on the mother dog in a display of unshakable bravery and synchronization. As the tension subsided and the python’s hold loosened, hope ignited in the hearts of everyone who saw the rescue effort.
Finally, with one last concentrated attempt, the villagers were able to totally remove the mother dog from the python’s stifling grip. As the brave canine was reunited with her tough young, the crowd erupted in relief and appreciation.
This extraordinary story of bravery and survival serves as a compelling reminder of the tremendous ties that exist in the animal realm, as well as the awe-inspiring strength displayed by creatures large and tiny. The narrative of the brave puppy’s call for assistance and the villagers’ collaborative attempt to save the mother dog from the claws of a gigantic python exemplifies the indomitable spirit that dwells inside every living creature.
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