Chaser, the Border Collie, is an incredible dog that has amazed us with her incredible intelligence and capacity to understand over a thousand words. Through the help of her human psychology professor John Pilley, Chaser has learned to identify individual toys by name.
John and his team found Chaser 7 years ago, and since then, she has become an integral part of a revolutionary study exploring the powerful capabilities of canine intelligence. The remarkable results show us the fantastic potential dogs have in learning new concepts.
In a video featuring Chaser, John randomly selects eight toys from boxes full of toys that Chaser has already been taught the names of. He then faces away from them and calls out each toy’s name individually, asking Chaser to fetch that particular toy. This display demonstrates that she genuinely comprehends the words being said to her and can accurately differentiate between one toy and another based on these words alone.
To teach Chaser a new word, John brings out a new toy and asks her to retrieve it when he says its new name. After several rounds of trial and error between her and her teacher, she eventually understands what word conveys what object. This process takes immense patience as it could take months for her to learn just one word correctly. This speaks volumes about John’s dedication and Chaser’s enthusiasm for learning something new.
Chaser’s remarkable display of understanding words sparked numerous studies into canine intelligence more broadly, uncovering further astounding insights regarding their cognitive abilities. These studies give us greater insight into our beloved furry friends and remind us how powerful our connection with them can be, provided there is consistency and dedication involved in nurturing any relationship.
The bond between Chaser and John is evident in this video and demonstrates her extraordinary abilities. They work together so seamlessly that it almost looks like they communicate without speaking.
Ultimately, we can take away three valuable lessons from Chaser’s success story. Firstly, dogs possess more significant levels of cleverness than previously thought. Secondly, they can achieve amazing things through proper teaching and patience – often far surpassing our expectations (just look at how many words Chaser learned). Last but not least, we are reminded once again about just how strong the relationship between humans and animals can be. This video is sure to leave you awestruck.
Share this because you can make someone’s day.
