'Genius dogs' remember names of 100 toys

Image source, PA Media

Some dogs have the ability to remember more than 100 names of toys, scientists have discovered.

Six border collie dogs from across the world - which were identified through the Genius Dog Challenge - were taught to learn the name of toys.

The scientists found that most learned 12 new 鈥巘oy names in one week and remembered them for two months.

It's really unusual for dogs to remember the names of objects, so researchers think these dogs will be useful to help work out how words are understood by non-humans.

Lead researcher Shany Dror, from the Family Dog Project at Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary, said: "We know that dogs can easily learn words that are linked to actions, such as sit or down.

"But very few dogs can learn names of objects. For more than two years we searched around the world for dogs that had learnt the names of their toys, and we managed to find six."

The dogs involved were Max from Hungary, Gaia from Brazil, Nalani from the Netherlands, Squall from the US, Whisky from Norway and Rico from Spain.

To qualify to take part in the study, the animals had to prove they knew the names of more than 28 toys, with some knowing more than 100.

Do you have a clever dog? If so - tell us about it in the comments below.

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