I've just finished an very interesting read called The Genius of Dogs by scientists Dr Brian Hare & Vanesa Woods. It covers topics such as how dogs evolved their unique intelligence and many other intriguing topics including many discoveries about a dog's mind. This book prompted me to join Dognition, a newly developed canine-assessment tool. If you ever wanted to know how your dog thinks and views the world then this is for you. This 'citizen science project' also provides a broad-based data so that these and other researchers can gain a more in-depth understanding of dogs, which in turn, can aid all our dogs.
These fun science-based games cover five different categories. It was recommended that you play one category with your dog each day so that you would come to the completion of your assessment in five days.
The first of these measured Empathy. The data found that Bailey had an independent streak but was still very bonded to me. Interesting! Bailey can maintain eye contact for a very long time with me and it has been found that owners who's dogs stared at them for longer, had significant increases in Oxytocin, also known as the "hug hormone". This relates to feelings of bonding, pleasure and affection. This means that when Bailey is staring at me for extended periods of time, he may just be hugging me with his eyes!
The second category explored Communication. I had certain expectations from him in this category as his job relies strongly on him communicating to me every day. As expected, his performance, based on the exercises completed, was highly collaborative. Can he read me like a book and know where I'm going before I do? Absolutely! Bailey pays close attention to my gestures and what I'm trying to communicate. His behaviour in these exercises demonstrated why the dog and human relationship is so special.
The third category covered the Cunning dimension. I had no idea how he'd go in this exercise! Well, Bailey landed in the middle of trustworthy and wily. In other words, the way he acts around me is most likely how he is when alone. This is nice to know.
The forth category was Memory. I knew that dogs have good memories and I know that Bailey's is excellent as observed throughout his training. In one game, Bailey watched me put a treat under one cup but then point to the other cup but he preferred to rely on the information in his working memory rather than what I pointed to. Even though I gave him misleading information, he remembered where the treat was and chose to ignore me. This shows that he's an independent thinker and the report said to be aware of other situations when Bailey may not listen to you if he thinks I'm wrong. This was very interesting as there have been many times when he's detected dramatic changes taking place with Jason's BGL's that haven't yet registered on the meter and has insistently alerted me to the fact until I listen to him. This is exactly what I want him to be and precisely what his training wanted to create...a thinking dog! We also had several interruptions throughout these games but he remained focused and it was found that he had an amazing working memory which is the type of memory that allows him to keep information in his mind for at least a few minutes and mentally manipulate it. Working-memory is crucial for any kind of problem-solving. Being a Diabetic Alert Dog requires Bailey to solve problems and there have been times (like waking me from sleep to alert me to Jason's low BGL's) when he has done just that. So this category made me wonder...how much has the training that Bailey's done increased the capacity of his memory?
And the last category covered Reasoning. It was found that Bailey likes to see all the pieces of the puzzle before solving the puzzle. In other words he sees me as his best bet when solving problems. He views me as a co-operative partner and I think this is most likely due to the training we have done together and because we work as a team.
So the verdict was....Bailey is a Renaissance Dog, which means he is good at a little bit of everything. Overall he showed accomplished social skills and solid independent problem solving. Bailey is a generalist. While others focus on the proverbial tree, Bailey can see the entire forest!
Visit www.Dognition.co.uk/TheGeniusofDogs to find out more.
These fun science-based games cover five different categories. It was recommended that you play one category with your dog each day so that you would come to the completion of your assessment in five days.
The first of these measured Empathy. The data found that Bailey had an independent streak but was still very bonded to me. Interesting! Bailey can maintain eye contact for a very long time with me and it has been found that owners who's dogs stared at them for longer, had significant increases in Oxytocin, also known as the "hug hormone". This relates to feelings of bonding, pleasure and affection. This means that when Bailey is staring at me for extended periods of time, he may just be hugging me with his eyes!
The second category explored Communication. I had certain expectations from him in this category as his job relies strongly on him communicating to me every day. As expected, his performance, based on the exercises completed, was highly collaborative. Can he read me like a book and know where I'm going before I do? Absolutely! Bailey pays close attention to my gestures and what I'm trying to communicate. His behaviour in these exercises demonstrated why the dog and human relationship is so special.
The third category covered the Cunning dimension. I had no idea how he'd go in this exercise! Well, Bailey landed in the middle of trustworthy and wily. In other words, the way he acts around me is most likely how he is when alone. This is nice to know.
The forth category was Memory. I knew that dogs have good memories and I know that Bailey's is excellent as observed throughout his training. In one game, Bailey watched me put a treat under one cup but then point to the other cup but he preferred to rely on the information in his working memory rather than what I pointed to. Even though I gave him misleading information, he remembered where the treat was and chose to ignore me. This shows that he's an independent thinker and the report said to be aware of other situations when Bailey may not listen to you if he thinks I'm wrong. This was very interesting as there have been many times when he's detected dramatic changes taking place with Jason's BGL's that haven't yet registered on the meter and has insistently alerted me to the fact until I listen to him. This is exactly what I want him to be and precisely what his training wanted to create...a thinking dog! We also had several interruptions throughout these games but he remained focused and it was found that he had an amazing working memory which is the type of memory that allows him to keep information in his mind for at least a few minutes and mentally manipulate it. Working-memory is crucial for any kind of problem-solving. Being a Diabetic Alert Dog requires Bailey to solve problems and there have been times (like waking me from sleep to alert me to Jason's low BGL's) when he has done just that. So this category made me wonder...how much has the training that Bailey's done increased the capacity of his memory?
And the last category covered Reasoning. It was found that Bailey likes to see all the pieces of the puzzle before solving the puzzle. In other words he sees me as his best bet when solving problems. He views me as a co-operative partner and I think this is most likely due to the training we have done together and because we work as a team.
So the verdict was....Bailey is a Renaissance Dog, which means he is good at a little bit of everything. Overall he showed accomplished social skills and solid independent problem solving. Bailey is a generalist. While others focus on the proverbial tree, Bailey can see the entire forest!
Visit www.Dognition.co.uk/TheGeniusofDogs to find out more.