Scientists a step closer to finding out why some dogs are ‘gifted word learners’

Some “gifted” dogs have a unique ability to learn the names of hundreds of different toys, and scientists believe they are a step closer to finding out why.

These very rare pooches are known as gifted word learners (GWL), with some showing a talent for spontaneously picking up names of up to 125 different objects.

The researchers said this is first time object label learning has been documented in a non-human species.

When a dog owner told us they thought their dog knew toy names, we gave them instructions on how to self-test their dog and asked them to send us the video of the test

Dr Claudia Fugazza

Professor Adam Miklosi, head of ethology at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, said: “Because GWL dogs are so rare, until now there were only anecdotes about their background.

He added: “The relatively large sample of dogs documented in this study helps us to identify the common characteristics that are shared among these dogs and brings us one step closer in the quest of understanding their unique ability.”

The team first discovered this rare ability in some dogs in a previous study, where they found these animals could learn the names of objects – mostly dog toys – very quickly.

The researchers wanted to understand more about this unique trait so they launched a worldwide campaign to recruit more dogs.

After searching for five years, the team found 41 dogs from nine different countries, including the UK.

More than half (56%) of these canines were Border collies, the researchers said, with a few dogs from non-working breeds such as Pomeranian, Pekingese, Shih Tzu, Corgi, Poodle, and a few mixed breeds.

Surprisingly, most owners reported that they did not intentionally teach their dogs toy names, but rather that the dogs just seemed to spontaneously pick up the toy names during unstructured play sessions

Shany Dror, PhD student at Eotvos Lorand

Dr Claudia Fugazza, a researcher at Eotvos Lorand University, said: “This was a citizen science project.

“When a dog owner told us they thought their dog knew toy names, we gave them instructions on how to self-test their dog and asked them to send us the video of the test.”

The owners were asked about their dog’s life experience, their own experience in raising and training dogs, and about the process by which the dog came to learn the names of their toys.

The researchers said a “vast majority” of owners taking part had no professional background in dog training.

They also said that the owners’ level of experience in handling and training dogs had no impact on and the dogs’ ability to select the correct toys when hearing the names.

Shany Dror, a PhD student at Eotvos Lorand University, said: “Surprisingly, most owners reported that they did not intentionally teach their dogs toy names, but rather that the dogs just seemed to spontaneously pick up the toy names during unstructured play sessions.”

She added: “In our previous studies, we have shown that GWL dogs learn new object names very fast.

“So, it is not surprising that when we conducted the test with the dogs, the average number of toys known by the dogs was 29, but when we published the results, more than 50% of the owners reported that their dogs had already acquired a vocabulary of over 100 toy names.”

This research, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is part of a project known as the Genius Dog Challenge and the scientists are urging owners who believe their dogs know multiple toy names to contact them via the project’s website, geniusdogchallenge.com