'Genius dogs' have a strong grip over human language: Study

Dogs are not just good at taking commands but can also grasp human language, reveals a recent study.

Giving us an advanced understanding of how dogs' memories work, a recent study on six 'genius dogs' shows that this highly likeable animals has a 'remarkable' grasp of the human language.

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Reportedly, Hungarian researchers spent over two years scouting for dogs around the globe who could recognise the names of their various toys. Although most can learn commands to an extent, memorising the names of items seemed like a difficult task, with most dogs failing to acquire that skill.

Six 'genius dogs'--Max (Hungary), Gaia (Brazil), Nalani (Netherlands), Squall (US), Whisky (Norway), and Rico (Spain)--cleared the test of proving they knew the names of more than 28 toys, with some even remembering more than 100.

For the Genius Dog Challenge, these six dogs were enlisted to participate in a series of livestreamed experiments.

"These gifted dogs can learn new names of toys in a remarkable speed. In our previous study we found that they could learn a new toy name after hearing it only four times. But, with such short exposure, they did not form a long-term memory of it," said Dr Claudia Fugazza at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, lead researcher.

To push their limits, the owners of these dogs were made to teach them six, and then 12, names of toys in a single week.

"It turned out that, for these talented dogs, this was not much of a challenge. They easily learned between 11 to 12 toys," said Dr. Shany Dror, who is also from the same university as Dr. Claudia.

"Thanks to the Genius Dog Challenge we have managed until now to find also dogs from other breeds including a German shepherd, a pekingese, a mini Australian shepherd and a few dogs of mixed breeds," Dror said.