Many of us like to think our dogs are smart, as we point to their ability to read our facial expressions and understand what we say. Many people like to believe that our dogs can read our facial expressions and understand our words.

Some dogs are more exceptional than others. Take Chaser, an American border collie dubbed the “smartest dog in the world,” who could recognize and remember 1,022 nouns–one for each of her toys. Chaser is an American border collie, who was dubbed the “smartest canine in the world” because she could remember and recognize 1,022 nouns – one for each of her toys.

In Germany, another border collie, a male named Rico, practiced “fast-mapping,” or figuring out the names of new things with the speed and acumen of a three-year-old child.Another border collie from Germany, a male called Rico, was able to “fast-map,” which is the art of quickly figuring out new names with the speed and intelligence of a three year-old child.} Other border collie breeds such as Vicky Nina from Brazil and Bailey, both Yorkshire terriers from the USA, have been shown to have similar talents.

Yet such examples of canine genius are often “about only one dog,” says Claudia Fugazza, an ethologist who studies dog cognition at Budapest’s Eotvos Lorand University.|However, such canine genius cases are often about one dog, says Claudia Fugazza an ethologist at Budapest’s Eotvos- Lorand University. She notes that there has never been a large enough sample.

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Fugazza was determined to change that. She and her colleagues with the university’s Family Dog Project asked owners of 34 pet dogs of various breeds to teach their canines names for two separate toys.Fugazza and her colleagues from the university’s Family Dog Project surveyed 34 owners of different breeds of pet dogs to learn their dogs’ names for two toys. Take the Genius Dog Challenge to test your pup’s intelligence.

Only one of the 34 animals passed the test, a border collie named Oliva.

These results “mean talent has to be something special,” Fugazza, the lead author of a recent study on the experiment, says.

The source of talent

Researchers reached out to dog owners via social media and asked them to play fetch daily with their dogs while repeating the name. This process lasted for three months.