Dogs are smart animals, but how smart are they? Just how close they are to the truth is revealed by research showing that the creatures have the intelligence of a toddler.
As with humans, they have the capacity to decide whether to copy others' behaviour, depending if it makes sense to do so.
Before dog lovers start drawing up a list of challenges for their clever pets, however, there is one crucial caveat - a dog's intelligence is estimated to be equivalent only to that of a 14-month-old child.
Researchers at the University of Vienna trained a female border collie called Guinness to use her paws to push a bar that released a treat, rather than using her mouth as dogs prefer.
The experiment, published in Current Biology, an American journal, has divided canine experts
In a separate test, toddlers who watched their mother turn on a light switch with her head because she was carrying a tray, were able to judge that she had only done so because her hands were full and that, when possible, they should use their hands for switches.
Zsofia Viranyi, of Eotvos University in Budapest, co-author of the dog study, said: "The behaviour was very similar to the children who were tested in the original experiment.".
Link : Telegraph
Image: Wikipedia
Tags: Dog | Intelligence | Child
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