Is your dog actually smart, or is it your own beloved bias? Sure, your canine might respond to their name, a few special words like "treat" or "walk", and even have a few go-to tricks, but researchers have found a way to discover how clever your pup actually is. The journal Nature has published a paper. Dr. Jan Hoole, a lecturer in biology at the University of Keele, wrote about the paper for The Conversation about how to tell if your dog is a genius using a few simple steps.
The steps go as such: First, do a baseline test. Place a few familiar objects in front of your pup. Away from sight, ask your dog to bring one of the objects. How many times was the name alone enough to identify? Follow this up by showing the dog two new objects. Tell them the toy names and let them have fun with the toy. Repeat the toy name four times, ask the animal to pick one of the two new toys. Do this on repeat, and track how often the dog chooses the right item by name.
Allegedly this will be able to determine how smart your dog is. In a study, only two out of 22 different dogs were able to get the correct toy repeatedly. More research needs to be done on what makes a smart puppy so smart, such as how breeding, training, upbringing, and more play a role in their intelligence. One thing is for sure though, every dog is pretty darn cute!