After three years of training by researchers, a border collie named Chaster was able to recognize 1,022 toys by name. The researchers admitted the dog remembered the names of all the toys better than they did. They also said that is was possible Chaser could learn even more toys if they spent additional time training him.

“This research is important because it demonstrates that dogs, like children, can develop extensive vocabularies and understand that certain words represent individual objects and other words represent categories of objects, independent in meaning of what one is asked to do with those objects,” said Alliston Reid, one of the researchers at Wofford College in South Carolina. (Source:sciencedaily.com)

Was this test indicative of true dog intelligence even though it was created by humans? What do we still have yet to learn regarding the intelligence of other species?  Perhaps some day it will be possible to recognize what true dog intelligence is.

Recent research has revealed much about canine intelligence. For instance, molecular analysis has shown that dogs can remember 4,000 different smells in a natural environment, including in changing weather conditions.

Psychologist and physiologist Peter Levine has done a lot of research and writing about the capacity wild animals have for releasing trauma from their bodies so they can continue functioning normally. This innate ability has been studied as a model for how humans can also release the energy of emotional trauma rather than remain depressed, anxious, or phobic for years following traumatic experiences.

Adapted from an article by Jake R.