Scientists have pinned down the characteristics of a unique type of genius dog, and it all comes down to how well they know their toys. These dogs are known as Gifted Word Learners (GWLs), as they know the names of many of their toys and can retrieve them on command.
Published in Nature Scientific Reports, the study confirmed that these canine geniuses are incredibly rare. In fact, it's one of the first studies to investigate the characteristics of these dogs in depth, with a sample size of 41 rather than just one or two dogs.
This story is from the July/August 2024 edition of Very Interesting.
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This story is from the July/August 2024 edition of Very Interesting.
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