Thursday 6 March 2008

Is it?


No, it is not Belle. It's Betsy.
This morning the March issue of the National Geographic came through the letter box. The caption for the leading article is:
"Minds of their own. Animals are smarter than you think." Betsy like Belle has meaningful eyes. The opening words on the article on her are:"How much thought goes on behind those eyes?"
The answer is: "A lot, in this case." The article goes on to say:"Six-year-old Betsy can put names to objects faster than a great ape and her vocabulary is at 340 words and counting. Her smarts showed up early: at ten weeks she would sit on command and was soon picking up on names of items and rushing to retrieve them (ball, rope, paper, box, keys and dozens more). She now knows at least 15 people by name and in photographic tests she is proved skilled at linking photographs with the objects they represent. Her owners say they are learning her language and Betsy is learning theirs".
Belle is equally clever. She has a wide vocabulary as well and has the added asset of being bi-lingual. She understands English and French equally well. I think that's pretty smart too.

11 comments:

Whispering Walls said...

Maybe you should introduce language lessons at your dog club? Is there a benchmark for a canine IQ?

Flowerpot said...

My Moll is cdertainly very bright - she has a certain way of looking at you sideways and you can see exactly what she's thinking. It's not uusally very complimentary!

Cornish Dreamer said...

Dogs are very clever creatures, but a bilingual one has to be even more so!

The_Sphinx's World said...

Kiba, my pitbull is also very smart. When he's hungry, he gets his food bowl and puts it in front of me with those big pleading eyes. Believe me, you can't resist giving in to his demand!

jmb said...

The spitting image of Belle. That is a pretty clever dog but I'm glad she's not putting Belle to shame.
As a dog trainer I'm sure you'd be mortified if she did.

Anonymous said...

What an incredible dog. Gorgeous photo of her too.

Crystal xx

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

I'm sure Belle is the cleverer and so is Simi!

Violets new Vintage said...

She does look like Belle! I can't wait to read the full article. I truly love that breed of dog. They are sharp as tacks and its nice to spread the word about it too.

Unknown said...

Hi eurodog,
I posted my previous comment under the other e-mail. Loved this post.

She does look like Belle! I can't wait to read the full article. I truly love that breed of dog. They are sharp as tacks and its nice to spread the word about it too.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Yes, very smart. That dog does look like Belle! Simi is bilingual too!

Anonymous said...

The dog in the Geographic story is very smart. But it doesn't sound like she showed herself to be special early in life.

I guess that begs a question, is this a special dog or can most dogs do the same if given the same experiences as this pup.

It is obvious the owners spent a lot of time with the puppy.