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Animal Minds
- Author:
- Janiece Crowe
- Date Published:
- June 12, 2008
An exciting article came out in National Geographic this March. It's all about Animal Minds. A Border Collie named Betsy who "retains an ever growing vocabulary that rivals a toddlers" is highlighted in the article.
I always knew Border Collies were smart but a 340 word vocabulary? I taught Mo'ana to sit and stay when she was 10 weeks old in 15 minutes. I'd love to say it was my impeccable training abilities but really the credit goes to her.
From what I've gathered an average Border Collie needs at least a 30 minute/day mental stimulation and are bred to run 50-100 miles a day! We take our dogs almost twice a day to play Frisbee and Dan has been dog-jouring with Mo'ana behind a skateboard.
As soon as I read the article the wheels started turning. What will be the mental stimulation? The first new word I taught her was "slipper". So, Mo'ana is training to "come with slipper" and "come with fridge"! In other words, she's learning to fetch my slippers and open the fridge to get beverages. Opening the fridge has been somewhat difficult but Kaya, obviously, pulls it right open!
So, to all you dog owners keep playing games and giving your dogs a lot of attention because they are smarter than you think!
Big Love, JA
| ABC News: | New York Times: | PBS: |
| Animal Smarts | Time in the Animal Mind | Inside the Animal Mind |
