Dog learns over 1,000 words

Re:Dog learns over 1,000 words by philwelch on Monday January 17, 2011 @09:19PM (#2114291)

I think some breeds are, at least in terms of practical working intelligence. Though most of that might come down to temperament and obedience--is a beagle really stupider than a German Shepherd Dog because you can't teach him to sniff for drugs, or is he just too ADHD to care?

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Re:Dog learns over 1,000 words by gigamonkey on Monday January 17, 2011 @11:20PM (#2114563)

Uh, they use beagles for sniffing for all kinds of things: drugs, bombs, even termites.

That said, German Shepherds are an interesting case because, as I understand it, their breed standard is actually a behavioral standard: they have to be able to perform a certain level of obedience, tracking, and bite work (think big leather gloves) to get papers.

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Re:Dog learns over 1,000 words by robin_reala on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @05:43AM (#2115350)

People used to train pigs to hunt truffles, but more recently beagles have been the go-to animal as they tend not to eat the prized catch.

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