Is Your Dog a Genius? Full Episode | Pup Prodigies 🐶🎓 | ‪@natgeokids‬

Dogs are incredible companions. With some of the highest social intelligence in the animal kingdom. But their IQ goes beyond the bond. In this episode of Canine Einsteins, we'll meet some of the smartest of the bunch. From dogs with a remarkable memory. To ingenious problem-solving skills. Dogs are much smarter than we think. Man's best friend can do amazing things. Oh wow, he does pull. Now, we're going to peer inside the canine mind. And along with Dr. Brian Hare and his team of canine researchers, we'll learn some surprising things that will help you unlock your dog's full potential. Dogs get so much pleasure from making people happy. But they're also powerful problem-solvers on their own. So make sure your canine companions are watching. Play along at home and discover the genius of your dog. Dogs do incredible things all the time. They can remember their owners after they've been separated for months. They dig up bones that they buried long ago. And there are stories of dogs finding their way home over hundreds of miles. I love dogs just like lots of other people. And many times as a kid I can remember, gosh, I just wish I knew what you were thinking. What are the types of intelligence that an individual relies on to solve problems in its world? The neat thing is you can have two individuals using very different cognitive abilities that make them the way that they are. Is your dog born a genius? Or does his genius come by learning from the best? Good girl. You. Play this game and find out. Grab two cups, a treat, and stand about six feet from your dog. Are you ready? Make it clear you're placing a treat under just one cup. Stand up and point to the opposite cup, the one not containing the treat. Which cup will your dog choose? Okay, where is it? Okay. Dr. Hare and his team of canine researchers invite dog lovers to play a set of games called Dognition. And with thousands of people playing and contributing to the data, they've already made some surprising revelations. When you start looking, you see relationships between things that you didn't know existed, like the length of a dog's nose and how good it is at using human gestures. That's crazy. I would have never predicted that, but that's science. The results for each dog participating are compared to all the other dogs in the study to produce a unique personality profile. Finnegan is a charmer. Are you a charmer? The nine distinct profiles reveal how each type of dog sees the world and relates to you. I think you care, just like you would care about understanding more how your child thinks. It's an expression of love. How do you understand somebody you're with better so you can interact with them in a more informed way? Let's go back to Kiwi. Did she follow Dr. Hare's point or use her own memory of what she saw? Okay, where is it? You got it! All right! Good job! Some dogs rely on their best friends for all the answers. But Kiwi has developed a certain genius for figuring out things on her own. No fooling you, sweetie. We know dogs are intelligent when it comes to emotional IQ. They have an ability to bond and communicate with humans unlike any animal on the planet. Unlike their ancestors, dogs don't have to hunt to survive. So maybe their reliance on us has weakened their other abilities. You can't ever have nature or nurture. In the case of intelligence, you're going to have cognitive abilities that an animal was born with interacting with the environment they find themselves in during their life. And that's what shapes everything. Some dogs will look to us for direction. But others rely on their own problem-solving skills like memory and reason. For humans, these are vital measures of cognition. But what about your dog's mind? Yay! Where's Nemo? Memory is crucial for any mammal because it allows you to remember where you found food last, where you left your den and your puppies. Oh my goodness! Good girl! As humans, we really emphasize memory as being really, really important because it allows you to store information that you can use later to solve all sorts of problems. The question that scientists have been trying to answer is, can animals do the same thing? That's why we need to look at their cognition. Because cognition actually lets you know, what do they understand about the world? What kind of things does your dog remember? He has an amazing memory. He'll go straight to the desk of the person that has the cookies every single time. He remembers scents when we're traveling. He sits up, he knows where we are. When we're walking, he'll know which path we're supposed to take. And if we try to deviate, he'll stop dead and look at us like we're crazy. There are different types of memory. There's memory for events, places in space. And there's also social memory. You know, remembering when you had an interaction, but also more importantly, who you had the interaction and was it a good interaction or a bad interaction. But do they really store memories the way that we do? Where is your roadkill? Do they really think about things that have happened in the past the same way that we do? Oh my goodness, that's a good girl. If dogs can use their memory to find their toys, cookies, and their way in the world, what else can they learn? You want to go play with your soccer ball? Oh yeah, you do. Meet Kiwi. Quick, clever, with a mind like a steel trap. Go get it. Good girl. I'm Eric Haas, and this is my wife Brandi. This is our baby Kiwi. One of the things that's really special about Kiwi is her recall of all of her toys. And I think it really happened by accident. We just got her a couple toys, and we just happened to call them whatever name we called them. And she actually... Was bringing the right ones. Knew which one to get. Where's your turtle? Where's your turtle? Good girl, bring me turtle. That's a good girl. Get your turtle. She remembers between 30 and 40 toys. It's kind of remarkable. In that tiny little head, she remembers so much. Yeah, because her brain is probably the size of a walnut. But it's fully used. Hey guys. The reason that games are so powerful... Get your soccer ball. Is because just looking at a dog's choices can help us understand how they think. There's got to be like 50 toys in there that she's not bringing back. Oh my goodness. I feel like she's finding toys because she assigns a scent to them. Oh really? We're pretty sure she goes and sniffs through and roots it out. Oh. So you think that she remembers the smell and that's partly what helps her. Anytime we observe animals behaving, you can have ideas about why it is they do what they do. But we may be in for some surprises. I think the first thing we could do is play memory versus smell. So do they prioritize memory over smell or smell over memory? Like most dog owners, Eric is sold on the power of his dog's sniffer. Let's find out if he's right. I think a lot of people are surprised by this one, but let's see what she does. I'm going to hide the food in one of the two containers. And then if you turn her around while she's not watching, I'm just going to switch the location. I got you. So if she's using her nose, she'll know the smell is coming from here. If she's using her memory, she saw it hidden there. Gotcha. Sounds good. Okay. Ready? Here we go. Okay. Turn her around. This time, while Kiwi's not watching, Brian switches the treat to the other side. And she can come find it. Okay. Where is it? Kiwi saw that the treat was placed under the cup to her left. So if she's relying on her memory, she'll select where she saw him place the treat on the left. But if she's actually using her nose to find the scent, she'll select where the treat moved to, the cup on her right. Is it there? It's over here. So eyes, beak, nose on that one. On that one, that's right. So let's flip it the other way and see what she does. All right. There it is, Kiwi. Hide those eyes into the old switcheroo. All right. Where is it, Kiwi? You think it's this one? Oh, Kiwi. It's over here, sweetie. Eyes, beak, nose. That's two for two. That's right. I mean, a lot of people think this is easy. Like you hide food under a cup. Of course they know where it is. They use their nose. I think she knows there's food here. But the precision of it's here versus here, it's really hard. Here at least, we didn't see that she was using her nose over her memory. Right. Dogs are famous for having great sniffers, but there are lots of examples where animals have a way more sensitive nose than dogs. Whether it's moths who can detect sex hormones from miles and miles away, to sharks who can detect a minute amount of blood, to star-nosed moles who have basically a finger-like nose. When dogs are finding things, it's not just their noses that matter. I think a lot of people, when they see a small dog like this, they think, oh, it's got a really small brain. But after playing all the games, her results prove that there's a lot going on inside Kiwi's tiny head. Holy cow, that was quick. Our question was about her ability to learn all these labels for objects. And based on what we saw in these games is she really relies on memory. Her word learning is probably a lot about her memory. Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah, definitely. What's neat is you can see that she's pretty bonded. It makes a lot of sense to me because she just constantly looks at us. Right. Because most small dogs make a lot less eye contact. Kiwi's unique combination of strengths are analyzed and compared to other dogs to arrive at her individual personality profile. So Kiwi is a charmer. Aww. She is a little charmer. Smooth operator, relies on her secret weapon, which is you. Kiwi can figure out things on her own. But because of her tight bond with Eric and Brandi, she knows she doesn't have to. Go give me your bumble. Bring bumble here. Bring bumble. Good girl. Kiwi's memory helps her find her toys and occasionally a treat. But what about your dog's ancestors? Every day, wolves must use their memory to find food, water, fend off enemies, and to care for their young. Okay. Dogs, on the other hand, are so attached to humans that some will follow a human point over following their own memory. Wow, I like how she looked up to you like, that's right, Mom. That's right, I listen to you. So will these highly socialized wolf pups, raised by humans from just 12 days old, act more like dogs or their own wild family? This is Sam. We're going to see if he can use his memory or if he likes to use my gestures to find food. I'm going to hide some food. I'm going to let Sam, the wolf puppy, see where I hide it, but then he has to remember, is it in the left or right cup? But then what I'm going to do is I'm actually going to point to the opposite cup. Hey, Sam. Dr. Hare is playing the same game he's played with dogs on their wild relatives. Are you ready? Sam, it's over here. Will Sam rely on his memory and select the bowl where he saw the food was placed? Or will he rely on new information and follow Brian's finger point to the empty bowl instead? Okay. So in that one, he used his memory instead of my gesture. It may be that Sam is using his memory more than me to find food. So let's keep going and find out. Hey, Sam, are you ready? Sam, ready? Sam. Okay. Oh, now see, that was really interesting. He saw where I hid the food, remembered where it was, but then got nervous because he doesn't want to be near people. Not only did this wolf pup prefer to rely on his own knowledge, he avoided humans even when there was a treat on the other end. So what's the difference between dogs and wolves? Dogs look to us for guidance, but can dogs figure out the solutions to problems on their own? Reasoning for me is the most exciting area in animal intelligence because reasoning is dogs solving problems on their own, problems they've never seen before and learning super rapidly. So not after lots of practice, not after tons of training, but literally they can infer the solution to a problem that they've potentially never seen before. Our next clever canine is a master at inference. Border Collie Chaser has revolutionized how we understand the dog mind. Okay, Chase, we're going to play hide and seek, but you have to go to the bedroom. She's most famous for her way with words. Go, go, go. Next to humans, she knows more than almost any other animal. Okay, Chase, find sunshine. No, no, no. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes, good girl, good girl. To pop up, take sunshine. Good girl. Other dogs may remember and understand words and commands, but it's the way Chaser learns these words that's truly revolutionary. Reverse, look up, look up, look up. That's it, good girl. I'm John Pilley, a retired psychology professor. I'm 86 years old, and here's Chaser. She's a 10-year-old Border Collie. She's been my research animal and also we're buddies. When I brought Chaser home at 8 weeks, I knew I wanted to teach her words. Okay, Chase, go, go, in, out. But before she could learn nouns, she first had to learn verbs in addition to elements of grammar. Do what I do. And lo and behold, she was successful. Chase, to snow, take wheel. Do it, girl, do it, do it. Yes, good girl. That's when I knew that Chaser's going to be able to learn a lot of words. Chase, let's clean up, let's get all these toys. But we also wanted to see if she could learn how words are put together. That was revolutionary. It seems that the way in which Chaser learns new words and how those words relate to one another is similar to how young children learn language. Chase, nose like. There it is, paw like. Yes, good girl. Three years later, we found that she had learned the names of over 1,000 objects. Brian, I want to show you one or two of Chaser's toys. Whoa! One or two, whoa! Every time I look at them, I say to myself, does she really know the names of all these? I mean, can you remember the names? No, I can't remember the names. They all have a name written on them somewhere. Okay, that's 5, 10, 15, 20, 24 tubs. That is absolutely amazing. While most dogs know fewer than 200 words or commands, Chaser learned over 1,000 and learned them at lightning speed. By the time we got to the fifth month, she seemed to be learning the name of an object on one trial, and so I changed the method of teaching, and that was the magic. It was kind of a Helen Keller moment. Dr. Pilley did something new. He began teaching Chaser the names of new toys using inference, the same way we make an educated guess. There are simple inferences, and there are more complex inferences, but all dogs pick up, the owner's putting his hand on, okay, we're going for a walk. Yes, that's right. But to make the abstract inference is a huge leap. That is a big leap. To show how Chaser was using a complex inference, he used a game that requires the principle of exclusion. All right, what I'm going to do is put some familiar objects that she knows the name of in front of her. Okay. To play the game, you show them familiar objects whose names the dog knows. Then you show the dog a novel object, one the dog has never seen before. And then I ask the dog to retrieve a couple of those familiar ones, and then we ask her to find the ones she's never heard or seen. Chase, find wheel. Get wheel. Good girl. In tub. All right, there you go. Get Flintstone. Find Flintstone. Chase, find Carolina. Find Carolina. This is important because it shows Chaser making a mental inference. Well, if Pop-Pop wanted one of these objects I know the name of, why, he would have said the name. But he didn't say the name, so it's got to be this one over here. I've never seen. And so that's a mental inference. Yes, good girl. Get Pop-Pop. Wow. Good girl. That was so amazing. That kind of inferential reasoning to label an object with a new word has only been seen in human children. We do not see that in great apes. Our closest relatives. As intelligent as they are, they're not learning words like that. I think Chaser is the most important dog scientifically in over a century. By learning words the same way that kids do, Chaser is showing us the potential of the dog mind, not just of Chaser, but what all dogs might be capable of. I mean, that's incredible. What you've done is you've really taken the curtain off. I mean, it's like looking through a window into the dog mind. They've got this capacity for reasoning. I mean, dogs are much smarter than we think. Really. If dogs can learn new words through reasoning, Yes, good girl. Wow. can dogs also use their reasoning skills to improve communication with us? Oh, car coming. Let's see if we can test how well your dog communicates with you. There are two games that measure your dog's ability to communicate. Okay, free. They're based on one of the most vetted discoveries in the field of canine cognition. Okay, free. Now you can play them with your dog. Grab two treats and stand six feet away. What we're going to do is very simple. You're going to put a piece of food in each hand. You're going to then put those pieces of food on the floor at your wingspan, as far as you can reach. And then when you stand up, then you're going to point to one of them, and then Leif's going to let Brutus make a choice. The question is very simple. Does your dog listen to you? Place both treats on the ground and stand back up. Is your dog one of those dogs that even though there's really no problem, both pieces of food are visible, you pointed, and so the dog says, gosh, there must be something over there, interesting, I'm going to go that direction. Or is your dog the dog that says, I don't care what you say, and just ignore you? Which side will your dog choose? He went to it. Wow, all right. He went to you. About two-thirds of the time, dogs that played this game preferred to follow the gesture. Two in a row. Dogs will follow a pointing gesture in many different situations, from figuring out direction to finding a lost toy. One more. It's something humans take for granted, but it's one of the most extraordinary skills in the animal kingdom. There you go. Just the simple act of going to where somebody points is so powerful because it means that they can learn things about the world that they otherwise wouldn't become aware of. In fact, dogs are one of the only species, other than humans, to understand the message behind a pointing gesture. I was studying with scientists who were trying to look at how humans develop and how humans evolve, and we were focusing on primates. In his study, Brian played similar communication games with bonobos and chimpanzees, our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. And what we found is that bonobos, chimpanzees, don't communicate with gestures in the way that human infants do. What I said to my advisor at the time is I said, well, I think my dog can do that. And, of course, he said, what are you talking about? And I said, no, seriously, when I play fetch with my childhood dog and the ball got lost and he couldn't find it, I would just point and he would run off that way. My advisor at that point said, why don't we come up with a test? And that's how I got started working with dogs. Dogs, in particular, are really communicative. But the question is, are the communicative skills that dogs are using that are so similar to the ones that our own children potentially use, is that why dogs and humans have such a strong bond? Get big mean kitty. Dog-human communication can be so strong and so reliable that some people's lives depend on it. When it comes to reading humans, our next genius, Wally, is in a league of his own. My name is Donna Permar. This is my husband, Glenn, and our two guide dogs. Glenn's dog is Wally and my dog is Kyle. Born blind, Glenn initially used a cane to get around. That is, until he met Donna. She had a dog and I didn't. We went out walking around and I couldn't keep up with her. I decided to get a dog. Then she couldn't keep up with me anymore. Now I'm not scared to take off anywhere. Today, Glenn and Donna rely on guide dogs to keep them safe every day of their lives. But what allows these life-saving service dogs to be so zoned in to their owners? When we're out walking, we're communicating all the time. These are real people going into very dangerous situations if that dog is not doing the right thing. Using communication is really a crucial thing. Wally pays a lot of attention to what I do. Glenn can't make direct eye contact, so it's critical that Wally pays attention to Glenn. When they reach a crosswalk, watch as subtle cues prompt Wally to act. Wally stops at the curb, then guides Glenn with his nose to the walk button. Then we turn and go back to the curb, wait on the light to change. When you're together after a little while, you get all the little kinks worked out. It's a really close bond between a person and their guide dog. Glenn and Wally's communication is almost second nature. Is that just a matter of training and time? Or does Wally have a unique gift for understanding all humans? Let's see if Wally can communicate effectively with a stranger. That would require a powerful skill, cognitive flexibility. Humans are very flexible learners. Not only do we learn things from our family members, but we also learn things from people we've never seen before, and that's really special about our species. I think dogs are flexible learners compared to a lot of animals. I was just wondering if you had ever had the opportunity to actually walk with a guide dog under a blindfold. You know what? No, I have never done that before. You just hold the harness just like this. You want it right down. On my left side? On your left side, and you want to be standing by his side like this. You don't want to be way out here. And then you'll give him a forward command. What's the forward command? With him, you can say forward in motion with your hand. Okay, Wally, I really trust you. To trust a dog that you've just met for the first time would be kind of nerve-wracking. Oh, wow, he does pull. Oh, car coming! Say forward in motion with your hand. Dr. Hare is about to play the ultimate trust game with a seeing-eye dog he's never met. Okay, Wally, I really trust you. Say Wally forward. Okay, Wally forward. Oh, wow, he does pull. It's really a different feeling when you hold on to the dog's harness for the first time and have that dog pull you down the sidewalk. All right, Wally, good job. Oh, car coming! This is like a serious trust game. Oh, hey, stopping. Oh, they're cars. That sounds very busy. Am I in the middle of the street or something here? Wow! Oh, he stopped right at the street! We were confident that Wally would guide Brian safely. He seemed to do really well with it. You were a good boy, Wally. Well, now you've made me really curious to learn more about these guys, so thank you so much. So what allows Wally to spontaneously communicate with someone he's never met before? Is it just a matter of training? Or does he have a unique ability? Wally, you are the man! By playing together, Glenn can test the way Wally solves problems and uncover why he's Glenn's perfect partner. Thank you, thank you, guys, thank you! Remember the arm-pointing game? Okay, Wally. All right! When Glenn plays it, Wally follows Glenn's point to find the treat 6 out of 6 times. What a good boy! Fewer than 14% of dogs tested can do that. That's a boy, that's a boy! Foot-pointing, however, is an entirely new gesture. We're going to give you a problem your dog hasn't seen very much, which is you pointing to things with your foot. Take a small step to your right and then point with the toe of your foot to the left. Watch this. Glenn will point to the treat with his foot alone. Keep in mind, Wally has never seen Glenn do this before. Again, Wally nails it. He follows this completely unfamiliar form of communication 5 times out of 6. Wally clearly pays attention to all kinds of human gestures. What that shows is a level of flexibility that a lot of dogs have that most other animals don't. Wally is a super communicator, very collaborative with you. Wally is a socialite. For Wally, it was his communication skills that were off the charts. You guys are probably clued into your dog so much more than a lot of people that you guys become a unit with your dog. It's really Wally and Glenn become one thing and they behave a certain way together. One of the things that's going to be fun going forward is how sophisticated are dogs when they're helping people like you? Can we then tap into that to get dogs to be even better than they already are? Like any relationship, understanding can certainly strengthen your bond. But plenty of commonly held beliefs about dogs are based on misconceptions. Okay. Years of data collection from citizen scientists who have played the Dognition games have led to some surprising revelations and even more questions. Do what I do. Is there a way to predict intelligence? So I get asked the question all the time, is there a smarter breed? It's an age-old question. The smartest dog is the German Shepherd. Poodle? Border Collie has been known to be the smartest dog, but she's right up there. I know it's not this breed. We call them the big dorks. So what breed do you think is the smartest? There's so many breeds, and they seem so different. Lots of people think that one breed is really smart, another breed is not so smart. What I can tell you is, from a scientific perspective, we really don't have any good evidence that there are big differences in how smart different breeds are. In fact, the perception of smartest breed has a lot to do with looks. In a recent study, when people were shown pictures of different breeds, dogs with short, flat skulls and long, skinny skulls were seen as less intelligent. Dogs in the middle were seen as more intelligent. Another example of how we think we know more about dogs than we really do and draw our own conclusions. The misconception may be rooted in the assumption that dogs with extreme head shapes were bred for specific physical jobs, whereas ones with medium-shaped skulls were generalists and thus more flexible learners. However, the evidence doesn't support the myth. Dogs of all shapes and sizes can be geniuses, so you can't draw conclusions about intelligence by comparing one breed to another. Okay, so there's no such thing as smartest breed. But what about their street smarts? People often ask when dogs are lost, can they find their way home? I don't think there's anything remarkable about dogs as a species in terms of their ability to navigate. In fact, 99.9999% of dogs who get lost are completely lost. But like humans, dogs have different strategies for navigating their world. Some individuals rely on what's called egocentric spatial memory. So basically they view the world from their own perspective, and the other strategy is using landmarks. In the egocentric approach, you're using your own position in space to remember where things are. So this is on my left, this is on my right. In a landmark-based approach, it's more where are things relative to each other in space, like there's a thing next to that ball or it's next to a wall, and so you're not remembering it based on where you are. To find out how your dog navigates his world, try this game with him at home. Grab two non-transparent cups and place one in front of him but to his right side, closer to the wall. Put the other to his left side, farther from the wall. Place a treat under the cup nearest the wall four times in a row so that your dog will expect to find the treat there. Good girl. Then move your dog to the opposite side of the cups, keeping the treat in the cup that will be on his right. Will your dog's spatial memory tell him again that he must go right to find food? Or will his allocentric memory, based on visual landmarks, tell him that the treat is nearest the wall as it had been before? Okay. So which direction will your dog choose? Okay. Good girl. That's the neat thing about some of these games is we can actually see what's going on in a dog's mind when it's making decisions like this. With the data gathered by people who played these games, Dr. Hare has found that female dogs are more flexible navigators than males. They tend to rely on allocentric navigation. Yes, good girl. For humans, the opposite seems to be true. Human females tend to rely on an egocentric strategy, while human males are the more flexible navigators. And while any battle of the sexes will spark debate, there's one revelation that's come out of the data collected that is indisputable. Right-brained dogs handle challenges differently than left-brained dogs. We had games that we played with dogs where we measured their bias to use one paw over another. Okay, Matt, come on. Basically, are they right-pawed or are they left-pawed, just like we're left- or right-handed? One of the big surprises for me is that laterality games can determine a lot about how they solve problems. All right, June, come get the treat. All right. What we found was dogs that had a very strong bias to use one paw over the other tended to be dogs that did really well as assistance dogs. All right. Whereas dogs that were sort of ambidextrous, they tended not to pass all the tests that they had to pass to then get certified as a service dog. Knowing how your dog sees the world can help you figure out what he's capable of. No cookie? Left? Good boy. But certain breeds as a whole are lumped together, stereotyped, even vilified, regardless of any individual dog's personality traits. What do you think when you encounter breeds like these on the street? Which breed is the most aggressive? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Woof, woof! So which breed is the most aggressive? Think you have the answer? You may be surprised. Dobermans, pit bulls, rottweilers, they're associated with cultural practices of fighting dogs, but there's nothing about those breeds that inherently make them aggressive. Woof, woof, woof, woof! If there are Dobermans or pit bulls that are particularly aggressive, it's not that breed that's aggressive, it's a population of dogs that have been bred to be aggressive. You can take a really wonderful breed of dog and you can breed it to be aggressive within a few generations. Woof, woof, woof, woof! I think when we see dogs, we often look at their appearance and we're trying to predict what that dog might be like by looking at the cover of the book. But the truth is, that's not going to be communicated by what they look like. In fact, judging a book by its cover is precisely why many dogs don't get adopted from shelters. People are biased about what dogs look like, just like we often are with our own species. But when we use science, we can actually find out what really is going on. Can we move past our bias? Can we actually open up the book and read the pages inside and see what the dog actually is? Dr. Hare works with local shelters to figure out each dog's unique assets. A pilot program showed that dogs are more likely to be adopted if their personality profiles are shared with visitors. Today, the Dusablon family is visiting the Animal Protection Society. From empathy to cunning, which genius traits will fulfill the Dusablon's wish list? If you do adopt a dog, which dog do you adopt that would be best for you at home and part of your family? So that's the challenge here. It's a big decision to bring another family member home. Daughter Emily wants a dog that will play fetch and frisbee. Now, your dogs at home do some of that now? No, they're really old, and they're kind of, you know, teach old dogs new tricks. I see, so if you bring maybe a younger dog home this time, maybe it'll kind of liven up the guys at home. Since their 2 current dogs are older, she's looking for an energetic dog that can learn tricks. Son Elijah wants a dog that will snuggle up with him on the couch. I want a dog that I can be somewhat cuddly with, watch TV with, just a dog with an off switch. Parents Rob and Claudine need the new dog to get along well with their current dogs. This dog's got to fit in with the pack that we have at home already. While it may seem like a tall order, Dr. Hare can help the Dusablins find a dog that best fits their family. Humans have bias. We actually even have bias about dogs. How they look at you and make sort of sad puppy eyes, more or less, can bias you to think that this dog is going to be a great dog in your household. Let's find out what this dog is really like, and let's help tell that dog's story in a way that the dog can't tell itself. And hopefully it's going to give you some information to help you think about your decision. With all this in mind, the Dusablin family attempts to take an unbiased look at the available dogs. The family has narrowed their choice down to three. Jake, Zoe, and Mamie. You looked at a lot of dogs, but I know that there were a few that sort of grabbed you. The family's top three dogs have played the Dognition Games, and the results of these games will show them which dog best met their three requirements. One, a dog that Emily can teach tricks to. Two, a dog that will snuggle up with Elijah. And three, a dog that works well with other dogs. First up is Mamie, a Pitbull mix. Oh, look at you! Look at you! She has a lot of energy. She's on the younger side. She's so energetic, and she's running around, and she seems like, oh, my gosh, could we train her to do the tricks you wanted to do? Do you want to show them what she did when you did the eye contact game? A lot of focus, so she calms down. Looks like an off switch. There is your off switch, Elijah. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Okay, well, you go play with them now. Oh, of course, straight to Elijah. She's actually a proto-dog. Now, do you see anything on there that kind of sticks out? Super bonded. She contagiously yawned. That actually has been used as a measure of how quickly they will bond or trust other people. But she's a lot Pitbull, right, or full? Um, yes. Mom, you seem a little bit worried. Yeah, I'm not so sure with her being Pit. The Dusablon family visited a local shelter hoping to adopt a new family dog. They've narrowed their search down to three, Jake, Zoe, and Mamie. But Mom has a problem with Mamie. But she's a lot Pitbull, right, or full? Um, yes. Mom, you seem a little bit worried. Yeah, I'm not so sure with her being Pit. They got a bad rap. We don't want a dog that's going to end up being aggressive with our current dogs. I don't think that using Pitbull as an indicator is going to be your best measure there. There are many, many wonderful Pitbulls. Elijah, you're a big Mamie fan. I'm a big Mamie fan right now. She's really, like, on top of you. You wanted a dog that would get some energy in your house with your older dog, so she could be the perfect... She could. Lots of energy. While Mamie is lively and playful, she also has an off switch for that cuddle time with Elijah. And after initial concerns about Pitbulls, Claudine seems comfortable enough to entertain our next option, another Pitbull mix, Zoey. Zoey! Great, guys! I like Zoey. She is very sweet. She's on the younger side. So she has no lack of energy. She's also a proto-dog. Anything standing out here? Collaborative. She really is reliant on your communication. So this is a dog that is gonna be great when it comes to working together and playing games and things like that. Not seeing so much of an off switch here with Zoey. Aww! I really like Zoey. What a love. Working hard with this sales job here. Zoey is a front-runner for Emily, and Elijah prefers Mamie. Let's look at the family's third and final contender, Jake. Hi, Jake! Hi there. How are you doing? You are adorable. We don't know a whole lot about him. He's a little bit older, around 5 or 6 years old. We believe he's a lab mix, of course. From his personality, he's very sweet, very gentle, and a relaxed, chilled dog, happy to sit with you on a couch. That kind of meets your criteria, right? Yes, it does. He's a stargazer. Jake actually has a really interesting report. This is different than a lot of dogs, so he is definitely a special character. He's very individualistic in the measures of empathy. He's not going to be a guy who's super dependent on you. He wasn't really reliant on Julie's gestures. Super food motivated. This is not about finding out which of these dogs is smart or not. This is trying to figure out what are the strategies that each of these dogs rely on. Are you a Jake fan? I like Jake. You like Jake? Very sweet and gentle. All right, y'all, you've seen 3 gorgeous dogs. It'll be good to think about these dogs in relation to your dogs at home and then what you guys are after. What's the big decision? After taking a night to think it over, the Dusablon family returns to the shelter. There was some debate, but you guys have figured out what you want to do. There was Mamie, and she was a proto-dog. Remember, she was the one that was really bonded. But then there was also Zoe, and Zoe was also a proto-dog, but very collaborative, very good with gestures. We have Jake, who's pretty calm, and he was a stargazer. So those were the 3 dogs. So you know who it is? Who are we taking home? Zoe. Zoe! When we were talking about what we wanted to do with her, you can train a collaborative dog, whereas Mamie's, she could focus, but that didn't mean that she was gonna pay attention to what we were doing. And Jake was a great-looking dog. The energy that we're trying to bring at home wasn't there. The tests gave us an insight into what she was capable of doing, how she learned, how she's gonna hopefully fit in with the family. I think it's gonna help people when they come to shelters understand the dog they're taking home better. Hey, you! Hi! You all made a great choice. Okay, have fun! Bye, Zoe! Knowing more about your dog helps scientists learn about all dogs. If you have more information about what makes your dog the dog that it is, you're gonna be able to have a richer relationship. And again, I think it's just a way to express a love for your dog just like you would for a child as you learn more about how it interacts with its world. Yes, good girl! Wow! Good girl! That was so amazing! By unlocking their canine cognition... They've got this capacity for reasoning. Ugh! Really. ...we can continue building upon our unique relationship. Aw! Good girl! She is a little charmer. Together. When you're together after a little while, it's a really close bond. That's just how much a guide dog means to me.