Overview
- Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University and the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna tested 10 Gifted Word Learner dogs in both direct-teaching and overheard-speech conditions with about eight minutes of exposure per label.
- Seven of the ten dogs learned the new toy names in both setups, performing at roughly 80% accuracy when directly addressed and 100% in the initial overheard trials.
- A follow-up discontinuity experiment showed most could learn a label introduced only after the toy was out of sight, and separate tests reported two-week retention.
- Control trials with typical family border collies did not yield word learning from overheard speech, underscoring that the ability is extremely rare and non-representative.
- The findings build on the Genius Dog Challenge project led by Shany Dror and Claudia Fugazza, which is inviting owners of dogs that know multiple toy names to contact the team for future studies.