Smart dog is 2 years old

Canadian animal psychologists claim dogs can understand up to 250 words and gestures. In addition, they also know how to count and distinguish names of objects.

A team at the University of British Columbia (Canada) uses language development tests to understand the intelligence of dogs. Previously these tests were often used to assess the process of developing voices and the ability to perform basic operations in children.

The results show that the dog's thinking ability is much higher than our imagination. Most of the children involved in the test can understand simple commands like sitting, running, taking things. Many even distinguish the names of objects, learn words, signs and new gestures.

Dogs understand the average of 165 words, signs and gestures.(Photos: webshots.com)

" The language ability of dogs is comparable to that of 2-year-olds with moderate intellect . Most of our test dogs understand up to 165 words, signs and gestures. For the best children. that number is 250, which is equivalent to the mentality of 2-and-a-half-year-old children , "said Stanly Coren, the lead researcher.

Coren believes that dogs are one of the world's most intelligent animals, comparable to parrots and primates in terms of understanding language.

" Of course we can't talk to dogs, but they have shown that they can understand our voices," he said.

To check whether the dog is counting, Coren and colleagues put two plates of food after a curtain. They lifted the curtain for the first time so they could see the two plates and then dropped them again. Then they added another plate and then lifted the curtain a second time. Experts find dogs look longer on new discs. The team left only one plate before lifting the curtain for the third time. Dogs still look very long compared to the first time. According to Coren, it shows that they recognize a change in the number of food plates. Children also behave similarly when the number of objects increases or decreases.

" In addition, dogs know how to fool, a behavior that only occurs in children older than 2 years ," Coren said.