Dogs remember toy names for years after not seeing them
If you've previously thrown away a worn-out and mucky pet toy, the chances are your dog still remembers its name.
Researchers have found that names are ingrained into the memory of dogs for longer than you might think.
According to a new study, some of the smartest dogs can remember toy names – even if they haven’t seen them in two years.
In the study, published in the journal Biology Letters, Shany Dror, Ádám Miklósi and Claudia Fugazza taught toy names to several dogs and then hid the toys away for two years, to learn more about long-term memory.
Their aim was to discover if such dogs retained these associations due to repeated use – or if, like humans, they are able to store associations in long-term memory.
Results showed that overall the dogs were accurate in retrieving the toy specified 44% of the time, while some had an accuracy rate of up to 60%.
Dr Claudia Fugazza, the head of the research group at Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary, said: "We know that dogs can remember events for at least 24 hours and odours for up to one year but this is the first study showing that some talented dogs can remember words for at least two years.
"The findings of our current study cannot be generalised to other dogs because we only tested gifted word learners (GWL) dogs, individuals that show a special talent for acquiring object words."
Previous research has found that dogs have a brilliant ability to learn the names of toys, with a Border Collie known as Chaser having learned the labels of more than 1,000 objects.
But this recent study is an exciting development – as it shows talented dogs could help scientists understand more about how animals other than humans retain their memories.
Don’t forget to check out Country Living’s weekly column My Dog Dilemma. We also want to hear from you - email any questions or queries you have to dogs@countryliving.co.uk
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