New Study Reveals Dogs Are Not As Smart As We Think

A new study about dogs has revealed that the animal which has over time been referred to as ‘man’s best friend’ are not as smart as we think they are. Dogs are loyal, loving creatures but not so smart.

Researchers from the University of Exeter and Canterbury Christ Church University reviewed more than 300 papers on animal brain power. The studies compared the cognitive abilities of dogs with other domestic animals, social hunters and carnivorans such as wolves, bears, lions and hyenas.

Dogs aren’t (despite what their loving owners might believe) exceptionally clever compared to other animals, researchers found. Many of the ‘unique’ skills of dogs, such as following human pointing, are in fact matched by other species.

Professor Stephen Lea, of the University of Exeter, said the research identified several cases of ‘over-interpretation’ in favour of the abilities of dogs in studies. ‘During our work it seemed to us that many studies in dog cognition research set out to ‘prove’ how clever dogs are,’ Prof Lea said. ‘They are often compared to chimpanzees and whenever dogs ‘win’, this gets added to their reputation as something exceptional.

‘Yet in each and every case we found other valid comparison species that do at least as well as dogs do in those tasks.’ The review focused on sensory cognition, physical cognition, spatial cognition, social cognition and self-awareness.