Border collie is fluent in toyspeak

Border collie's linguistic skills

source: Jessica Griggs
New Scientist vol 208 no 2792/2793, 25th December 2010 p8

Chaser, a border collie, has learnt 1,022 words for different items. She was taught by John Pilley and Alliston Reid, psychologists from Wofford College, S Carolina. Chaser learnt names through fetching toys, and each time she was correct in her selection, the name of the toy was repeated. She also fetched toys from a separate room, so researchers could not give her unintentional cues. Her score was never under 18 correct selections out of 20 commands to select. She can also categorise named objects, touch toys with her paw or nose, and work out what a new object is called when placed among familiar objects, through eliminating the names of the familiar objects.

Adam Miklosi, who has set up the Family Dog Project in Hungary's Etvos Lorand University, sees Chaser's intensive training as the key to her good performance, not yet matched by other dogs. He notes that, while Chaser can understand human speech, she cannot produce it.
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