My dog absolutely knows his name.
He mostly pretends to play deaf though, the crafty bastard hahah.
A good start would be take yr dog to meet another dog repeatedly and see if they recognise each other as individuals, rather than just members of the same species.
Also, can they pick out an individual from a pack of dogs?
I think not, based on watching hunting dogs, wild dogs etc!
I would have 100% said my dog knows her name. But I've been calling her "Nigel"* all afternoon and the crazy bastard keeps responding.
Her name is Lulu!
A good start would be take yr dog to meet another dog repeatedly and see if they recognise each other as individuals, rather than just members of the same species.
Yes they can. Not only do they recognise friends but also enemies. Dogs evolved to be strongly social animals and most of them are (although like humans a small percentage are nervous/anxious and prefer relative solitude). They recognise their siblings and parents in later life (more reliably if they were first separated after a minimum of 16 months from birth)
Usually, a wild wolf pack is made up of close and extended family members with one, unrelated breeding pair. This breeding pair take a natural position as head of the pack, which largely consists of their own offspring. Sometimes, non-family members will be accepted into a small pack.
https://www.caninemind.co.uk/pack.html
Also, can they pick out an individual from a pack of dogs?
I think not, based on watching hunting dogs, wild dogs etc!
I have to ask how you deduced that from watching ‘wild dogs’? Dogs visual discrimination is excellent, but their hearing and their sense of smell is the most important for most* dogs communication. Not only are they up to 100 million times more sensitive to smell than are humans, they can also sense weak thermal radiation (the body heat of other mammals and mammalian prey )
*ours is losing his sight to old age but he really relied on it, he is a very visual/face-reading, visually inquisitive dog, which makes it especially sad to see him stressed and confused about losing his vision 😔)
But they are nearsighted so when recognising an approaching dog from afar then the auditory and olfactory glands will be at work long before the eyes.
One study has indicated that dogs are able to tell how big another dog is just by listening to its growl. The research also shows that dogs do not, or can not, misrepresent their size, and this is the first time research has shown animals can determine another's size by the sound it makes.
Did you meet bunny yet?
^ First apply (Lloyd) Morgan’s Canon to the ‘bunny’ video?
Simpler explanations
It is possible to account for these observations without concluding that dogs truly understand the meaning of words. More specifically, we cannot rule out the idea that associations are only made between a behavior (pressing on the “toy” button) and a consequence (playing with the toy).
In other words, it is possible to learn to ask for a toy by pressing the right button, without actually understanding that it is a word or understanding the word, just as B.F. Skinner’s rats knew which lever to push to get food or water without knowing how to talk.
This is even more likely for buttons with abstract and complex meanings, like “I love you” or “stranger”, which meaning can be difficult to teach.
My greyhound does, she chooses when she responds to it mind.
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As said a few times, different dogs and different breeds have differing cognitive abilities. However, I can say with confidence that dogs do know their name and the vast majority will react when addressed by name by a stranger. Dogs can also learn a large number of words. Our dog Bonnie (black lab, shepherd, collie cross) understands something in the region of 100 words. And that's without really trying to teach her any. Properly trained she'd be well into the 100s. That said she is comfortably the most intelligent dog I've ever had.
Dogs know, recognise and remember specific individuals. Bonnie goes mental when my sister in law visits as they are old mates.
In addition, dogs most certainly know and recognise other dogs. By sight and by scent. The scent from markings tells them who the dog is, how long ago they were there, what their physical state is and a load of other info we're not party to.
They're also perfectly capable of scheming. When we first had Bonnie (as a rescue at 12months), after a few months I suggested leaving her for 30mins to start getting her used to people not being around. My wife (who'd never had a dog before) was unsure in case Bonnie was scared. Not an issue with her. We left the house with the dog looking out the front window.
Got to the gate, dog still at window.
Exited through gate and walked a few paces to the car. Dog still conspicuous by her presence.
Unlocked car and got in. Dog still not moved.
Closed doors. Still there.
Turned on engine. Dog disappeared from window.
Without turning engine off, I exited the car, crept to the front door and peeked through the letterbox. Dog is in kitchen at end of corridor, paws on counter looking for food to snaffle. She'd waited until the car engine was on before she was sure that we were actually going..
They are far more intelligent than we often give them credit for
Maybe the averagw Joe. But there are plwnty who do give them credit; having spent quite a bit of time around MWD's at work and my grandmothers assistance dog, I'm pretty clear that dogs are exceptionally intelligent animals who can learn a wide array of unique skills, but like humans some are thick as shit.
They are far more intelligent than we often give them credit for
That's fair enough, and as you say working dogs - in whatever setting - can be truly exceptional.
Certainly I've met a number of humans who'd seemingly struggle to demonstrate a vocabulary that reaches three figures and of course there are some dogs who are far from top of the class 😀
Certainly I’ve met a number of humans who’d seemingly struggle to demonstrate a vocabulary that reaches three figures
