News Animals

Dogs show a fetching communication savvy

Border collies know to retrieve toys when owners present replicas or, in some cases, photos of those toys

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Dogs are lousy conversationalists and can’t write worth a lick. But don’t sell the family pooch short when it comes to grasping subtle references in human communication, a new study suggests.

GO FETCH FETCHING. In a re-enactment of an experiment on dogs’ ability to understand human communication, a border collie watches its owner present a miniature replica of a rope toy (1), searches among the toys in an adjoining room (2) and brings the actual rope toy back to the owner (3).