"Human babies are known to pay more attention to named objects, and the authors thought the GWL dogs would show a similar response, but that's not what happened. All the dogs, whether they were GWL dogs or not, strongly preferred the new toys, and there were no significant differences between the two groups of dogs in terms of how much time they spent playing with labeled vs. unlabeled. So just hearing the names of toys does not automatically increase a dog's attention."
"After that period, each dog participated in two trials lasting 90 seconds each. The dogs were provided free access to the toys (washed with soap to control for odor cues). In the first trial, owners entered first and placed the labeled and unlabeled toys, plus two of the novel ones, on the floor and stood at a distance, passive and ignoring the dogs as the latter explored the toys."
Ten GWL and 21 non-GWL border collies were recruited and presented with eight toys: two labeled, two unlabeled, and four novel items. Owners familiarized dogs with labeled and unlabeled toys once daily for two weeks, naming only the labeled toys while handling them; novel toys were excluded from familiarization. Each dog completed two 90-second free-access trials with toys washed to control odor; owners remained passive during testing. Across trials, all dogs showed strong preference for novel toys. No significant difference emerged between GWL and non-GWL dogs for time spent with labeled versus unlabeled familiar toys.
Read at Ars Technica
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