Is YOUR dog gifted? Scientists reveal the 14 key characteristics of ‘special’ pooches – so, does your pup have them?

All dog owners believe that their pet is special.

But scientists say some dogs are “even more special”, thanks to their knack for learning the names of toys.

Now, a new study conducted by experts at ELTE University in Budapest has revealed the 14 main characteristics of these “gifted” dogs.

This includes needing less than 30 minutes to learn the name of a new game, and remembering 50 names over two years.

So, does your dog meet the requirements to be considered gifted?

Previous studies have shown that some dogs can learn new words after hearing them just four times, putting them on the same level as a two-year-old child.

In particular, Border Collies are known to be one of the most “gifted” breeds, although skill is also found in other dog breeds.

In their new study, the team set out to understand the specific characteristics of gifted world learner (GWL) dogs.

“Because GWL dogs are so rare, until now there have only been anecdotes about their background,” said Professor Adam Miklosi, co-author of the study.

“The rare ability to learn the names of objects is the first documented case of the gift in a non-human species.”

For five years, researchers around the world searched for GWL dogs.

“This was a citizen science project,” said Dr. Claudia Fugazza, team leader.

“When one dog owner told us he thought his dog knew the names of the toys, we gave him instructions on how to self-test his dog and asked him to send us a video of the test.”

The researchers then held a video call with the dog's owners to test the dog's vocabulary under controlled conditions.

If the dog showed that it knew the names of its toys, the researchers asked the owners to fill out a questionnaire.

“In the questionnaire, we asked dog owners about their dogs’ life experience, their own experience raising and training dogs, and about the process by which a dog learned the names of its toys,” explained Dr. Andrea Sommes, study participant. -Author of the study.

In total, the researchers found 41 GWL dogs from nine countries – the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Hungary.

As seen in previous studies, most of the dogs (56%) were Border Collies.

However, two Pomeranians, one Pekingese, one Shih Tzu, a corgi, a poodle, and a few mixed breeds were also found to be gifted.

“Surprisingly, most dog owners reported that they did not intentionally teach their dogs the names of their toys. Rather, the dogs seemed to pick up the names of the toys spontaneously during unstructured play sessions,” said lead researcher Shani Dror.

You might think that talented dog owners would have a professional background in dog training.

However, the researchers found no link between the owner's level of experience and the dogs' ability to remember names.

“In our previous studies we have shown that GWL dogs learn the names of new objects very quickly,” Dr. Dror said.

“So, it's not surprising that when we tested with dogs, the number was average Of the games that dogs knew, there were 29 of them.

“But when we published the results, more than 50% of dog owners reported that their dogs had already acquired a vocabulary of more than 100 toy names.”

The researchers hope that the results will encourage owners of other talented dogs to come forward and join the research project.

Dr Miklosi added: “The relatively large sample of dogs documented in this study helps us identify common characteristics between these dogs, and brings us one step closer to seeking to understand their unique ability.”