John Pilley’s book about a dog who knows a thousand words is typical of dog owners who swear there is no bond stronger than a dog and it’s family. This is an amazing dog. When I started the book I thought the answer was simple – the dog is a genius with a huge dog IQ. He probably is but Mr. Pilley has painstakingly trained Chase and has had to jump through many hoops himself to get the story published in serious journals. (His scholarly papers were rejected a number of times as being marred in execution or not matching certain standards.)
So first it does take a smart dog and Border collies are among the smartest, having been bred to work as herders. What the author attributes his huge success to is using play as the best reward, along with treats and words. This isn’t simply learning the meaning of words, but putting together combinations by “choosing” things and combining them in specific ways that require what we would call thinking.
Our dog wasn’t particularly smart but he always knew when my mom was getting ready to bathe him. She used Prell shampoo and he always smelled so good for a few days.