A New York Times Bestseller
“The most scientifically important dog in over a century.” --Brian Hare
Chaser has fascinated dog lovers and scientists alike. Her story reveals the potential for taking out dialogue with dogs well beyond “fetch.” When retired psychology professor John Pilley first got his new Border collie puppy, Chaser, he wanted to explore the boundaries of language learning and communication between humans and man’s best friend. Exhibiting intelligence previously thought impossible in dogs, Chaser soon learned the names of more than a thousand toys and sentences with multiple elements of grammar. Chaser’s accomplishments are revolutionizing the way we think about the intelligence of animals. John and Chaser’s inspiring journey demonstrates the power of learning through play and opens our eyes to the boundless potential in the animals we love.
“The most scientifically important dog in over a century.” --Brian Hare
Chaser has fascinated dog lovers and scientists alike. Her story reveals the potential for taking out dialogue with dogs well beyond “fetch.” When retired psychology professor John Pilley first got his new Border collie puppy, Chaser, he wanted to explore the boundaries of language learning and communication between humans and man’s best friend. Exhibiting intelligence previously thought impossible in dogs, Chaser soon learned the names of more than a thousand toys and sentences with multiple elements of grammar. Chaser’s accomplishments are revolutionizing the way we think about the intelligence of animals. John and Chaser’s inspiring journey demonstrates the power of learning through play and opens our eyes to the boundless potential in the animals we love.
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The owner’s manual for getting the best out of your dog In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a dog lover and the owner of a Shetland sheepdog that never ceases to amaze me with her intelligence. For most of my life, I have strongly disagreed with the belief, long espoused by the church and philosophers such as Descartes, that animals are soulless and therefore essentially different from humans. It is therefore with great interest that I picked up a copy of ‘Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words’, a book that knocks…
View CommentChase Down This Book This is a delightful story about how Chaser, the border collie, has learned over 1000 words and several rules of grammar as well. Several dogs have learned an impressive number of nouns to name their toys, but Chaser additionally has learned how to apply different verb actions to her toys and how to deal with both a subject and an object in a sentence.I’m a sucker for a good dog story, and this is definitely a good dog story. It’s written very conversationally, and makes it very clear that…
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