Chaser : unlocking the genius of the dog who knows a thousand words

Title:

Author:

Pilley, John W.

Added Author:

Hinzmann, Hilary,

Personal Author:

Pilley, John W.

ISBN:

9780544102576

Physical Description:

viii, 260 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cm

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

The Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words -- Good-bye -- Christmas in June -- Let the Puppy Be a Puppy -- "You've Got To Name Her Chaser!" -- Chaser Learns What Not To Chase -- Listening to the Farmer -- Learning by Playing -- Herding Words -- Herding Sheep -- Advanced Lessons -- Getting Published -- Going Viral -- Chaser Takes a Bow -- Chaser Goes to Washington -- Expanding the Conversation -- Epilogue: Unleashing Chaser's Genius -- Appendix: Chaser's Toys.

Personal Subject:

Chaser (Border collie)

Subject Term:

Human-animal communication.

Dogs -- Psychology.

Dogs -- Training.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Main Library	Book	636.73 P641	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Main Library	Book	636.73 P641	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

A New York Times Bestseller

The amazing story of a very smart Border collie who is redefining animal intelligence.

Chaser has a way with words. She knows over a thousand of them--more than any other animal of any species except humans. In addition to common nouns like house, ball, and tree, she has memorized the names of more than one thousand toys and can retrieve any of them on command. Based on that learning, she and her owner and trainer, retired psychologist John Pilley, have moved on to further impressive feats, demonstrating her ability to understand sentences with multiple elements of grammar and to learn new behaviors by imitation.

John's ingenuity and tenacity as a researcher are as impressive as Chaser's accomplishments. His groundbreaking approach has opened the door to a new understanding of animal intelligence, one that requires us to reconsider what actually goes on in a dog's mind. Chaser's achievements reveal her use of deductive reasoning and complex problem-solving skills to address novel challenges.

Yet astonishingly, Chaser isn't unique. John's training methods can be adopted by any dog lover. Through the poignant story of how he trained Chaser, raised her as a member of the Pilley family, and proved her abilities to the scientific community, he reveals the positive impact of incorporating learning into play and more effectively channeling a dog's natural drives.

John's work with Chaser offers a fresh perspective on what's possible in the relationship between a dog and a human. His story points us toward a new way of relating to our canine companions that takes into account our evolving understanding of the way animals and humans learn.

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

The remarkable story of how a border collie achieved a mastery of human language on a par with chimpanzees and dolphins. In 2004, Pilley (Emeritus, Psychology/Wofford Univ.) was bored with retirement and welcomed the challenge of beginning a new research project. When his wife brought a puppy home, the author wondered to what extent he could teach her the meanings of words. With plenty of time now that he was retired, he spent hours playing with Chaser. As they arose, Pilley used every opportunity to verbalize so that Chaser would associate her own actions with words--e.g., saying the word "out" as he gently removed a toy from her mouth during a game of fetch and then praising her enthusiastically when she dropped the toy after hearing the word again. Over time, Chaser accumulated a wide variety of toys, each of which was given a name. Ultimately, she learned to identify more than 1,000 and fetch them from a box containing other toys or search for them when they were hidden. Further, Chaser began to understand when her owner pointed to a new toy and said its name. She was also able to infer that an unfamiliar name referred to a new toy and, when it was the only unfamiliar item in the box, identify a new toy by a name she had never heard before. Opposing the conventional belief held by dog trainers and behavioral psychologists, Pilley is convinced that dogs are not merely conditioned to respond to rewards or avoid punishment, but "can feel and express emotions and can reason." A few years ago, the author's research was featured in academic journals, picked up by the press and featured on TV. These days, he and Chaser are working on complex sentences. A delightful memoir that offers a challenge to behavioral psychologists and inspiration for pet lovers.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.