According to an article in the October 12th issue of People magazine, a 12-year old English terrier mix has been taught to read!
To win a bet with a friend, Manhattan dog trainer Lyssa Howells worked with Willow for 6 weeks, and got the dog to react appropriated to commands written on posterboard. The dog can wave and sit-up, as well as my favorite, roll over and play dead when a sign is held up saying “Bang”.
Experts say the dog is not capable of reading, as you or I would experience it, but is rather learning to relate the shape of the letters drawn on the posterboard to a specific action. Really, this is the same as teaching a dog to respond to hand signals. I guess theoretically, you could write anything on the card and teach the dog to sit when he sees that combination of shapes.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!
Can I READ?!!!! Why, I was a Benedictine monk in my former life and was in charge of the monastery’s library of antique books!
This is some feat. However my dog writes a menu every night. Cheeky swine.