Harvey the Border Collie was crowned ‘Britain’s brightest dog’ after learning the names of all his 221 todays. He is so clever he is now helping two studies to find out what makes him ‘special’ and how his games could be used to sniff out other clever dogs
A Border Collie called Harvey who is thought to be ‘Britain’s brightest dog’ after learning the names of all his 221 toys, is now helping other clever pups.
Harvey is so bright he has now been accepted into several studies for genius pooches in Budapest and Portsmouth. The seven year old dog can recognise more than 200 different words and will fetch all of his toys by name.
Research from the University of Portsmouth found just 10 other dogs in the world with similar capacity to learn hundreds of words and associate objects with them. They hope to use Harvey’s game to sniff out other talented dogs who could help charities and those in need.
READ MORE: The surprising way Kate’s cancer battle changed her relationship with WilliamREAD MORE: Should Harry and Meghan’s children have official royal roles in the future? Have your say
Owner Irene Hewlett, 52, from Reading, started by teaching him the name of just one toy when he was a puppy, ‘Little Lamb.’ But now he is on his 221st toy called ‘Larry the Leek’.
The translator says Harvey learns to fetch a toy by being introduced to it, touching it a few times, taking it into his mouth, and then finding it from several locations until he understands what it is. Irene, originally from Amsterdam, said: “He picks new toys up in about five minutes now. This is what we do all day every day. Border Collies are working dogs, so they need a job, and this is his job. He just wants to play this every second.”
She describes Harvey’s job as ‘toy finding’ and he gets paid in dog treats. “It is not just that Harvey can do this, this is what he does. We are not showing off a skill, we do this at home when nobody is watching. We do it because we love it,” Irene said. “People sometimes don’t realise how good he is at it. My friends come to my house and they are quite surprised by it. They all think he is so cute.”
The mum-of-two was inspired after reading a book on US dog Chaser, who learned the names of 1,022 objects after being taught by a pair of academics, and decided that she wanted to do the same.
Irene says they had some trouble at first, but once they introduced toy number four Harvey completely understood the game. Harvey sometimes gets confused with toy names that start with similar sounds such as Postbox and Polar Bear, but he will work it out after picking them up based on mouth feel. Now, Irene says the biggest challenge they face is to find toys that they haven’t already got, as most offer a very similar collection.
For this reason, some of the toys even have dutch names so that similar toys can be thrown in the mix. The family have also acquired many festive toys such as a Brussel sprout, mince pie, several reindeer, and a Christmas pudding.
Irene added: “Harvey came to our house, and we started the game straight away. He didn’t immediately retrieve, so we had to teach him that first. Then we started introducing toys.
“When we introduced a second toy, he looked at me with no idea what to do. But we persevered and practiced and it all gave him mental stimulation.
“After the third toy he was confused again, and I thought ‘this is going to take a really long time.’ And then we got to four and it was like it clicked. Once he understood we just kept going and never looked back.
“Lots of dogs get very excited among toys, but Harvey does not. He just goes in, picks it up and comes back. He doesn’t destroy toys either. He is a very good dog. He is very calm. Some Border Collies are manic and run circles around the house but he doesn’t.”
Looking forward, the pair plan to keep learning as many toys as they can, but Irene says she would never want to teach a second dog the trick. She said: “I would love to see if I could train another dog the way I trained Harvey, but I am a one dog person, so I don’t want a second dog.”
Dr Juliane Kaminski from Portsmouth Uni has told how she wanted to find out if there was something about these dogs that is special about them “in terms of their cognition, how they understand or process information?”
She hopes by studying Harvey’s games, similar ones could be used to identify dogs that were especially adept at helping people. She told the BBC: “If we could identify these dogs, we could then work with charities to train dogs to assist people in their homes who would find it very beneficial if they had dogs that knew items by name and can support their owner in the household by fetching things,” she added.
“For charities to train any dogs, it’s quite hard. But if they have these pre-tests as a way to exclude puppies or a way to find the right puppy then that would make it easier for them.”
0 Comments