Good Dog of the Week Awards

The Good Dog Blog awards a weekly “Good Dog Award” to those doing good things for dogs.

This week, our Good Dog Award Winners are Chaser, a Border Collie, and her person Dr. John Pilley, a psychologist and retired Wofford College professor. Dr. Pilley has taught Chaser over 1000 words, giving her the unofficial title of “Smartest Dog in the World.”  She can identify and differentiate between 1000 different toys and has been at the center of research to prove dogs are especially intelligent because of how they work cooperatively with humans. 

When Chaser was a puppy, Dr. Pilley wanted to expand the possibilities and boundaries of how we communicate with dogs. He began using games to teach Chaser words for her different toys. But soon, he ran out of toys and had to go buy hundreds more. And the games had to become more complex to match Chaser’s abilities and interests.

Chaser exceeded every expectation and proved that dogs can have an almost unlimited capacity for learning. Dr. Pilley wrote a book on his research with Chaser called, “Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of a Dog that Knows One Thousand Words” and their contributions have led to more research being done on canine intelligence and cognition.

Check out Chaser and Dr. Pilley being interviewed on 60 Minutes Australia. This video also features Dr. Brian Hare, from the Duke Canine Cognition Center. Congratulations Chaser and Dr. Pilley, our Good Dog Award winners!