On 2011-02-11 13:29:07 -0500, " said:

On Feb 11, 11:11*am, flebow wrote:
On Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:17:35 -0800 (PST), Larry L

wrote:
I thought of you two last night as I watched a NOVA program on 'how
smart are animals' * .... they showcased a Border Collie that had a
huge vocabulary .... and I know you both enjoy your dogs, so you came
to mind

I saw a show - maybe the same one - where the border collie was able
to distinguish and act on 100 different words and objects

You're behind the times, Fred. From:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...lie-takes-reco
rd-for-biggest-vocabulary.html

"A border collie called Chaser has been taught the names of 1022 items
- more than any other animal. She can also categorise them according
to function and shape, something children learn to do around the age
of 3."

Strange that they exclude humans from the category "animal." :-)

My young BC, Deets, doesn't seem to have this "naming" ability to any
great degree, but he's still pretty smart and extremely athletic. And
BTW, his dad, Riggs, and his breeder, Patrick Shannahan, won the 2010
National Championship (sheep herding).

http://www.patrickshannahan.com/pdfs...onationals.pdf

Great article about Riggs. Thanks.

Dave