While it's common to think that senior doggies aren't capable of learning new things, this study will prove otherwise! You'll be impressed to learn how age is truly nothing but a number in doggy world. When you find out how sharp a doggy's mind can be in his golden years, you'll appreciate them more! Find out the results to this study!
Science is proving what many of us have known for a long time: “you can't teach an old dog new tricks” isn't true after all, according to researchers from the Messerli Research Institute at Vetmeduni Vienna.
Young Dogs Learned Faster but Old Dogs Excelled at Reason
To test the dogs' learning abilities, researchers showed them two abstract images on a touchscreen. One image was positive, and resulted in the dog getting a treat while the other was negative, leading to no treat and time-out.The photos were mixed up and the dogs had to learn which image would result in the coveted treat, by touching the correct image on the screen with their nose.
The older dogs were capable of solving this task, although they did it more slowly than the younger dogs.
Long-Term Memory May Not Be Affected by Age
Six months after the first series of learning tests were completed, the touchscreen trials were repeated using the same abstract images.Impressively, virtually all of the dogs correctly identified the positive images, regardless of age. The study findings help identify what's normal in terms of cognitive aging in border collies, and may ultimately be used to recognize cognitive problems in dogs.
Your Dog Is an Intelligent Creature
Research demonstrates most dogs' mental abilities are similar to a 2- to 2.5-year-old child, and if given the opportunity, most dogs can learn to count, understand symbolic concepts, operate simple machines and even understand basic arithmetic.What Else Can Help Keep Your Older Dog's Mind Sharp?
In addition to appropriate mental stimulation, physical activity appropriate for his age and physical condition, is also important.You'll want to be sure your dog is also consuming a healthy amount of animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil, which are critical for brain health.
Ask your vet to perform a blood test to check your dog's internal organ health, to make sure you are identifying possible issues early on.
If your dog needs a bit of a push in his learning, positive reinforcement behavior training — involving lots of healthy treats and praise — can also work wonders in teaching your senior dog some new (or old) tricks.
What these researchers found is pretty amazing, right? There really is no limit to what doggies can do! They are incredibly smart creatures that should never be underestimated! If you have an older dog, you can definitely go ahead and teach him some new tricks!
For more information on aging dogs and their mental abilities, visit Healthy Pets.
