Dogs as smart as average two-year-old child

This is not particular to Corgis, but it does mention that dogs such as herding dogs, bred to work closely with humans, tend to be smarter. I'll only copy the beginning of the article here, and the link leads to the rest:

"Your dog may not actually be smarter than somebody's honor student -- popular bumper stickers aside. But your canine companion might well be smarter than their toddler, according to a growing body of research on how dogs think.

Using adapted tests designed for human children, psychologists have learned that average dogs can count, reason and recognize words and gestures on par with a human 2 -year-old.

"They may not be Einsteins, but are sure closer to humans than we thought," said Stanley Coren, a professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia and leading researcher on dog behavior.

Coren planned to present his research Saturday at the American Psychological Association's annual convention in Toronto, Canada.

He said the average dog can understand about 165 words, including signs, signals and gestures. They can also count to about 5, he said."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/08/07/smart.dogs/index.html

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Permalink Reply by Boo Buchheit on August 9, 2009 at 9:20pm

I have met a lot of human kids from 2 to 13 and trust me they are not even in it. My Corgis are smarter and better behaved than any of them.

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Permalink Reply by Boo Buchheit on August 9, 2009 at 9:21pm

Mine count to 6 so they can tell if brother got an extra treat.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on August 10, 2009 at 6:00pm

I think it's funny how quickly they make connections to things.

Bear has a blue and cream colored Kong that I put the long Kong treats into. When he first got it, I didn't think he was able to bite the Kong (not enough mouth/jaw strength), so the first time I gave him one, when the treat would got below the hole, I picked it up and used an ink pen to push the treat out a little bit. FROM THAT FIRST DAY FORWARD - everytime the treat gets low, he brings it to me and makes that chewbacca sound, plopping it at my feet until I push it up again. If I don't have an ink pen handy, my boyfriend will grab one and hold it up and Bear will come running to him with the kong.

They truly are incredible creatures.

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Permalink Reply by Lusa on August 10, 2009 at 6:56pm

Here is a story about Callie and her counting skills.
My mom had brought Callie to our farm and my brother was doing some target practice. Callie was put into the pickup to help protect her ears from the loud bang. She would be in the pickup, my brother would fire 3 shots then go see how he did. Callie was let out and ran around until my brother was ready to shoot again. After 3 more shots she was let out and did the same thing. My mom put her into the pickup a third time and she knew after she heard 3 bangs she could be let out. This went on for awhile. She knew that after 3 bangs she could run around.