Every dog owner knows it but the scientists can now confirm it:  Dogs can think.

Here is what we know:

• Dogs can understand simple calculations like 1 + 1 = 2.  Research conducted by scientists in the UK suggest that dogs have a rudimentary ability to count.¹
• Dogs can understand language — the average dog can learn 165 words but some dogs can have a vocabulary of 250 words.²   This is more than non-human primates can learn, like the chimpanzee.  A dog can remember the name of an object for weeks.
• Dogs can learn to solve spatial problems like figuring out the fastest route to a target.
• Dogs can learn to operate simple mechanisms like door latches.
• Dogs can use touch screen computers.³
• Dogs can communicate with humans:  They respond to our gestures and body language.  One study even demonstrated that human yawns are contagious to dogs.⁴   Dog’s unique social skills interpreting with humans is the result of thousands of years of living with us.

You can improve the intelligence, trainability and visual acuity of your puppy (and kitten) by providing him with a supplement containing omega 3 DHA.  Feeding the mother during gestation and lactation and the puppy (or kitten) after weaning with 8-10 mg/kg of omega 3 DHA daily results in accumulation of DHA – one of the building blocks of the brain – in the plasma and brain and in improvement of neurologic development. The older dog and the older cat often experience a decrease in brain DHA, frequently resulting in disorientation, lack of responsiveness, uneasiness with visitors, disturbance in sleep-wake cycles and house soiling. Mounting evidence supports that supplementation with DHA may be effective in combating such problems through several mechanisms including anti-inflammatory properties, anti-oxidative stress and neuroprotective properties.

For more information you may want to read Annie Murphy Paul’s article in Time.com.

¹West and Young 2002 Animal Cognition 5: 183-186.

²Bloom, P. 2004 Science 304: 1605-1606.

³Pongracz-Rossi and Ades 2008 Animal Cognition 11:329-338.

⁴Joly-Mascheroni et al 2008 Biology Letters 4: 446-448.