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Chaser

Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
"This marvelous blend of good science and heartwarming dog story will inspire all of us to reexamine our canine friends." —Booklist, starred review
The New York Times–bestselling story of a very smart Border collie who redefined animal intelligence. A joyous explanation of behavior, learning, and perception—any pet owner, parent, teacher, or psychologist will be enriched by this book.
When retired psychology professor John Pilley first got his new Border collie puppy, Chaser, he wanted to explore the boundaries of language learning and communication between humans and man's best friend. Exhibiting intelligence previously thought impossible in dogs, Chaser soon learned the names of more than a thousand toys and sentences with multiple elements of grammar.
Chaser's accomplishments are revolutionizing the way we think about the intelligence of animals. John and Chaser's inspiring journey demonstrates the power of learning through play and opens our eyes to the boundless potential in the animals we love.
"The most scientifically important dog in over a century." —Brian Hare, founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center and coauthor of The Genius of Dogs
"After you read Chaser, you will realize that you may have underestimated the intelligence of your dog. Marvelous insights into a dog's mind." —Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human
"Dogs and those of us who love them owe to debt of gratitude to the brilliant, courageous author and his equally heroic subject." —Jennifer Arnold, author of Through a Dog's Eyes
"An engrossing and remarkable tale." —The Bark 
"A delightful memoir that offers a challenge to behavioral psychologists and inspiration for pet lovers." —Kirkus Reviews
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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 26, 2013
      Retired psychology professor Pilley’s work with his border collie, Chaser, since 2004 is impressive, and his findings have been published in the journal Behavioural Processes. Challenging the bounds of animal knowledge, Chaser has “learned and retained the proper noun names of 1,022 objects over a period of three years”; the dog remembers more words than any other (nonhuman) animal known. Her achievements have made her a national celebrity, and she’s made appearances on the Today show and ABC News. Here, Pilley (and coauthor Hinzmann) effectively describes his family’s relationship with Chaser and the theory behind how she was taught such a large vocabulary. His findings have broader implications: the coauthors link the teaching methods developed for Chaser to the controversy about “teaching to the test” for children. Though there are occasional hiccups in the book, such as Pilley’s effusiveness regarding his meeting with news anchor Diane Sawyer, Chaser’s remarkable abilities speak for themselves. One 8-page b&w insert. Agent: Steve Ross, Abrams Artist Agency.

    • Library Journal

      May 1, 2013

      In 2010, headlines proclaimed that a Border Collie named Chaser had learned the names of over 1,000 objects. Pilley, an emeritus professor of psychology at Wofford College who's now teaching Chaser to understand syntax and semantics, explains how he has trained her, dropping hints for the rest of us. Pilley's (and Chaser's) success has far outpaced work with other nonhuman animals and has taught us much about animal intelligence. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

      Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
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  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:7.6
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:6

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