Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words

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. (Oct.)