Combine one part dog and one part cognition and you’ve got Dognition. In a post about two weeks ago, my pal, Kate from SlimDoggy, and I shared our experiences with the Dognition testing with our respective dogs. If you like getting inside your dog’s mind in order to determine what they are thinking, how they problem solve, and what makes them tick, the Dognition testing is a fun way to spend a few afternoons. Oh, and it also really helps nurture the bond you have with your dog. If you missed it, this is part one of our Dognition dog testing.
Plus if you keep reading, the folks at Dognition love our Fidose of Reality fans so much, they gave us a Dognition system to give away to one lucky fan!
Dognition tests 5 areas of your dog’s inner puppy, and the best part is: There are NO wrong answers. The games measure empathy, communication, cunning, memory, and reasoning. In our first blog post, we showed you testing in empathy and communication. To review, these are the five categories your dog is tested in:
- Empathy – Reading and responding to the emotions of others
- Communication – Using information from others to learn about the environment
- Cunning – Using information from others to avoid detection
- Memory – Storing past experiences to make future choices
- Reasoning – Inferring the solution to new problems
We rallied through the cunning and the memory sections of the tests, and here is what how we scored and what you can expect when testing your dog with Dognition:
Cunning
It sounds sort of sinister, doesn’t it? “My dog is oh so cunning!” In actuality, I was very curious if my dog was sneaky or perhaps he really would listen to me when I show him a treat, say no, and look away. Hmmmmm….how long with my Canine Good Citizen titled pooch last? Here’s the kick off portion to the test and scroll down for his results.
This is really hysterical because it tells me what I suspected all along: My Cocker isn’t afraid to steal food from my plate right while I am sitting there *giggle*. Each dog will react differently and the test was a fun assessment of my dog’s skills in mostly patience and following commands against his instincts as a dog. Very cool, very fun, and we laughed a lot trying not to go “oooh” and “awwww how cute” when he did these things. Laughter is a part of the process, but oh is it hard to hold it in while testing.
Memory
I always felt my dog has a really good memory. After all, as the saying goes, “Show a dog two treats and only give him one; you’ll see how strong his memory is.” Well, this test showcases memory skills – and again, there are no wrong or right answers. This is an individual assessment.
So for the memory portion, we don’t want to reveal too much, but there are a series of “tests” that include hiding a treat under plastic cups and seeing your dog’s reaction to a set of different testing processes. It is fun, easy, and made for an enjoyable way to spend my lunch break.
Here are the results of our Memory test – my little boy is “amazing” – well thanks, gang at Dognition, for that!
So we have one series of tests left and that is in the Reasoning Department. We would have finished the tests, but my lunch break was over and the treat bag was getting low. You do have to give the dog plenty of treats, so we didn’t want to overstuff Dexter. Plus, you need to really pace your dog. After each test, I’d take a break, as it let it go. Do not do this entire test in one whole sitting. Your dog will be annoyed, overstuffed, and I would think pacing the test makes for more accurate results.
So once the test is done, we will reveal what our little guy’s results are. Your dog will get a badge declaring him or her one of nine Dognition profiles, such as these three:
Now for some really fun stuff: We get to give a Dognition test away so you can try it on your own dog.
First though, check out our friends at SlimDoggy and how they tested their dog, Jack. Their dog is a 9- to 10-year-old Lab whom they rescued at seven years of age. Jack came with some behavioral issues. Our tester, Dexter, is a now 5-year-old American Cocker Spaniel who entered our lives at nine weeks of age as a typical fun and loving puppy. Be sure to stop by the SlimDoggy site to see how their dog measured up.
How to Win a Dognition Test
Here is the winner and thanks to all who entered:
Susan and the gang from Life with Dogs and Cats!!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
When does it start and end? The contest starts now.The contest ends on 02/28/14 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Fidose of Reality staff and their families are not eligible to win. What are we judged on? One random will be selected. Can my friends and family play? Sure! The more the merrier. We love to see tails wagging here at Fidose of Reality, so spread the word and make your voice heard. One entry per person, please. What if I win? Winners will be notified and announced on the Fidose of Reality blog in this thread no later than March 2, 2014. We will email you the code for redemption on Dognition. Can I earn bonus entries? Yes, just visit the Rafflecopter above. Official Rules Here And because we know there are a lot of dog lovers out there, here are some of our friends that would probably love to know their doggie would test out with Dognition. This is a BlogPaws blog hop!
Carol Bryant
A dog lover of the highest order is how Gayle King introduced Carol Bryant, when she appeared with her Cocker Spaniel on Oprah Radio’s Gayle King show to dish dogs. Carol created and owns the trademark, My Heart Beats Dog® and lives that mantra. A 30-year veteran of the dog world, she is President of the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) and the 2020 DWAA winner for Best Dog Blog.
I’m curious to see what Mr. N’s results would be. He is pretty trustworthy around food and he has a pretty good memory. He remembers all the stores that used to have dogs months afterwards.
I’ve heard great things about Dognition. (I follow them on Twitter.) I would love to know how smart all my pups are, but I’d probably start with my Border Collie mix, Lilah.
–Woofs (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats.
Hey Dexter, well done buddy – that was a lot of fun wasn’t it? You sure have a pretty good memory. Mine wasn’t as good as yours – but maybe that’s because I’m a senior dog now…and you know what that means 🙂
Oh, this sounds like so much fun! 🙂 Nailah once took part in a research study where they tested a dog’s instinct an reliance on human guidance. I’d love to take this test with her!
i would really love to test all of my 3 girls, evie-12, tressa-4 and harley-3
I’m excited to try this with my aussie Flynn!
Cooper, my little brainiac!
I would love to see how Coco does with this!
I’d love to test Taco. We have had him less than a year, so a little insight into his brain would be helpful!
I love the “Wily vs. Trustworthy” rating scale. Aren’t all dogs wily when they want to be? LOL Loved reading about the testing … sounds fun!
I’ve been wanting to try this with my Izzie. I hear your dog has to be more food motivated for it to work properly, which she definitely is! Good job, Dexter!
Sounds like a fun test! I don’t know which dog I’d want to try the most, though. Maya? Pierson?
I would love to test my boys Mack and Pippin. They’re such polar opposites.
Gee, I have five Treeing Walker Coonhounds, and would love to test four of them. My first choice would be my deaf hound girl, Ran. After that would be my biggest furbaby, Seiji. I think it would be fun to test Kenji and Kyoko, too, but I’m sure my senior girl, Suki, wouldn’t be interested.
Bentley thinks he could dis-spell the myth that Basset Hounds are super smart! Good job Dexter.
Schooner would be the one I would test! That should be real interesting!
I would love to test this with Bo! He would be so perfect for this!
I loved reading about Dex and SlimDoggy Jack! I have been thinking about trying it out with Luna, so it would be amazing to win a test! I’d love to learn more about Luna!
I would love to do this test with our Louie. He’s such a smart boy (I know, all us dog moms say our babies are smart) but I think it would be fun, sort of a bonding game to play.
Would love to do this with Shiloh. Not only would it be great fun and bonding, but it would help develop more personalized training.
What an absolutely fascinating idea. We are cats but Mum really wants to thank you for shining a spotlight on something that should be MUCH better known.
Harvey
Many wags!
I’ve been interested in checking out Dognition with Lulu, so I’m hoping to win because I’d be curious to see how she’d test.
I want to test both my dogs, Artie and Kouga. Kouga is especially cunning. Thank you so much for the chance to win.
I would test all my dogs: Patch, Mona, Wheatie, Winnie, & Calin. 🙂
I would LOVE to win this! I have been wanting to try this test for ages now.
I’d love to test Dexter with this!
This would be so cool to do with our setter!
It would be a tough choice between my 2 labs, Chase and Slater
Delilah, I would definitely test Delilah. Inquiring minds what to know what goes on inside that head of hers.
Definitely want to test Mort! All those head tilts make me wonder about what – and *how* – he’s thinking. Of course, also fascinating to the armchair dog behaviorist in me 🙂
I’d love to test Lila and Nutella with this! Thanks for the chance(:
Casey R. Doodle