What if you could look at a puppy's life and predict what kind of dog it would grow up to be?
From backyards to kindergartens, the world's top dog scientist reveals the secrets of a dog's life transformation.
'There is no such thing as a smarter breed of dog, just as there is no such thing as a more intelligent race.'
A surprising discovery in cognitive science shatters misconceptions about dog breeds!
Choi Jae-cheon, Lee Jeong-mo, and Seol Chae-hyun are highly recommended!

All dogs are different.
This is the conclusion of Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods, two scientists who are truly unrivaled in their research on canine cognitive abilities, sociality, and communication.
Not only do dogs differ in their visible appearance, such as breed and appearance, but even within the same breed, their temperament, personality, and cognitive abilities all vary greatly.
Dogs are no different from humans.
The authors focus on the diversity of dogs from the perspective of the theory of multiple intelligences.
Some dogs have exceptional self-control, while others are extremely curious.
While there are bold dogs that are not afraid of strangers, there are also quiet dogs that do not leave their guardians' side.
When do these individual traits emerge, and can we predict what kind of dog they will grow into based on their puppyhood behavior? Is there a way to nurture these almost genius-like abilities? This book offers friendly, practical answers from cognitive science to these questions surrounding our lives and those of our dogs, our family, friends, and companions.

The authors, who directly refuted the misconception about survival of the fittest in “The Affectionate Survive,” have also challenged misunderstandings and prejudices about dogs.
How much do we know about dogs?
Our common sense generally converges on differences according to dog breed, such as 'Bulldogs are stupid', 'Border collies, poodles, and German shepherds are very smart', and 'Pit bulls are vicious'.
The authors, who studied in depth various factors such as brain development patterns, cognitive ability comparisons between breeds, temperament comparisons within breeds, genetics, growing environment, frequency and intensity of social contact, and parenting styles, say:
This thinking is wrong, each of us is unique and incredibly intelligent.
This also makes us look back on the 'dark history' of mankind discriminating against people based on race, gender, skin color, etc.
Dogs can also serve as a mirror that allows us to look deeper into ourselves.
So this book is about dogs, but it's also about us.

We found that identifying which dogs have specific cognitive abilities can help predict their chances of success as service dogs.
This realization became a central principle in the development of standardized tests to evaluate untrained dogs and predict which ones would successfully complete training.
Developing such a tool would not only allow us to identify promising dogs from a very young age, but also allow us to accurately predict which tasks each dog should be given to give them the best chance of success.
Could they help autistic children sleep soundly at night, or assist physically disabled people in their daily lives? Could they detect explosives, diseases, or drugs? By developing each dog's unique talents in this way, we can reduce costs, increase the number of professionally trained dogs, and, most importantly, make both dogs and people happier.

--- p.35~36 "Introduction: Congo, the Idol of All Dogs"

Most mammals fall somewhere between these two extremes, with dogs and humans near the helpless end.
Mammals that require more parental investment like this tend to develop larger-than-average brains.
In general, animals with larger brains exhibit more complex behaviors and have more flexible problem-solving abilities.
The longer a child receives help from their parents, the more time and opportunity they have to safely accumulate experiences and shape and mature their brain.
Because both humans and puppies are born virtually defenseless, knowledge of human brain development can provide insight into when the puppy brain grows most rapidly and is most plastic.

--- p.47~48 "Chapter 1: The Puppy's Brain"

Just like humans, a dog's brain development is influenced by a variety of experiences.
In particular, social experiences have a profound impact on a dog's brain development between the time of conception and the first 18 weeks of life, when the brain structure becomes similar to that of an adult dog.
Therefore, the 8th to 18th week after birth, the final stage of rapid brain growth and myelination, is thought to be a critically important period for socialization.
The fact that rapid brain growth occurs during these 10 weeks also means that patience is required.
For several months after you bring your puppy home, he or she may not be able to fully develop his or her natural abilities.
It is never the case that they intentionally urinate in the room or chew on the furniture to annoy their owner.
It's just that his brain is slow to catch up to our expectations.

--- p.51~52 "Chapter 1: The Puppy's Brain"

Even if you try to help them by gesturing to where the snacks are hidden, the bonobos and chimpanzees just guess at random.
You can learn it with practice, but it takes dozens of attempts over and over again.
Also, if you change your gesture (e.g. place the marker in the correct location), it will revert back to random guessing.
Unlike dogs, bonobos and chimpanzees do not seem to understand that gestures are intended to help them.
This is why dogs' abilities are so amazing.
Dogs surpass our closest relatives in a range of abilities thought to be most important for children to learn cultural forms.
We can infer what we want and what we don't want just by looking at our body language.
Bonobos and chimpanzees do not have this ability.

--- p.70 "Chapter 2: Preparing for Kindergarten"

Just as each dog's emotional responses are different, each dog's cognitive abilities are also different.
These differences will help predict which puppies will later make excellent service dogs.
Is that really true? To find out for sure, we needed to test dogs like Ashton, Aiden, and Dune on various cognitive tasks and assess whether their performance correlated with the type of dog they later became.
--- p.76 "Chapter 2: Preparing for Kindergarten"

As an alternative, we need to consider the theory of multiple intelligences.
The theory is that there are many different types of cognitive abilities, and that each ability manifests slightly differently in each individual.
Just as a dog's coat color has no effect on its eye color, a dog that is good at finding its way around doesn't necessarily mean it is good at reading human body language.
A dog with a good memory may not have good self-control.
Each cognitive ability is like a letter of the alphabet.
Just as letters can be combined in countless different ways to create countless words, various cognitive abilities can have different abilities, and depending on the combination, an infinite variety of individuals can appear.
--- p.79 "Chapter 3: Blessing Individuality"

Your dog may also have trouble understanding body language or quickly forget when you tell him to sit still.
But it may also have more subtle cognitive advantages.
There is something we have confirmed time and time again through the dogs we have met.
Dogs may not excel in every area, but they demonstrate their intelligence in a surprisingly diverse range of ways.
That's what makes dogs so lovable.
--- p.94 "Chapter 3: Blessing Individuality"

When we talk about cognitive function, we try not to judge it as pass or fail.
Of course, there are cognitive characteristics that make them suitable for service dogs.
That doesn't mean that other cognitive characteristics are wrong in any way.
While it may seem like a failure for the Weston, for some working dogs, failing a self-control test can actually be a predictor of future success.
--- p.112 "Chapter 4: Self-Control"

All the volunteers were convinced that Jacks would never graduate from the service dog program because he ate poop, but maybe that was actually a sign that he would successfully complete the program.
Emily analyzed survey data from 138 guide dog owners and found that dogs that ate poop were more likely to graduate from service dog training.
It wasn't just a slight correlation.
Coprophagia was one of five behaviors that determined a Canine Companions dog's likelihood of successfully graduating.
--- p.121 "Chapter 5: Surprising Success Indicators"

Although military dogs are Labradors, they are so different from service dog Labradors in terms of temperament and cognitive ability that they could almost be considered a different breed.
As we saw earlier with the example of Eris and Anya, even puppies from the same litter can be completely different from each other.
What people think of as 'breed' should actually be called 'genetics'.
This is because we believe that physical, behavioral, and cognitive differences are consistently passed down from one generation to the next through genes.

--- p.132 "Chapter 6: Smart Genes"

Approximately 50,000 dog owners have registered with Dognation and contributed to the research.
They played with their dogs in the living room, kitchen, and basement of their own home.
Millions of people around the world have played dog games with dogs of all breeds, creating one of the largest datasets on animal cognition in history.
The scientific value of datasets created by citizen scientists is enormous.
Because all games were based on previously published research, we were able to compare the results reported by citizen scientists with existing experimental data.
The results were exactly the same as those reported by our research team as well as other research teams around the world.
--- p.148~149 "Chapter 6: Smart Genes"

Contrary to Coran's study, which found that Border Collies were the smartest, our analysis found no evidence that any particular breed or group of breeds was "smarter."
No breed performed consistently well in each cognitive domain, and similarly, no breed performed consistently poorly.
Border collies, poodles, and German shepherds did not rank among the top breeds in any cognitive domain.
Overall, it has been impossible to predict the cognitive abilities of individual dogs based on the functions they have historically performed, whether herding livestock or retrieving game.

--- p.150 "Chapter 6: Smart Genes"

Temperament is an important element of personality.
Personality can change and grow, but temperament stays with you from beginning to end.
As with all behavioral traits, temperament has a genetic component.
This means that genes influence temperament.
However, genes do not completely control temperament.
Temperament remains consistent and does not change over time.
You can learn to control your temperament, but that doesn't mean you can change your innate temperament.
As one researcher put it, if personality is a symphony, temperament is the note in which that symphony is played.
--- p.161~162 "Chapter 7: Breeds Are Not Everything"

The type that is difficult to categorize is Jindel.
And while everyone fell in love with Arthur's gentle demeanor and predictable loveliness, there was something about Jindel that made people excited.
It's like raising six puppies for the price of one.
Jindel's behavior, which varies greatly depending on the situation, is another example of why it is problematic to attribute temperamental traits to the breed.
Although temperament is more likely to have been the subject of deliberate selective breeding than cognitive ability, there is still tremendous temperamental variation within any breed.

--- p.168 "Chapter 7: Breeds Are Not Everything"

Puppies need to meet a variety of dogs and people and have positive interactions.
Puppies socialized in this way are better able to cope with social situations and behave confidently as adults.
(…) If you have a puppy between 8 and 18 weeks old, let him meet family, friends, and friendly dogs.
Always take your dog for long and short walks, make sure he enjoys lots of physical activity, and give him lots of love.
That's enough.
--- p.195 "Chapter 8: The Decisive Experience"

After all these efforts, we learned a valuable lesson: we overestimated the impact that parenting has on puppies.
We fell off trying to teach Rainbow how to sleep.
That's exactly the point.
No matter how long we've been dog owners or how many dogs we've had, we always forget how exciting, exhausting, and crazy dog ​​ownership can be.
Even if you remember everything perfectly, every dog ​​is different.
There are many instances where previous experience and knowledge may not apply to a new puppy.
--- p.213~214 "Chapter 9 Welcome, Is This Your First Time at Our House?"

Of the forty-four tasks Ashton asked Congo, eighteen were ones he had never heard of since he began living with us four years ago.
Congo remembered eleven of the eighteen tasks as soon as they were asked.
61 percent.
It must be an amazing memory.
I never imagined that I would be able to recall that skill accurately after all this time, without any practice or reminder.
It occurred to me that the story of the Greek hero Odysseus returning home after 20 years without anyone recognizing him except his dog was not just a myth.
--- p.221 "Chapter 10: Walking Through Memories"

One of the most important findings we made in preschool is that the puppy brain doesn't work like a light bulb that turns on when you just flip a switch.
However, intelligence does not mature gradually at a constant rate, like a light that gradually brightens.
There was absolutely no evidence that general intelligence, commonly referred to as IQ, existed.
Rather, I think it would be better to understand the dog's brain as a 'symphony played with light'.
Each cognitive function lights up at different times.
Some abilities appear early and shine brightly almost immediately, while others begin to glow dimly over time and gradually reach their peak.

--- p.232 "Summary of Chapter 11"

Signs of aging in a dog's body are easily noticeable.
First of all, like Congo, my body feels stiff in the morning.
My gait becomes slow and I cannot walk long distances.
While veterinary medicine has made great strides in caring for the physical health of aging dogs, we still know very little about mental decline.
The same goes for how to care for an aging dog.
Dogs can also develop symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease as they age.
When walking, they may lose their way, bump into walls and doors, or sleep during the day but have trouble falling asleep at night and become restless.
While some symptoms of cognitive decline can be managed, others, such as getting lost or falling down stairs, are very dangerous.

--- p.258 "Chapter 12: Dogs Grow Old Too"

The downside to living with a great dog is that one day you'll lose him.
The sadness and shock at that time cannot be expressed in words.
Imagine losing someone you've shared ten years of daily life with, experiencing all the glory and tragedy with.
But it is also a blessing.
Dogs teach us what to do when we lose someone we love.
It also reminds us that the ones we love will never leave our side.
--- p.262 "Chapter 12: Dogs Grow Old Too"

Even though I've raised so many dogs, it's still impossible to know which ones will be successful as service dogs.
There are also dogs like Wisdom, who everyone predicts will succeed.
However, there are many dogs with similar talents who failed to become guide dogs, yet still live rich and happy lives.
Then there are those like Eris and Sparky who still make you wonder how they graduated.
Without scientific research to understand these dogs, we'll just have to rely on intuition.
Like a guessing game.

--- p.270~272 "Gifts of Puppy Science on the Go"