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Dognition

Dognition is a user-friendly, scientifically-based online tool designed to identify the cognitive abilities and key personality traits in individual pet dogs while providing users ongoing support specifically tailored to their dog’s unique strong suits. It is the brainchild of Dr. Brian Hare, assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University and the driving force behind the Duke Canine Cognition Center.

By identifying more precisely how your dog thinks and learns via this fascinating tool, you become more attuned to specific ways to harness the innate power of your dog's particular instincts and skillsets using positive training techniques.

How It Works
The first step in the Dognition process is to play the science-based games with your dog (and a human assistant), which are designed to give you a fresh perspective on five key aspects of your dog’s mind:

Empathy –does your dog read and respond to the emotions of others?
Communication – does your dog use information from others to learn about the environment?
Cunning – does your dog use information from others to avoid detection?
Memory – does your dog store past experiences to make future choices?
Reasoning – can your dog infer solutions to new problems?

As you play the games you will also record your dog’s responses to each game, the results of which are sent off and read by the Dognition team. They then evaluate your dog’s abilities, including how your dog thinks and the skills he uses to solve problems. The Profile Report that Dognition emails you back gives a detailed breakdown of these results which can be really valuable in giving you a deeper understanding of how your dog thinks and learns.

Citizen Science
A key aspect of the Dognition methodology is their use of Citizen Science – research that can be conducted by everyone, not just people with PHD’s.By gathering data the Dognition team can understand behavior much more quickly and on a broader scale than if scientists conducted the research themselves. So when you do the tests with your dog, you are also helping others.

Dognition helps you better understand your dog and build a stronger relationship as a result. It is an extremely valuable tool for trainers too, as the results can be used to help them help dogs learn more efficiently and determine how best to tackle any behavioral issues a dog might have.

To learn more about Dognition visit www.dognition.com