Canine Cognition Data Center

Canine cognition · Research sample of 25,463 dogs The Dog Mind, Measured What we learned about how dogs actually think — from the largest cognitive dataset of its kind. This hub analyzes a research sample of 25,463 assessments drawn from that dataset — not every dog Dognition has assessed. Every dimension keeps the same color across charts, and every chart is free to download, cite, and embed. Communication reading your gestures Empathy gaze & bonding Memory recall Reasoning inference Cunning physical problem-solving Across a lifetime Mutts vs purebreds Breed-group superpowers The smartest-breed myth Profile explorer Breed vs individual Four cognitive dimensions plotted against age, from puppies under one to dogs of 13 and older. Each dimension has its own trajectory — the dog mind does not simply rise and then fall. The dog mind across a lifetime Empathy keeps rising with age while reasoning peaks early and declines after about age eight. Research sample of 25,463 dogs · binned by age in years, n=444 (age 12) to n=3,539 (age 3) Horizontal axis : Dog age Measured in years, binned from under 1 to 13 and older Vertical axis (empathy panel) : Empathy — gaze score Measured in seconds of eye contact, 0–90 Vertical axis (memory, reasoning, communication panels) : Mean score for the age bin Measured in proportion of trials correct, 0–1 Empathy gaze & bonding Empathy — gaze score (0–90) Memory recall Memory — proportion correct (0–1) Reasoning inference Reasoning — proportion correct (0–1) Communication reading your gestures Communication — proportion correct (0–1) Sample per bin ranges from n=444 (age 12) to n=3,539 (age 3); a research sample of 25,463 dogs. Source: Dognition Canine Cognition Data Center · research sample of 25,463 dogs dognition.com/data The finding: Empathy climbs steadily for a decade while reasoning peaks early and declines after age eight. An old dog reads you better than ever, even as problem-solving slows. How we measured this Dogs were binned by owner-reported age in whole years. Each point is the mean score for that bin across the 25,463 -dog research sample (n=444 at age 12 up to n=3,539 at age 3). Gaze duration is measured in seconds (0–90); the other dimensions are proportions (0–1). Download CSV Embed this chart Read the full analysis: Do Dogs Get Smarter With Age? What 25,463 Dogs Reveal The five deep dives Each chart has a standalone analysis with methodology and FAQs. Do Dogs Get Smarter With Age? What 25,463 Dogs Reveal Are Mixed-Breed Dogs Smarter Than Purebreds? The Smartest Dog Breed? 25 Breeds, Measured Dog Cognitive Profil

es: How Your Breed Thinks Does Breed Predict How Smart a Dog Is? Source: Dognition — a research sample of 25,463 dogs. Free to share with attribution. Test your dog Based on the work of Dr. Brian Hare & Vanessa Woods Every Dognition guide, assessment, and blog post is grounded in the research and methodologies of Dr. Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods at the Duke Canine Cognition Center. Their work established that "smart" isn't one number — dogs think across five distinct cognitive dimensions, and the best training matches the method to the mind. Book · 2013 The Genius of Dogs How dogs are smarter than you think — the founding text on canine cognitive science. Read more Book · 2024 Puppy Kindergarten The Duke Puppy Kindergarten study — how the first 16 weeks shape a dog for life (as covered by The New York Times). Read the NYT feature