ROCHELLE BAKER
North Shore Outlook

Dogs owners are notoriously proud of their pooches. They dress them in cute outfits, pamper them and brag to friends about how smart they are. Sometimes they swear their pet even understands what they're saying. But just how intelligent are dogs? Do they really understand language? These are just two of the questions renowned dog expert and author Dr. Stanley Coren will answer during his appearance at the Capilano Library Oct 18 - one of the many canine-themed events scheduled for "Celebrate Your Library Week," Oct 15-21. Coren, a professor of psychology at UBC and the author of numerous books on dog behaviour - including The Intelligence of Dogs, How to Speak Dog and How Dogs Think - will illuminate the audience on all things dog.

An expert in perception both human and canine, Coren will talk about how pets see, hear, think and communicate.

Stanely Coren
"Dogs have the intelligence of a two-year-old human, and super dogs (those that top the scale in terms of intelligence) that of a two and a half year old," Coren said in an interview this week. Using similar methods employed to test children before they can speak, Coren said it has been determined that dogs possess the mental imagery associated with consciousness, and are capable of learning by simply watching what a human does.

As far as understanding language, again, dogs rank with toddlers. "The average dog understands about 165 words, including signs and signals. Super dogs can understand as many as 250," he said. The smartest dog is the border collie, followed by German shepherds and golden retrievers.

In his books Coren documents cases where dogs have predicted storms or earthquakes, or even detected cancer in their owners. However, as a psychologist, what really fascinates Coren about dogs are the insights he gains about human behaviour.

"My true interest is in the human-animal bond. I'm interested in both ends of the leash."
Coren says humans have been shaping dogs for a variety of purposes for thousands of years.

"Dogs are a created animal. They
were inventions shaped to humans' needs. They're not just trained wolves."

People have developed dogs that are specialists in tracking scents, hunt¬ing, and herding. Dogs have been bred to run fast, hunt rats, and save lives. Arson detection dogs can sniff out accelerants used to start a fire.

But perhaps most importantly, people have bred dogs to be companions. "Everybody needs a dog around when they're feeling unloved by their spouse, because everybody needs to feel loved unconditionally," Coren said.

Stanley Coren speaks at the Capilano Library (3045 Highland Blvd.) Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. as part of this year's