Memory and recall[edit]
In 2013, a study documented the learning and memory capabilities of a border collie, "Chaser", who had learned the names and could associate by verbal command over 1,000 words at the time of its publishing. Chaser was documented as capable of learning the names of new objects "by exclusion", and capable of linking nouns to verbs. It is argued that central to the understanding of the border collie's remarkable accomplishments is the dog's breeding background - collies bred for herding work are uniquely suited for intellectual tasks like word association which may require the dog to work "at a distance" from their human companions, and the study credits this dog's selective breeding in addition to rigorous training for her intellectual prowess.[29] Rico could remember items 4 weeks after the initial exposure.[11]
In 2014, a whole genome study of the DNA differences between wolves and dogs found that dogs did not show a reduced fear response, they showed greater synaptic plasticity. Synaptic plasticity is widely believed to be the cellular correlates of learning and memory and this change may have altered the learning and memory abilities of dogs.