big brains

How smart is your dog?

Larger brain size (which is related to the overall size of the dog) seems to be connected to the ability of the dog to solve certain problems. specifically, animals with bigger brains are better at short term memory and impulse control challenges. (study)

As they became domesticated, dogs’ brain size got smaller. this is true even with the same relative body mass when compared to wolves that live in the wild. this led researchers to believe that as ancient breeds emerged, these process of domestication was in part a process of loosing some brain capacity because the dogs did not have to survive on their own the way their wild ancestors did.

Now, a study comparing modern urban dogs to wolves and ancient breeds suggests that complex modern social life of dogs has reversed some of these changes in the canine brain. the farther away from ancient breeds a modern dog is, the larger the brain of the domesticated dog. specialized skills such as paying attention to humans and working in complex environments may have increased relative brain size, reversing some of the brain loss that occurred with early domestication. although still smaller than the wolf, it seems that our modern dogs are getting smarter.

cool, huh?