What makes a dog a label-learner: individual cognitive differences underlying label-learning abilities in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris)

Only a few dogs in the world are label-learners, with the ability to process and retain a vast number of object referents. Here we present data from a battery of cognitive tests that could explain why they outperform their conspecifics. In a citizen science approach, we instructed dog owners across five different countries, on how to administer a series of eight cognitive tests to their dogs. The group of label-learner dogs (N = 11) was then compared to control dogs (N = 11) that did not have that label learning ability. Our experiment demonstrates, for the first time, that the label-learner dogs’ ability might be based on measurable individual differences in three specific cognitive domains: their interest in novel objects, their targeted interest in objects and their inhibitory skills. Future research, replicating the results on a larger sample, can explore if the label-learner dogs’ outstanding cognitive skills are already present at the puppy stage or develop over time.