The other night there was a very interesting show on the National Geographic channel called “Dog Genius”. The show featured Donnie, a four year old rescued Doberman. No one knew anything about Donnie's past except that he had been kept in a kennel for about a year. Donnie was very slow to learn at first. It took him several months to get used to doorways and simple tasks like using stairs. After about six months he got accustomed to his new home, and even let his new owner put her arm around him without flinching.Donnie's owner bought him about 80 stuffed animal toys to keep him entertained. Suddenly she noticed that Donnie started arranging his toys in patterns in their big backyard - triangles, circles, parallel lines…. and in many cases grouping them together - all frogs, all monkeys, etc.... Either all of the toys were face up in the arrangements, or all face down. He would even go as far as making sure they were touching or holding hands in a lot of his designs. Sometimes he would work like a true artist. Stand back, look at the composition, then rearrange something until he was satisfied.
His owner showed a photo album with dozens of triangle patterns like this one.
Two bears holding hands. 
All frogs with a toy. 
The day after Donnie allowed his owner to fully wrap her arm around him in a hug for the first time, Donnie created this design…
The owner knew there was something to all of this so she contacted Barbara Smuts, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan who studies social behavior in canines. Of course Smuts assumed that the owner was either helping Donnie or was crazy. Smuts finally flew out to see Donnie and at first couldn’t believe her eyes, especially after setting up hidden cameras and watching from indoors so as not to cause any distraction.
This is now a research project for the professor, and she said “Donnie can’t be the only dog in the world who does this, I’m hoping that people will see this show and say, ‘Hey, that’s like my dog, or I know a dog that does that, and email me. We need a larger sample to find out what’s going on.” If by chance you know a dog that behaves like this, she would love to hear from you… bsmuts@umich.edu
Set your TIVO….. the show will air again on the National Geographic Channel at 1 pm Dec. 30, 7 pm Feb. 1 and 2 a.m. Feb. 2.
See, I told you Dobermans were one of the smartest dogs :)
