UK's Harvey: The Smartest Dog Recognises Over 200 Toys By Name

A dog named Harvey is being called the UK's smartest dog. Harvey can identify over 200 toys by name. Everyone is amazed by his intelligence.

While the loyalty of dogs is rarely doubted, many would question their intelligence. For these 'many', Harvey from Britain is an example. Harvey is considered the UK's smartest dog. He was also selected for several research studies on genius dogs conducted in Budapest and Portsmouth. 7-year-old Harvey is so intelligent that he can recognise over 200 words and fetches his toys when he hears their names. Now, he is helping other puppies become smarter.

Harvey Never Makes a Mistake

According to a report by Mirror UK, Harvey's owner, Irene Hewlett (52), taught him to react to the name of a toy when he was a puppy. Harvey would start reacting upon hearing 'Little Lamb'. Irene was very excited by this and continued to teach Harvey further. Today, he recognises his 221 toys by name. Irene explained that when a toy's name is called in front of Harvey, he goes, finds it, and brings it back. He never makes a mistake, which clearly means he knows the name of every toy. Harvey is a Border Collie breed, often kept by shepherds to discipline sheep.

Initial Difficulties

Irene Hewlett said that Harvey enjoys this task. He gets a treat when he fetches the correct toy. Everyone is astonished by Harvey's intelligence. It is a great surprise to them that a dog can recognise the correct toy by hearing its name. Irene was inspired to train her dog by a book written about a US dog named Chaser. The book mentioned a dog who had learned the names of 1,022 items. She mentioned that there were initial difficulties, but with continuous effort, Harvey began to recognise his toys by name. Toys with similar names sometimes confuse Harvey, but after thinking for a while, he picks up the correct toy.

Does Not Damage Toys

She said that many dogs get very excited among toys and damage them. However, Harvey never does that. He is a very calm dog. Border Collies are usually very active and run around, but he does not do that. Experts say that intelligent dogs like Harvey can be very useful to society. They can be trained to assist special people. Research from the University of Portsmouth has shown that there are only a handful of dogs in the world with the ability to learn hundreds of words and associate them with objects.