Sparky the deaf dog gets sign-language training

Video: Meet Chaser, the canine Einstein!

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2. Transcript of: Meet Chaser, the canine Einstein!

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   MATT LAUER, co-host: So you think your dog is smart because he can sit, stay or fetch ? Well, meet Chaser, a female border collie with the largest vocabulary of any known dog, an astonishing 1,022 nouns. She's here along with her owner and trainer, John Pilley , and Alliston Reid , who co-authored a study on Chaser. Gentlemen , good morning. Chaser, nice to see you.

   Mr. ALLISTON REID: Good morning.

   Mr. JOHN PILLEY: Thank you.

   LAUER: This is serious stuff, this isn't dog tricks we're talking about here. What did you set out to prove with Chaser?

   Mr. PILLEY: Well, we think it's science. And our effort, our primary goal is to try to teach her dog language . We don't call it human, she'll never get that close, but we're trying to teach her words and learn how to teach her words.

   LAUER: So learn nouns and verbs, actions, so you can actually give Chaser two different commands and she can operate under both?

   Mr. PILLEY: Correct.

   LAUER: OK. And is Chaser a one in a million dog, or do you think this is something that any dog could learn?

   Mr. REID: I think any border collie could learn all this. The real issue is how much training John Pilley has put into this dog, four or five hours per day for about three years.

   LAUER: And you basically had to take that training and turn it into scientific fact...

   Mr. REID: Into science, right.

   LAUER: ...which is a hard thing to do.

   Mr. REID: We needed to test Chaser's vocabulary and be able to make statements about what Chaser really understood about each of these words.

   LAUER: We've got 1,022 nouns that Chaser understands, we brought 25 items with us, or you have, here to the studio. Now I understand if I get down over there and kneel next to Chaser I can actually give her some commands. She doesn't know what items I'm going to ask her to fetch , right?

   Mr. PILLEY: Correct.

   LAUER: So I'm going to try this because I know the names of the things that I want her to fetch . So Chaser, fetch tennis. Fetch tennis. Chaser, fetch tennis. Chaser, fetch tennis. Put it in the tub.

   Mr. PILLEY: Good dog.

   LAUER: In the tub, in the tub.

   Mr. PILLEY: Let's bring it over to you.

   LAUER: Again, she's using my -- OK, she's using my voice, which she's really never heard before. Good girl. In the tub. In tub. Good girl. All right. Chaser, fetch peppermint. That's exactly what the peppermint is, the peppermint little -- in tub. Chaser, fetch SpongeBob . Fetch SpongeBob .

   Mr. PILLEY: SpongeBob 's not out there.

   LAUER: No, here it is right here.

   Mr. PILLEY: Oh. Oh, there it is.

   LAUER: Here is SpongeBob right there.

   Mr. PILLEY: She sees better than I do.

   LAUER: In tub.

   Mr. PILLEY: OK.

   LAUER: In tub. Chaser, in tub. This is incredible.

   Mr. PILLEY: Good dog. Good Chaser.

   LAUER: What else do you want to learn from Chaser, what else can you accomplish with her?

   Mr. PILLEY: Speak, Alliston.

   Mr. REID: Well -- ruff, ruff.

   LAUER: You're good at that, too.

   Mr. REID: I would -- I would like -- we're very interested in syntax. For example, do the order of the words matter?

   LAUER: And do you think -- can we learn something real quickly about human learning from this?

   Mr. REID: Well, it's hard to know whether we can apply it to humans or not. We're trying to understand what dogs understand when we're talking to them and how extensive their vocabularies can become if they're given a great deal of training.

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