Coren.
How smart is your dog? Photo: TheGiantVermin/Flickr Dogs are cuddly, playful, loyal -- and smart. But you totally already knew that. Now science tells us just how smart they really are. The average dog has mental abilities akin to those of a two-year-old child, according to Stanley Coren, a dog expert and professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia. Coren presented an overview of dog-intelligence studies at the American Psychological Association's annual meeting this week. In tests of language development, Coren said, the average dog can learn 165 words, including signals and gestures. That's comparable to the performance of a two-year-old toddler. The brainiest breeds can ...