Border Collies are thought to be the most intelligent dog breed, but not all Border Collies can learn more than 1000 words - it all depends on training. The smartest Border Collie ever was named Chaser. Chaser was able to understand about 1022 words when she was three-year-old. Chaser's owner, a retired professor of psychology, adopted Chaser when she was just a two-month-old puppy. The retired professor saw an incredible opportunity in Chaser and believed that dogs were far smarter than people thought they were. He began using toys to teach Chaser vocabulary. Chaser's story appeared on the scientific journal _Behavioral Process_ that is dedicated to research on animal behaviors, and was covered by many news outlets. Chaser died at the age of 15. Border Collies have incredible intelligence and, yes, they can be shy around strangers - just like a timid bookworm human. 😂 Anyway, how smart a Border Collie is depends on how it is trained.
