Chaser, a seven-year-old border collie from South Carolina, has
amassed a vocabulary of over 1,000 words - close to that of the average
3-year-old human! Yes parents, this precocious pooch might just be smarter than
your toddler.

So how did any quadruped acquire such sweet skills? In
addition to being an adorable house pet, Chaser is also the subject of a
psychological experiment. Her owner, John Pilley, is a psychology professor who
wanted to test the boundaries of what border collies' can learn. The famously
bright breed is known for its ability to understand language, a talent that
helped these sheepdogs comprehend farmer's commands when herding
livestock.

But Chaser's astounding vocabulary isn't merely a product of
innate intelligence. Over the course of three years, Pilley spent four to five
hours a day teaching her new words, one-by-one. He began with toys and
progressed to simple sentences and verbs, such as "paw," "nose," and
"get."

Chaser still understands the value of downtime. This canine has
adopted a work hard/play hard attitude. After vocabulary training, she plays
with "Blue," her favorite ball.

Check out this video of Chaser in action!