Shira in News and Science

Shira - The Science and The Studies

Shira is a mixed breed rescue dog with a very unusual talent — she can learn and remember the names of many objects, especially toys. Scientists call dogs like Shira “Gifted Word Learner” dogs. These rare dogs can connect a spoken word with a specific object, similar to how young children learn words. For example, if someone says: “Shira, get the fox!” There is no training involved. Just play.

Shira can look through many toys and bring back the correct toy by name. She has no point of reference other than the ‘sound’ As of February 2026 Shira knows the names of well over 325 toys. But that number is growing each week. She can learn a new one in just minutes. Gifted dogs can remember many object names over time. Chaser, the border collie, who died in 2019 and inspired these studies, knew 1022 toys.

However she had been trained since birth by her owner. The dogs who are part of today’s studies are not trained. They learn solely through play or eavesdropping.

Shira and Scientific Research

Shira became part of an international research project studying dogs that understand object names. Scientists from the Family Dog Project at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest searched the world for dogs with this rare ability. Over the course of 6 yrs (as of 2026) they found 45 dogs in 9 countries who could do this — including Shira. Shira was the 35th dog found, and to date, the only one in the state of New Jersey, USA. These dogs make up what is known as the Genius Dog Project in conjunction with social media’s Genius Dog Challenge (Facebook and Instagram). The studies are published in the scientific journals including Scientific Reports.

Researchers want to understand:

• How dogs learn words

• Why some dogs learn many object names

• Whether dogs learn words the same way children do

A Rare Ability

Only a small number of dogs in the world have shown this level of word learning. These dogs are extremely rare, which is why each one helps scientists learn more about how animals understand language.

A New Discovery: Dogs Can Learn Words by “Eavesdropping”

Recent research revealed something surprising. Some gifted dogs can learn words just by overhearing people talk — even if the word is not directed at them. Scientists tested this by letting dogs listen while people talked about new toys. Later, when asked to fetch the toy by name, many dogs chose the correct one.This type of learning is called “eavesdropping learning.” Young children also learn many words this way — by simply hearing adults talk.

The study showed:

• Gifted dogs could identify new toys about 80–90% of the time

• Some dogs performed just as well learning by overhearing as when taught directly

This discovery helps scientists better understand how language learning may have evolved.

The Science Behind Shira’s Ability

Shira’s talent is related to several cognitive skills that scientists study.

Word–Object Association - Shira connects a word (like “ball”) with a specific object.

Fast Learning - Most gifted dogs can learn a new object name very quickly, sometimes after only a few repetitions of the word, though play.

How Gifted Word-Learning Dogs Are Difference: Talent vs Training

When people hear about a dog as super smart, they often think of heroic Service Dogs or elite Police K9s. While those dogs are incredible, what Shira does is fundamentally different.

The most mind-blowing part of Shira’s story? She didn't train to do this. Unlike a police dog or service dog who spends months in "K9 Academy," Shira’s genius emerged naturally. She didn't need a clicker or a bag of treats to learn what a "Blue Hippo" was; she just played and heard the name of the toy while playing.

Why What Shira does Matters

Dogs like Shira help scientists answer big questions about language and intelligence.

By studying gifted dogs, researchers hope to learn:

• how animals understand human communication

• how memory and learning work in animals

• how language abilities may have evolved

Shira also shows something inspiring:

That a mixed breed rescue dog can grow into something extraordinary. 🐾

that is uniquely Shira!

Unlike other GWL dogs, she also can identify object by ‘sounds’ associated with a name. For instance, you can ask her to get the WHISTLE by name or just whistle for it- she will know what you are asking for. She has another toy called ENTERPRISE which is a space ship, She will get it for you by either asking the name of it or humming the theme to StarTrek. She has about 50 toys that have both sound and names associated with them. Here is a short video clip for an example:

A short sample of what a Gifted

Word Learning (GWL) Dog can do

Shira’s mom is in the kitchen and Shira’s toys are in the dining room. Sometimes mom puts them all over the house. But for this we put in one place for you to see.

There are no edits so please be patient on the 2 toys she is slow to find! Like everyone- sometimes she misses something that's right in front of her! But eventually she finds it!

The video is just a 6 minute long. Only shared the first 20 toys in order to keep this video short - normal daily testing is a group of about 30-40 toys.

For more videos visit Shira’s Instagram and YouTube pages

Interview with Shira’s human mom - Tres Hanley-Millman

DOGS and SCIENCE

Radio interview

with Tres Hanley-Millman

(Shira’s human mom)

NJ 101.5 Radio