Researchers in Vienna designed a test for border collies, or sheepdogs
Trained them to pick out 'positive' images on a screen to earn treats
Old dogs took longer to learn the new trick but displayed better logic skills to identify a novel image - and all the dogs showed amazing memory skills
As an experiment has shown canines' powers of logic get stronger with age, even if they do take longer to learn new skills. Dogs of varying ages were trained to touch images on a screen with their noses (pictured above) - some with positive and others with negative connotations
The graphic above shows examples of abstract pictures presented to the dogs with positive and negative associations. The dogs were given an exclusion test, where one of the images was new and the others were familiar with negative connotations. Older collies showed better logic skills to pick out the novel picture
Six months after the first learning tests, the researchers repeated the touchscreen trials using the same eight abstract pictures as before, in order to test the dog's long-term memory skills. The test revealed no significant age differences and nearly all dogs remembered the correct pictures as positive
Scientists believe they have unravelled just how dogs seem able to show empathy. It is because they are able to rapidly mimic or 'catch' emotions, research suggests. A stock image of two happy dogs are shown
