Some people watch Cooper's videos and think, "Wow, he must be a genius!" Some of the articles about Cooper also suggest that he is a genius or that he was born naturally gifted. This is not true. Yes, he's quite smart, but his skills are the result of lots of training. He is very good at learning from me, but his independent problem-solving skills are not as impressive as you would expect.
Whenever you read an article or interview about Cooper, please keep in mind that some of what you're reading might be embellished - especially the headlines... they're designed to grab your attention! If you have doubts about something you've read, please check the About and FAQ areas of the site or click here to email me and ask :)
As of September 2015 there is only one article about Cooper which was written by me (Kirsty) personally. I'll post a snippet of it below, along with a link to the full article on K9 Magazine. The article includes 5 tips on how to teach your dog to count like Cooper.
"My Shih Tzu, Cooper, and I have a wonderful bond. I’ve taught him over 60 tricks, including some advanced ones such as shape sorting and counting. His impressive tricks have earned us some press attention, where the headlines have called him “Einstein” and said that he’s, “cleverer than a toddler.” One journalist even joked that Cooper was, “smarter than his mother-in-law”! The headlines are fun to read, but I doubt that Cooper is exceptionally smart. We do, however, have an exceptional bond."
