I recently became the lucky owner of ‘Taj’ a beautiful chocolate and white Border Collie.

I have always considered the Border Collie as one of my favourites when it comes to different dog breeds (although admittedly I have a soft spot for all pets), the high level of intelligence, energy and strong work ethic that these canines possess makes them an extremely fascinating breed, and I recently came across some unbelievable stories that give evidence on just how smart these dogs really are.

Rico the Border Collie first made headlines when German researchers discovered the clever dog was actually able to grasp over 200 words.  This great achievement has now been surpassed by another fellow Border Collie in the US who goes by the name of Chaser.

Chaser is an extremely intelligent female who has learned the names of 1,022 toys, can identify toys versus non-toys and has the ability to discern commands from nouns.

Chaser is owned by master animal trainer John Pilley who was initially inspired to intensely train his pup after the incredible reports of Rico were exposed.

Over the course of three years, in sessions of four to five hours per day, Pilley and other trainers found that Chaser could identify every stuffed animal, Frisbee and ball that was placed in her growing collection of toys.

It is incredible to hear of such amazing abilities that these particular Border Collies have developed.  I wonder how long it will take before another puppy is able to outsmart the incredible skills of Chaser.  Who knows with a bit of training it may even be my very own Taj!

Click here to check out Chaser's skills for yourself on her YouTube channel.