Meet “Britain’s brightest dog” who can recognise more than 200 different words and will fetch all of his toys – by their name.
Seven-year-old Border Collie Harvey has been accepted into several studies for genius pooches after being able to fetch any of his toys by their name on command.
Owner Irene Hewlett, 52, started by teaching him the name of just one toy, Little Lamb.
The translator, who is originally from Amsterdam, learns to fetch a toy by being introduced to it, touching it a few times, taking it into his mouth, and then finding it from several locations until he understands what it is.
Harvey has just learned his 221st toy called Larry the Leek.
The amazing talent has widely awarded Harvey the title of “Britain’s brightest dog” and he has been accepted into two studies for “genius” dogs in Budapest and Portsmouth.
Irene said: “He picks new toys up in about five minutes now. This is what we do all day every day.
“Border Collies are working dogs, so they need a job, and this is his job. He just wants to play this every second.
“It is not just that Harvey can do this, this is what he does. We are not showing off a skill, we do this at home when nobody is watching. We do it because we love it.
“People sometimes don’t realise how good he is at it. My friends come to my house and they are quite surprised by it. They all think he is so cute.”
Harvey was bought from a breeder in Liverpool as a puppy after Irene’s rescue dog Charlie sadly passed away, and she decided she wanted a healthy pup to train.
The mum-of-two had read a book on US dog Chaser, who learned the names of 1,022 objects after being taught by a pair of academics, and decided that she wanted to do the same.
Irene says they had some trouble at first, but once they introduced toy number four Harvey completely understood the game.
Harvey sometimes gets confused with toy names that start with similar sounds such as Postbox and Polar Bear, but he will work it out after picking them up based on mouth feel.
Now, Irene says the biggest challenge they face is to find toys that they haven’t already got, as most offer a very similar collection.
For this reason, some of the toys even have dutch names so that similar toys can be thrown in the mix.
The family have also acquired many festive toys such as a Brussel sprout, mince pie, several reindeer, and a Christmas pudding.
In the future, Irene says that she would love a sponsorship from Jelly Cat, as they have a wide range of unique toys which would really boost the numbers.
Irene added: “Harvey came to our house, and we started the game straight away. He didn’t immediately retrieve, so we had to teach him that first. Then we started introducing toys.
“When we introduced a second toy, he looked at me with no idea what to do. But we persevered and practiced and it all gave him mental stimulation.
“After the third toy he was confused again, and I thought ‘this is going to take a really long time.’ And then we got to four and it was like it clicked. Once he understood we just kept going and never looked back.
“Lots of dogs get very excited among toys, but Harvey does not. He just goes in picks it up and comes back. He doesn’t destroy toys either.
“He is a very good dog. He is very calm. Some Border Collies are manic and run circles around the house but he doesn’t.”
Looking forward, the pair plan to keep learning as many toys as they can, but Irene says she would never want to teach a second dog the trick.
She said: “I would love to see if I could train another dog the way I trained Harvey, but I am a one dog person, so I don’t want a second dog.”
