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IN DEFENSE OF DUMB DOGS
By Emily Anthes | April 15, 2026
Earlier this year, I wrote about dogs with an unusual talent.
[ 1 ] missing sentence
Explanation
Correct Answer: B
The sentence before the gap mentions dogs with an unusual talent. B explains exactly what that talent is: learning the names of hundreds of toys.
It was, the story noted, a rare skill in the canine kingdom; in years of searching the globe, scientists had identified very few of these “gifted word learners.”
The first paragraph ends by saying these gifted dogs are very rare. I starts with And yet, which introduces a contradiction: many readers emailed the author claiming their dogs were also geniuses. This explains why the author mentions emails streaming in in the following paragraph.
As the emails streamed in, I began to wonder whether I was witnessing a canine version of the better-than-average effect, a cognitive bias in which people tend to overestimate their own abilities, and those of their loved ones, relative to those of other people. (It is also sometimes known as the Lake Wobegon effect, named after Garrison Keillor’s fictional town where “all the children are above average.”)
The previous paragraph discusses the better-than-average effect. F continues this thought by saying it’s not surprising this bias extended to our dogs. It also introduces a shift from the past when scientists thought dogs were simple-minded, which leads into the next paragraph about dogs being staggeringly smart.
That assumption turned out to be staggeringly wrong, of course. Research now reveals that dogs are capable of all kinds of sophisticated cognitive feats.
[ 4 ] missing sentence
Explanation
Correct Answer: E
The text before the gap says dogs are capable of sophisticated cognitive feats. E provides specific examples of these feats, such as reading human social cues and pointing gestures. This matches the sentences that follow, which talk about other mental skills like object permanence.
They seem to have a basic grasp on object permanence, or the understanding that items don’t disappear when they are out of sight. They may also possess a rudimentary theory of mind: the awareness that other individuals might have perspectives and knowledge that differ from their own.
Although it’s impossible to make direct comparisons between the overall intelligence of dogs and children (toddlers can do lots of things that dogs cannot, and vice versa), scientists have noted that some canine cognitive skills put dogs roughly on par with children between 1 and 3 years old. That message has gotten out – and taken on a life of its own.
The paragraph before the gap mentions that dogs are often compared to children aged 1 to 3. G follows this logic by citing a study where owners ranked dog intelligence even higher (comparing them to 3- to 5-year-olds or even teenagers).
A handful of small studies also indicate that people do tend to rate their own dogs more favorably than the “average” dog on a variety of positive traits, such as loyalty, friendliness and intelligence. In a 2025 YouGov survey, two-thirds of dog owners said that their animals were smarter than the average dog. Just 6 percent rated their dogs as possessing below-average intelligence.
The previous paragraph mentions that only 6% of people think their dogs are below-average. J uses Statistically speaking to point out that many dogs must actually be on the slower end.
Indeed, what makes dogs exceptional is their ability to forge these relationships with us.
[ 7 ] missing sentence
Explanation
Correct Answer: A
The paragraph discusses how the most important thing about dogs is their ability to forge relationships (bonds) with us. A summarizes this by stating these bonds are so strong they make us believe our own dogs are the best.
My dog might not know his hedgehog toy from his stuffed turtle, but he is – and I say this with all due journalistic objectivity – the absolute best.