'He's definitely the smartest dog now' says owner of border collie famed for knowing the names of all his toys
A border collie from Shropshire dubbed by his owners 'Britain's smartest dog' due to his ability to learn the names of more than 330 of his toys could now be the 'world's smartest dog', after his closest rival died.
Martin Morris from Shrewsbury has been teaching seven-year-old Max the names of his toys since he was 12 weeks old.
Along with his wife, hospital cleaner Helen, Martin has spent thousands on toys for Max - and says he can recognise every single one.
They shout the name of a toy - such as 'Hector the hedgehog' - from another room, and Max can root through seven bags of toys to find the correct one.
The “name game” has become a nightly ritual ever since - and the couple insist it keeps the pup sharp.
Last year, they claimed Max was 'Britain's smartest dog' having learned the names of 230 of his toys, but the intelligent pup has since learnt a hundred more.
And his owners have since just learned that his nearest rival, an American dog named Chaser who learnt the name of 1,000 toys, had died a number of years ago.
“That must mean Max is now the smartest dog in the world,” said owner Martin. “There is no other dog I know of that knows the name of more toys. He's up to 331 now.
“We are going to stop next year, when he is eight, but at the moment he must be the smartest dog in the world – when it comes to remembering toys that is.”
