In post-war America, one of the country’s most influential philanthropic organisations put serious money behind an unusual scientific question: could intelligence be selectively bred? The answer was supposed to emerge from dogs. Starting in 1945, over 500 dogs were observed over about 13 years at a special experimental building built for this purpose in Maine.
Cocker spaniels, beagles, basenjis, Shetland sheepdogs, and wire-haired fox terriers underwent intensive scrutiny and behavioural experiments from the first days of their lives.
