Don't Waste My Time With 'Sit' and 'Rollover' - I've Got Math To Do!

Having trouble with simple math problems? Then, you need a dog like Beau, a 12-year old Labrador who is not only a great pet, but apparently also, a math genius, who can add, subtract, multiply, divide and even bark out the square roots, of some numbers.

The smart canine's path to math fame began 12 years ago, when the then 3-month old puppy strolled into the campus of the Georgia Southern University and showed up at the door of Melissa Canady's apartment.

After receiving no replies to the many 'lost dog' flyers she and her roommates posted around the area, Melissa happily took ownership of the cute puppy. However, a few months after she had hopelessly fallen in love with him, the original owner returned to claim him. Fortunately, she was able to convince him to sell Beau to her for $400USD.

However, since pets were not allowed on campus, she sent the little dog to Montana,to live with her parents, Dan and Patti Madsen. Her father, who has been around dogs all his life, immediately noticed that Beau was smarter than the average canine and decided to see if he could teach him some math tricks.

Beau's math class began with Dan laying out some dog biscuits and encouraging the pooch to tell him the number, by barking as many times. Pushed along by some tasty dog treats, the canine began 'barking' his answers all the way to ten.

Encouraged, Dan upped the ante and began teaching Beau simple multiplication, division and square roots - Today, the dog has become so good that he can even answer simple questions about football and golf scores and even read and respond to simple problems written on a piece of paper. Once he has completed his answer, Beau sits up with his ears upright, in anticipation of the yummy treat that he knows is awaiting him.

Just like most of us, Beau doesn't get all the problems right - Just 85% of them, which to me sounds like a pretty high percentage!

Resources: odditycentral.com,dailymail.co.uk