What Is Dognition?
Dognition is the world's first AI-powered dog cognition and health app. It began as an at-home cognitive assessment developed from the research of Dr. Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods at the Duke Canine Cognition Center, and it has grown into a longitudinal companion that follows your dog through its whole life — weekly challenges and the Puppy Kindergarten program, daily check-ins for walks, nutrition and sleep, AI insights from the videos and photos you upload, and a health record covering vet visits, prescriptions and veterinary documents.
The result is one place for everything about your dog's mind and health, from puppy to senior — a record that gets more useful the longer you keep it.
The cognitive assessment (the foundation)
The Dognition assessment is a set of short, science-based games you play at home with everyday items — cups, treats, a piece of paper, a few minutes of your attention. Each game is adapted from an experimental protocol used in university canine cognition laboratories. You record what your dog chooses, not how well your dog obeys: this is not an obedience test, and there is no way to fail it.
Those choices are scored across five cognitive dimensions — empathy, communication, cunning, memory and reasoning — and the pattern maps to one of nine cognitive profiles: Ace, Charmer, Socialite, Protodog, Einstein, Maverick, Expert, Stargazer, Renaissance Dog. A profile is a cognitive style, not a rank — see all nine profiles or explore the Dognition data center to see how the assessed population is distributed.
Ongoing cognition: weekly challenges and Puppy Kindergarten
The assessment is the starting point, not the finish line. Weekly Challenges deliver new science-based games and activities week to week, so understanding your dog stays an ongoing practice rather than a one-time score. For puppies, the Puppy Kindergarten program — drawn from the work behind Dr. Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods' Puppy Kindergarten — provides age-appropriate games and guidance through the window when a puppy's cognitive development moves fastest.
Daily Check Ins sit underneath all of it, letting you log walks, nutrition and sleep in seconds so the everyday rhythm of your dog's life is recorded, not remembered.
AI insight from your own videos and photos
Upload videos and photos of your dog and DognitionGPT returns an AI-powered read of what it sees — body language, attention, arousal, and what your dog is likely responding to — written in plain language rather than jargon. It is a conversation, not a single verdict: you can keep asking follow-up questions about the clip, about your dog's cognitive profile, and about what you have been logging. It is free to try on the Dognition homepage, with no account required.
Because the videos accumulate, so does the picture. Each month DognitionAI produces a health report built from the videos you have uploaded, summarizing what it observed over that period so you can see change over time instead of one isolated moment.
Your dog's health record, in the same place
Dognition also holds the medical side of your dog's life. You can record veterinarian visits with outcomes and notes, and upload prescriptions and veterinary documents, so the paperwork that usually lives in a drawer or an inbox sits next to your dog's cognitive profile, daily logs and AI insights.
Dognition organizes and summarizes what you log and upload. It does not diagnose, and it is not a substitute for veterinary care — it is the record you bring with you to the vet.
Read together, these pieces answer different questions on different time scales. The assessment tells you how your dog is wired. Weekly Challenges and Daily Check Ins track the weeks and days. AI video insights tell you what happened in a specific moment. The health record holds the years. Same dog, one continuous story from puppy to senior.
Included in Dognition
Every capability below is live in the app today. Plans differ in how much of it you get: Assessment ($2.99/mo or $29/yr), Explorer ($3.99/mo or $42.99/yr) and Genius ($5.99/mo or $64.99/yr).
| Capability | Assessment | Explorer | Genius |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Hare cognitive assessment (20 games) and cognitive profile | Included | Included | Included |
| Cognitive profile report, yours to keep | Included | Included | Included |
| Daily Check Ins — walks, nutrition, sleep | Included | Included | Included |
| Video and photo uploads analyzed by DognitionGPT | 5 videos/mo | 10 videos/mo | Unlimited |
| DognitionGPT chat about your dog | 10 questions/mo | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Breed-aware behavior analysis | — | Included | Included |
| Weekly Challenges and games | — | Included | Included |
| Monthly AI insight reports | — | Included | Included |
| Health concerns tracking | — | Included | Included |
| Vet visits, documents and prescription storage | — | — | Included |
| Vet-visit prep PDF reports and appointment reminders | — | — | Included |
| Health notes and medication log | — | — | Included |
| Puppy Kindergarten (16-week program) | — | — | Included |
| Long-term behavioral trends | — | — | Included |
Daily Check Ins are available to everyone, including during the free trial. See the full plan comparison.
Who it's for, and how to start
Dognition is for any owner who wants to understand their dog rather than just train it — puppies, adults and seniors all take part, because the games need no prior training and no physical exertion. Start with how it works for a walkthrough of the games and the report, or go straight to the Dognition assessment.
Frequently asked questions
What is Dognition?
Dognition is the world's first AI-powered dog cognition and health app. It began as the at-home cognitive assessment developed from the research of Dr. Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods at the Duke Canine Cognition Center, and it now follows a dog through its whole life: weekly challenges, the Puppy Kindergarten program, daily check-ins for walks, nutrition and sleep, AI insights from videos and photos you upload, ongoing chat with DognitionGPT, and a health record covering vet visits, prescriptions and veterinary documents.
How does the Dognition assessment work?
You play a set of short science-based games at home using household items such as cups, treats and a piece of paper. You record what your dog chooses rather than how well your dog obeys, and Dognition scores those choices across five cognitive dimensions — empathy, communication, cunning, memory and reasoning — then maps the pattern to one of nine cognitive profiles.
Is Dognition just a cognition test?
No. The assessment is the foundation, not the whole product. Dognition is a longitudinal app: weekly challenges and the Puppy Kindergarten program keep the cognitive work going, daily check-ins track walks, nutrition and sleep, DognitionGPT analyzes the videos and photos you upload, and your dog's vet visits, prescriptions and veterinary documents live in the same place. Over the years it becomes a single record of your dog's mind and health.
What are Weekly Challenges?
Weekly Challenges are new science-based games and activities delivered week to week after the initial assessment, so you keep learning about how your dog thinks instead of stopping at a one-time result. Weekly Challenges are included in the Explorer and Genius plans.
What is the Puppy Kindergarten program in the app?
The Puppy Kindergarten program is a puppy-focused track inside Dognition, drawn from the work behind Dr. Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods' book Puppy Kindergarten. It gives puppy owners age-appropriate games and guidance during the window when a puppy's cognitive development is moving fastest. The 16-week Puppy Kindergarten program is included in the Genius plan.
Does Dognition analyze videos of my dog?
Yes. You upload videos and photos of your dog and DognitionGPT returns an AI-powered read of what it sees — body language, attention and behavior — explained in plain language. You can try it free on the Dognition homepage without creating an account. Inside the app, the Assessment plan includes 5 video analyses per month, Explorer includes 10, and Genius is unlimited.
Can I chat with DognitionGPT about my dog?
Yes. DognitionGPT is an ongoing conversation, not a single answer. You can keep asking follow-up questions about what you uploaded, about your dog's cognitive profile, and about what you have been logging day to day. The Assessment plan includes 10 questions per month; Explorer and Genius are unlimited.
Can I track vet visits and medical records in Dognition?
Yes. You can record veterinarian visits with outcomes and notes, and upload prescriptions and veterinary documents so your dog's medical history sits alongside its cognitive profile and daily logs. Vet visit records, document and prescription storage, the medication log, vet-visit prep PDFs and appointment reminders are part of the Genius plan. Dognition organizes and summarizes what you log and upload; it does not diagnose and is not a substitute for veterinary care.
What are monthly AI health reports?
Each month, DognitionAI produces a health report based on the videos of your dog you have uploaded into the app, summarizing what it observed over that period so you can see change over time rather than one isolated moment. Monthly AI reports are included in the Explorer and Genius plans.
What are Daily Check Ins?
Daily Check Ins are a quick way to log the everyday things that shape your dog's wellbeing — walks, nutrition and sleep. They are available to every Dognition customer, including during the free trial, and they help you spot patterns over time alongside your dog's cognitive profile and AI insights.
Who created Dognition?
Dognition was founded in 2013 by Dr. Brian Hare, Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University and founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, and Vanessa Woods, a Duke research scientist. They co-wrote the New York Times bestsellers The Genius of Dogs (2013) and Puppy Kindergarten (2024).
What are the nine Dognition profiles?
The nine Dognition cognitive profiles are Ace, Charmer, Socialite, Protodog, Einstein, Maverick, Expert, Stargazer and Renaissance Dog. Each describes a different cognitive style — a different combination of strengths across empathy, communication, cunning, memory and reasoning — rather than a rank from smartest to least smart.
Is Dognition an IQ test for dogs?
Not in the sense of a single number. Research on dog cognition does not support one general intelligence score for dogs, so Dognition reports relative standing on five separate dimensions. A dog that excels at reading people and a dog that excels at independent problem solving are both intelligent, in different ways.
Where to go next
- The Dognition assessment
What it measures and how to read a result.
- How it works
The games, the scoring, and what you get back.
- The nine cognitive profiles
Every profile, and what each one means day to day.
- Dognition data center
What 122,000+ assessed dogs actually show.
- Dr. Brian Hare
Duke professor, co-founder, and co-author.
- Vanessa Woods
Duke research scientist, co-founder, and co-author.
Still deciding which plan fits your dog? Contact the Dognition team and we'll help you pick.