- [Narrator] Being a service dog is no joke by the way.

You gotta score big on the doggy equivalent of the SAT.

- We'll put them through a series of cognitive tests to find out which dogs are gonna make it.

- These tests are some of the same ones Brian was doing without success on the chimps.

So walk me through one of these tests.

- Yeah.

The one we use most often is just really simple.

So you hide food, but then you just point.

And you see if the puppy will use your pointing gesture to find the food.

That's it.

- Okay.

- Yeah, it's not rocket science.

The puppy has to know that your gesture it's not just a finger movement, it's an intention behind that.

Something that we call cooperative communication.

These puppies can understand it at eight weeks.

(pensive music) - [Narrator] It seems pretty simple, right?

No tricks involved.

You're literally giving them the answer.

But chimps, they don't understand that you're trying to help.

- This is actually a really sophisticated cognitive ability.

We don't really see it in any other animals.

Even great apes, our closest living relatives.

- From an evolutionary perspective, these guys come from wolves.

- [Trainer] Mm-hm.

- How are wolves at performing this test?

- They're terrible.

They're awful at this.

They cannot use a human gesture to find food.

That's just not the way they think.

But with dogs, they were able to cross that species divide and communicate with us and understand with us in a way that really no other species can.

- [Narrator] It's part of what makes dogs so appealing, and it's a critical skill for a future service dog.

- We are trying to get more service dogs graduated, and it's really fun to guess who is gonna make it.

- Just between you and me, of these three- - Of these three?

- Do you think one is most promising?

- Nestle's gonna make it.

Nestle!

Touch.

Did you see that?

- Bam.

If Nestle and his less gifted, but equally cute, classmates graduate to become service dogs, they'll reach the pinnacle of the dog-human partnership.