Most students at the Biological Sciences Building at Duke University are trying to master the finer points of cellular biologyagilaplay, genetics or evolution.

In one classroom, however, students learn altogether different lessons, such as how to sit politely and walk calmly on a leash. These furry pupils are enrolled in Duke Puppy Kindergarten, a research project examining how dogs become who they are.

Each semester, a new class of puppies arrives from Canine Companions, a nonprofit organization that trains service dogs. Over the course of 12 weeks, the dogs play games designed to assess their temperaments and cognitive abilities. The goal is to learn how to raise and identify dogs that can perform tasks like assisting children with disabilities or veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The project is led in part by Brian Hare, an evolutionary anthropologist and cognitive scientist who directs the Duke Canine Cognition Center.

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Dr. Hare and his wife, Vanessa Woods, a research scientist at the center, describe the study in their new book, “Puppy Kindergarten.” They spoke to The New York Times in a video call while a 10-month-old Labrador retriever named Neutron lounged at their feet. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

You’ve been studying dogs for a long time. What prompted you to focus on puppies in particular?

BRIAN HARE: There’s this big problem in the world of working dogs, because the current approach is that you raise lots and lots of dogs and you don’t really find out if they’re going to be able to do these jobs until they’re 2 years old. What if we could predict, before dogs start their training, which dog is most likely to make it?

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