Dog owners have a pretty good idea of whether their dog is smart or not so smart. We usually judge our dog’s intelligence based on how easily he was housetrained or how many tricks we can teach him. There was a time when people didn’t even consider that a dog could be intelligent, have feelings, or express emotions. Now we know better and scientists and researchers have been doing studies to determine the intelligence level of dogs in general and of specific breeds.
Scientists have discovered that canine intelligence can be different between different breeds. Since a bloodhound may not seem too smart trying to learn tasks that come naturally to a working dog, the researchers tested dogs within their own group. They have also identified 3 types of intelligence. The first type is instinctive intelligence. This is based on what the dog was bred to do, for example, a retriever is meant to retrieve, a herding dog is bred to herd other animals, and so on. The idea is that there is no point in testing how long it would take to teach a sheepdog to retrieve a ball.
The second type of intelligence that scientists have identified is adaptive intelligence. This is meant to determine what a dog can learn on its own. This includes the dog’s ability to learn from her environment and to solve problems. Dogs can learn the location of favorite or desired objects or treats, as well as the best or shortest route to get where they want to go. You may have a dog that has learned to work door latches or open the refrigerator. All of these are examples of adaptive intelligence.
The third type of intelligence that can be measured is working and obedience intelligence. This refers to the ability of a dog to follow the commands of his master. Some examples of where this type of intelligence is important include guide dogs, rescue dogs, police or military dogs, and any other situation where people rely on dogs to perform a task. If dogs did not have the ability to learn and follow commands, they would not have been domesticated.
Researchers now know that certain dogs can learn approximately 150 words. There is one border collie that is known to recognize over 200 words. Dogs can even learn by imitating other dogs. In one study, dogs watched a border collie named Guinness use his paw to open a box and reach for the food inside. Normally, dogs would use his nose to do this. When the other dogs observed Guinness using his paw, they thought there must be a better way to do it and used his paw instead. The researchers then had the border collie open the container with his paw while he had a ball in his mouth. After observing this, the other dogs opened the container with their noses. The scientists determined that the dogs realized she used her paw because she had the ball in her mouth and couldn’t use her nose. This indicates a dog’s ability to use selective imitation. They don’t automatically do something a certain way because another dog did it that way.
It doesn’t matter if your furry best friend is a mixed breed or a purebred pooch, and it doesn’t matter if your pup is smart, silly, or a little slow to understand, he or she (or they!) can understand and communicate with you and can show him love, loyalty and devotion. That is ultimately what is important.
