It's In The Genes - Dog Intelligence
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- botpoh
- botpoh
- PatM_6
- LMcCain
- PatM_6
- cory_b_chum
- LMcCain
- LMcCain
- JodyF
- JodyF
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» botpoh - Re: WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!
In response to message posted by PatM_6:I would have to disagree with you. A smart dog will learn a new command easily. Getting a smart dog to perform said command all the time can be tricky but learning has everything to do with intelligence. Reliability in the training has to do with the trainer.
-- posted by botpoh
» botpoh - Re: Intelligence of various dog breeds????
In response to message posted by Matty76:Try this site:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meado...
and this one:
-- posted by botpoh
» PatM_6 - A Test For You
Take a Lab, a Golden, most any Terrier, and any of the Hounds to the edge of a cliff.Now throw a hot dog or a ball off the cliff. Which of these breeds would jump off to get the ball.
The Hound would give you a dirty look and walk away. The Terrier would just laugh at you.
These are the survivors. These dogs would not go for the ball, or even the hot dog. These dogs are bred to make decisions. The others are bred to take orders.
Which breeds are intelligent and which are easily trainable?
In people too, the smart child is much more of a challenge. They question everything. A child of lesser intelligence is much easier.
A sharp employee is brought along slowly. That is the person most capable of responsibility, but that same person is also capable of replacing you as president.
You are welcome to disagree, that is what makes the world go around.
-- posted by PatM_6
» LMcCain - Re: A Test For You
In response to message posted by PatM_6:I looked at the rankings that were listed in the links above...they were quite different from one another.
When looking at intelligence, you can't rank by how quickly the dog learns AND the likeliness the dog will obey on the first command. Intelligence and compliance are two different things. I was a very intelligent child. I was NOT a very compliant child! In fact, I was a very strong willed child that didn't accept any reason for anything at face value. If it made sense to me, I did it. If it didn't make sense to me, I'd argue about it.
Intelligence and retention are more linked. Some dogs learn quickly and forget just as quickly. Goldens are like that. They have to be worked frequently in order to stay sharp. Other dogs learn quickly and never forget. Airedales are like that. My Sheenah works BETTER after not having worked all week than she does if she was worked every day. Why? She is too smart to be worked every day. She gets bored with the repetition.
Many trainers see distractability as a sign of lack of intelligence. In fact, distractability is often a sign of very high intelligence. The children that are the brightest in school, often lose focus quickly - the teacher says it once and they have it - they are bored with the repetition of the material and the multitude of examples. They lose focus, daydream, fidget, etc. The same is true in dogs. If your dog learns quickly, repeating the same thing over and over and over will cause the dog to lose interest and the dog will be easily distracted.
In addition, some dogs are bred to be leaders and some to be followers. The herding group, the sporting group and some of the working group were bred to be followers. The toys were bred to sit on a lap. The nonsporting group is a hodgepodge. The terrier group and the hound group were bred to hunt independently - to take charge and to lead in the hunt.
Which dogs are the easiest to train and to obtain reliable performances? Those bred to follow orders, of course! They are genetically engineered to take orders and to obey them.
Which dogs are the hardest to train and to obtain reliable performances? Those bred to take charge and lead, of course! They are genetically engineered to think independently and make their own decisions.
Which are smarter? Depends on ones definition of "smart". I would say the independent thinkers that are capable of making their own decisions would be smarter than those who simply follow orders. Much like the CEO is usually smarter than the mail clerk. (some may argue this...)
Lynn
-- posted by LMcCain
» PatM_6 - Lynn, I will tell you one thing........
If you were the mail clerk, then the CEO had better be pretty sharp indeed!As for me, I would NEVER accept the position as mail clerk. I would want to start as VP and once I learned the job, be promoted to the big office.
You did a wonderful job explaining the difference.
-- posted by PatM_6
» cory_b_chum - Intelligence is overrated.
If you are thinking about becoming a dog owner a much more important question would be this. "What kind of dog best fits my lifestyle?" I think a lot of time should be spent on determining what kind of breed is preferable to the kind of person you are. I own a Lakeland and have found it to be the absolute best dog in the world. I'm sure many others would disagree.My wife and I are very active, outdoors people. Would a min. daschund work out for us? No. Too slow. We also both work during the day. Do you think a border collie would be happy with that situation? I don't think so. I noticed that Labs were ranked very high on the list. Anybody who has owned a Lab will chuckle at that! How about a Dalmation? Very cute and popular after the Disney films and also a very bad choice in my opinion for a family pet.
Needless to say, it is much more important for you to get a dog that you will love and cherish than to get a dog because of how smart it is. This way both you and your pet will happily coexist and you both get something from each other.
Cory Beauchamp
-- posted by cory_b_chum
» LMcCain - Re: Intelligence is overrated.
In response to message posted by cory_b_chum:
There are many things about dogs that one must consider other than intelligence! I agree with that!!! Knowing the breed really does help with determining how you will fit with a dog. If you want a dog that will lie at your feet and gaze lovingly into your eyes and faithfully play fetch the ball, fetch your slippers, and fetch the newspaper - you want a Golden. If you want a dog that is going to keep you guessing and keep you on your toes and stimulate you to always "think outside the box" and "change your paradigms" - you want a Lakie....
If you want one to stimulate your mind and fetch your slippers - you need one Lakie and one Golden...right Traci?
Lynn McCain
-- posted by LMcCain
» JodyF - When you think about it...
...it really makes sense. One would think that a Golden, a Lab, a German Shepard or any breed of "working" dog must be extremely intelligent to be service dogs, sniffing dogs, guard dogs, etc. But is there "intelligence" in learning and doing blindly or is the intelligence in going thru the situation first in your mind and figuring out the solution on your own? When Pat first mentioned this ideology to me it was like "Duh!". Made perfect sense.-- posted by JodyF
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