About Dogs

Dog owners, breeders, and experts hardly ever agree on anything. It is no surprise then, that there is yet another thing in the disagreeing column. They cant agree on how best to test a dogs intelligence.

A dogs intelligence is, by definition, its ability to learn, think and solve problems, much like humans.

There are dogs that learn tricks very easily. They are able to learn many tricks, and remember the words attached to them. Dogs such as border collies and German shepherd dogs have a high level of ability in this area. Their owners often tout them as being some of the smartest breeds, research is showing, however, that this has more to do with science than it does intelligence.

Dogs are pack animals. They need to get along with their elders in order to live as part of the pack. In a dogs world staying with the pack means survival. From the time they are old enough to start moving around, their mother is training them. She trains them to not bite too hard, and to not steal her food. She punishes them when they misbehave. Those who have a harder time catching on are disciplined more. They are also rewarded for their behavior. When they are good they get kisses, cuddles, and play time. Their ability to learn from us is from the same thing.

They are only learning our tricks because we teach them as if they were a member of the pack. By using the reward/punishment technique used in packs, we are able to access that part of their instincts to please us. They just want to stay members of the pack, and be praised.

Inherited behavior cant really be seen as intelligence, and so owners, experts, breeders, and trainers cant agree on if the ability to learn tricks can be considered intelligence. Is a sheep dog intelligent because they can herd sheep? Is a retriever intelligent because they can retrieve? Those are both instinctual talents of the breeds, and so doing their given skills doesnt mean they are intelligent. So, if the ability to learn tricks is, in fact, from an instinctual root, then it cant be used in the measure of intelligence in dogs.