Cats n Dogs - How Smart is Your Dog?

It is quite natural to look for signs of intelligence in your dogs. Even doggies that are not that bright sometimes show glimpses of brilliance in their behavior.

And it is also very natural to look for things in our pets that we look for in our children, such as a keen mind, a sense of humor and loyalty. But the trait that we tend to brag about the most is really our dog’s intelligence.

There is no single type of canine intelligence. According to Stanley Coren, author of The Intelligence of Dogs, there are three major types of dog intelligence that can be measured by canine IQ tests......
The first is called Adaptive Intelligence. This relates to learning and problem solving ability, the knowledge and skills a dog can acquire. It also pertains to how long it takes for your dog to learn new relationships.
As an example, if your dog recognizes people after just a visit or two, this speaks to its adaptive intelligence capability. You may also look at how well your dog comprehends the laws of cause and effect strictly by observation.

The second type is Instinctive Intelligence, which deals with behaviors and skills programmed into the animal’s genetic code. For example, Sheep dogs and Border Collies are excellent herding dogs. This is an innate abilty that these particular breeds of dogs possess and has very little to do with training.
The third type is Working/Obedience Intelligence, which involves how well an animal can follow commands. This specific type of intelligence is mostly dependant on the breed of the dog. Two examples are the dogs used for guiding the blind and for K9 police work.
Another type is Adaptive Intelligence. At a time of the day you don’t normally walk your dog, quietly pick up your keys and his leash when you know he’s watching. If he starts wagging his tail and gets excited, 3 points. If you have to walk to the door before he knows what’s going on, two points. If he sits there with a dumbfounded look, give him one point.
Now if your dog lets YOU know it is time to go to the bathroom by bringing you his own leash (without being trained to) or has mastered the toilet, your dog’s a genius!
A way to test your dog's problem solving ability is to take a large towel or blanket and gently toss it over your dog’s head. If he frees himself from the covering in less than fifteen seconds, give him three points. If it takes fifteen to thirty seconds, two points. If it takes him longer than thirty seconds, give him or her a single point.
To test your dog's memory, Place some kind of treat under one of three buckets that are lined up in a row. Be certain your dog sees which bucket the treat or toy is underneath. Turn the dog away for ten seconds then let the dog go. If he or she goes straight to the bucket with the treat under it, three points. If it takes two tries to find the treat, two points. If he/she checks the wrong two first before finding the right one, one point.
Now if your dog scores six points or more, you have a canine genious; four to five points is average; three points or less, well…who said that intelligence was a prerequisite for love? For additional information visit Dog Food nutrition and Information and learn more

This Article first appeared in The healthy Pet Net Newsletter

It is quite natural to look for signs of intelligence in your dogs. Even doggies that are not that bright sometimes show glimpses of that intelligence in their behavior.

And it is also very natural to look for things in our dogs or cats which we also look for in our children. Yet the one aspect that we tend to brag about mostly is our dog’s intelligence.

There is no single type of canine intelligence. According to Stanley Coren, author of The Intelligence of Dogs, there are three principal kinds of dog intelligence that can be measured by canine IQ tests......
The first is called Adaptive Intelligence. This is quite simply learning and problem solving ability, the knowledge and skills a dog can acquire. It also pertains to how long it takes for your dog to learn new relationships.
As an example, if your dog recognizes people after just a visit or two, this speaks to its adaptive intelligence capability. You may also look at how well your dog comprehends the laws of cause and effect strictly by observation.

The second type is Instinctive Intelligence, which broadly deals with behaviors and skills programmed into the animal’s genetic code. For example, Sheep dogs and Border Collies are excellent herding dogs. This is an innate abilty that these particular breeds of dogs possess and has very little to do with training.
Another type is Working/Obedience Intelligence, which means how well an animal can follow commands. This specific type of intelligence is mostly dependant on the breed of the dog. Two examples are the dogs used for guiding the blind and for K9 police work.
Another type is Adaptive Intelligence. At a time of the day you don’t normally walk your dog, quietly pick up your keys and his leash when you know he’s watching. If he starts wagging his tail and gets excited, 3 points. If you have to walk to the door before he knows what’s going on, two points. If he sits there with a dumbfounded look, give him one point.
Now if your dog lets YOU know it is time to go to the bathroom by bringing you his own leash (without being trained to) or has mastered the toilet, your dog’s a genius!
A way to test your dog's problem solving ability is to take a large towel or blanket and gently toss it over your dog’s head. If he frees himself from the covering in less than fifteen seconds, give him three points. If it takes fifteen to thirty seconds, two points. If it takes him longer than thirty seconds, give him or her a single point.
To test your dog's memory, Place some kind of treat under one of three buckets that are lined up in a row. Be certain your dog sees which bucket the treat or toy is underneath. Turn the dog away for ten seconds then let the dog go. If he or she goes straight to the bucket with the treat under it, three points. If it takes two tries to find the treat, two points. If he/she checks the wrong two first before finding the right one, one point.
Now if your dog scores six points or more, you have a canine genious; four to five points is average; three points or less, well…who said that intelligence was a prerequisite for love? For additional information visit Dog Food nutrition and Information and learn more