[Lunareclipse]

I was wondering what they use to gauge dog intelligence. They say border collies come in at number 1 and poodles a close second. So how do they know?

[Yogi]

Just to prove the point, a few years ago I saw a survey that said Poodles were #1. None of these are accurate so even wasting time with them is redundant.
Fact is, it is not necessarily the breed but the dog. I have seen mutts that show a great deal of intelligence. Looks at some of the movie dogs over the years. Many are mutts. There is no one breed that anyone can factual note is more intelligent than another.

[cigwyllt]

There are doggy intelligence tests you can find online. I tried them with Manny and he scored marginally better than a stuffed toy! And everyone will tell you that Jack Russells are an intelligent breed!

[Lunareclipse]

I was just wondering how they would know if a dog was actually smarter as opposed to being more obedient. I don't think BCs are the smartest, but I do think they are the most obedient and eager to please. I have Buster who is dumber than a box of rocks. And then I get my pyrenees who is the most intelligent dog I ever owned. A BC is bred to listen and carry out A LOT of commands, but a pyr was bred to do it's job and think by itself without the supervision of a human. So which dog is smarter, the dog that can carry out any command you give to it or the dog that doesn't need any commands to do what it needs to do?

[cigwyllt]

It's all meaningless isn't it? What matters is the suitability of the dog (or person) for the task that is required and the satisfaction he or she gets from it. I bet Porter would hate to be expected to respond instantly to "come by" "away to me" etc whereas a collie would be frustrated and bored rigid doing Porter's job.

[Lunareclipse]

Originally Posted by cigwyllt

It's all meaningless isn't it? What matters is the suitability of the dog (or person) for the task that is required and the satisfaction he or she gets from it. I bet Porter would hate to be expected to respond instantly to "come by" "away to me" etc whereas a collie would be frustrated and bored rigid doing Porter's job.

Correct. And since different breeds were bred to do different things, I don't think there should be a breed singled out as being the smartest. And it doesn't matter which breed is the brightest, Buster will still be as bright as a burnt out bulb. Maybe some of Porter's new manners will rub off on Buster. It only takes me showing Porter once or twice how to do something and he can do it on his own. I have to show Buster at least 50 to 75 times how to do the same thing. And my brother-in-law's border collie has to be shown 5 or 6 times.

[CorkyMax]

Quote:
Originally Posted by cigwyllt
It's all meaningless isn't it? What matters is the suitability of the dog (or person) for the task that is required and the satisfaction he or she gets from it. I bet Porter would hate to be expected to respond instantly to "come by" "away to me" etc whereas a collie would be frustrated and bored rigid doing Porter's job.

A Border Collie is a herding dog too--so wouldn't it have the same job as the Pyrenees!

[reeskujo]

I've seen some of those test to...Everyone of them has always had Akita's ranked at the bottom...When in fact they're extremely intelligent but also extremely stubborn...That stubborness and unwilligness to do something they don't want to do is often mistaken for low intelligence.

[harley_quinn]

Akitas at the bottom? I heard that Japanese mothers would leave babies/children in the care of an Akita, I don't see how they could not be considered intelligent

[reeskujo]

Originally Posted by harley_quinn

Akitas at the bottom? I heard that Japanese mothers would leave babies/children in the care of an Akita, I don't see how they could not be considered intelligent

Yes that is true they did...like I said their stubborness is often mistaken for lack of intelligence.

[Lunareclipse]

Originally Posted by Corky/Max

Quote:
Originally Posted by cigwyllt
It's all meaningless isn't it? What matters is the suitability of the dog (or person) for the task that is required and the satisfaction he or she gets from it. I bet Porter would hate to be expected to respond instantly to "come by" "away to me" etc whereas a collie would be frustrated and bored rigid doing Porter's job.

A Border Collie is a herding dog too--so wouldn't it have the same job as the Pyrenees!

I BC is a herding dog. A pyrenees is a guard dog, not a herding dog. So they wouldn't be doing the same thing.