# The Intelligence of Dogs



## Jade Tigress (Aug 10, 2009)

I had heard some time ago that dogs had the intelligence level of approximately a 4-year-old child. Guess that info was a little bit off but close to home nonetheless. Obviously, breeds will fall into different categories so perhaps I read that somewhere on a specific breed, I can't remember now.

The article lists German Shepherds at the top of the list, and Beagles as lower, at least for obedience. I can attest to that as we had both a Shepherd and a Beagle at the same time. There was definitely a difference. 

Anyway, I found this article an interesting read.



> MONDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- According to accumulating  research, the beloved family dog is really a toddler with a snout and  tail.
> "Dogs basically have the developmental abilities equivalent to a human  2-year-old," said dog expert Stanley Coren, who was scheduled to present  recent canine research developments at the American Psychological  Association annual meeting this week in Toronto.
> The average dog can learn 165 words, although "super dog" Rico, a  border collie, could understand 200 spoken words. Experts think some dogs  can learn up to 250 words.
> Dogs can count up to four or five _and_ can correct you if you  can't add one plus one.


Article.


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## Tames D (Aug 10, 2009)

Good article. My 95lb lab is the most intellegent dog I've ever seen. He's great with kids and seems to understand how they think on their level. My 75lb Keeshond, not quite as intellegent as the Lab and not so good with kids. But I love her just as much 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





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## Bill Mattocks (Aug 10, 2009)

I recently read the same article and posted a link to it on my Facebook page.  I have to agree.  In some ways, though, I think that dog intelligence cannot be compared to human intelligence on an 'age' basis.  Some things, dogs just seem to understand, on a level that goes way deeper than the average 2-year-old.

Ever see a dog put his paw on something that will burn him - more than once?  Ever see a dog patiently ignoring a child who is painfully tugging on his ears or tail?  Dogs have a pretty good idea of what's going on around them, I think, in ways that a 2-year-old does not.

However, both will run out into traffic without looking.


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## Tames D (Aug 10, 2009)

I have to agree. My first Lab was as smart as they come but couldn't resist running out in front of moving vehicles.


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## arnisador (Aug 10, 2009)

My beagle mix mutt is pretty addle-brained, but overall I agree that many dogs have a fair amount of good sense!


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## Stac3y (Aug 10, 2009)

I've got 2 dachshunds. One is very smart, with a large vocabulary. The other one is as dumb as a box of hammers.


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## Omar B (Aug 10, 2009)

I gotta agree, my uncle raises dogs for military and police work so I've grown up around dogs helping to train them and I was constantly impressed.  They are also pretty unique, my uncle used to let me take the ones deemed unusable for work and it was not that anything was ever wrong with them.  Some were just too gentle, some cared more for nature than for work (yeah, I had a German Shepherd female that was as enraptured by other animals around her as a naturalist would).  I've had up to 7 dogs at once and they all showed great intelligence, and personality quirks like regular people.


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## MA-Caver (Aug 10, 2009)

I like what Bill had to say and LOL-ed at Stacey's assessment of one of her dogs (hammers). 

The IQ of dogs is without question... kinda like people.. some just totally STUPID and a dog's equivalent of a Darwin Award winner. Others are just uncannily brilliant animals. 
Yet I think I've said this before here, that dogs are perpetual puppies because they're not usually expected to work for their food and shelter (with the pack) and thus don't mature as adult canines do in the wild. So the idea that they're as intelligent as a 2 yr. old human isn't as far fetched (pun intended) as it may seem. Yet I think Bill is right... some are VERY aware of what's going on around them... their extraordinary sense of smell tells them volumes about the world around them. Ancient hunting skills still part of the animal's information input of it's surroundings come into play. 
Yet why some smart dogs do stupid things and why some dumb as a rock dogs do something brilliant is a mystery... just like people. 
But one thing is certain... with the right attitude and consistency ANY dog can be well trained to do remarkable things or just be that "good dog" obedient companion that they've been bred to be. 
Either way... big or small or any size inbetween... I do not and will not ever trust a dog 100%, they come from predatory animals and have the teeth to prove it. 

Cats have their own level of intelligence I think... yet at work watching a program of video shorts one had a cat stuck at the top of a telephone pole with firefighters trying to rescue the animal... I said "leave the thing up there!" one of the gals got mad and said it was a mean thing to say, I countered with "have you ever seen or heard of a cat skeleton on top of a telephone pole... or a tree?" she still pouted and wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the day. :lol: Why the cats do that is probably some of them have that leopard, cougar or jaguar part of them that climbing up is a means to be at a place of safety... an instinctive reaction. 

(no I don't trust cats 100% either) :lol:


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## still learning (Aug 10, 2009)

Hello, One thing for sure...Dogs makes a great friend...they listen to your ever word...NEVER talks back...

Makes you "BUY there food...and makes you serve them water...

My wife comes pretty close to this too...making me buy the food and serve her..

Our dog ( Miko)...just had pups, two of them-both girls...when look, and now only two weeks and two days old...
( from a friend..if you do not see a male part? ...then it is female)...just practice...

Puppies are blind for the first 9-14 days before there eyes start to open
Puppies are deaf for the 13-17 days- can't hear complaints from the mother..

Aloha,

PS: Mother is Promeranian/ Chihuahua...Dad is (gone)...we believe it to be neighbors down the street- small white dog with brown patch,mix breed-mix POI 
(the Hawaiian word- Poi is a hawaiian dish....comes from the TARO plant- boil and smash (mix) with water....in to a paste form..and eating fresh or days old-known as (Sour Poi) ...today a mix breed dog in Hawaii is refer to as a" POI "dog.....

Philappinos loves to eat "black" dogs...Thailand prefer "White dogs to eat (black is consider bad luck)...and a Ruissian boy from Russia mentions...they eat All colors and do not understand why people have prefence to the colors?...my daughter class mate...who move from Russia four years ago to Hawaii...


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## jim777 (Aug 10, 2009)

Dogs rule  My father trained them in the Marines, and went out on missions with them as well in WWII as part of the Raiders. I worked at the AKC for a while in the IT department, and there you could even bring your dog to work with you 

I have a Lab myself right now, and they definitely get smarter as they get older  Usually when a dogs intelligence is measured, it's really trainability that's being measured. Shepards, Dobies, Border Collies, and Poodles are all very trainable and always end up at the top of those lists. If I remember correctly Afghans usually end up at the bottom, but again it isn't because they're dumb, per se, it's that they don't want to be told what to do when they can do whatever the heck they want instead :lol:


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## still learning (Aug 10, 2009)

Hello, The intelligence's of dogs...comes in a variety of IQ's ....almost like.
 "MAN"!!!

Man can make nuclear bombs....dogs have NO idea what nuclear is....Hence man can be smarter than dogs....

Aloha,


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## jks9199 (Aug 10, 2009)

It's not really fair to compare that way, because a 2-year old is, in many ways regarding intelligence, barely a human being.  But a dog with the intelligence or thinking ability of a 2 year old or a 4 year old is fully developed or even a genius.


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## seasoned (Aug 10, 2009)

My wife and I raised two kids past the terrible 2s into adulthood. Now, and I love her (my wife) to death, but from the artical, it appears I now have, not one, but two, forever 2s to deal with for the rest of my life. Where is the justice?


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## MA-Caver (Aug 10, 2009)

still learning said:


> Hello, The intelligence's of dogs...comes in a variety of IQ's ....almost like.
> "MAN"!!!
> 
> Man can make nuclear bombs....dogs have NO idea what nuclear is....Hence man can be smarter than dogs....
> ...


Oh yeah?? Dogs don't seek the absolute destruction of a member of their own species. Heck they don't even come up with new ways to kill one another on a regular basis.


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## grydth (Aug 10, 2009)

Sometimes I believe that black lab puppies seek the absolute destruction of everything..... 4 legged chain saws

Could be worse, though......imagine if, instead of 2 year olds, dogs developed to the level of 13 year olds..... what joy THAT would be!


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## Tames D (Aug 10, 2009)

grydth said:


> Sometimes I believe that black lab puppies seek the absolute destruction of everything..... 4 legged chain saws


 
Your bringing back some sweet memories. Oh wait...


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## girlbug2 (Aug 11, 2009)

"Different breeds of dog differ in their intelligence, with border collies topping the list for working (instinctive) and obedience intelligence. The next six smartest are poodles, German shepherds, golden retrievers, Dobermans, Shetland sheepdogs and Labrador retrievers. (The third type of dog smarts is adaptive or problem-solving ability.)"

I swear my Lab is psychic sometimes. He knows exactly what I am thinking with no obvious external cues (me trying to suppress all signs of emotion and body language). At least that's from my POV, he must be picking up on very subtle body language signs the average human can't detect.


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## Jade Tigress (Aug 11, 2009)

girlbug2 said:


> I swear my Lab is psychic sometimes. He knows exactly what I am thinking with no obvious external cues (me trying to suppress all signs of emotion and body language). At least that's from my POV, he must be picking up on very subtle body language signs the average human can't detect.



I don't know what the dog's picking up on, scent maybe? Does our chemistry change with emotion? I'll have to research that. I know dog's can be trained to detect oncoming seizures in those with the disorder, so there's something there.


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## Stac3y (Aug 11, 2009)

grydth said:


> Sometimes I believe that black lab puppies seek the absolute destruction of everything..... 4 legged chain saws
> !


 
LOL! I think it's all retrievers. I had a Golden Retriever who chewed through a wall (drywall AND studs) and ate all the wiring off a satellite dish. Definitely a 4-legged chainsaw.


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## Flea (Aug 11, 2009)

Jade Tigress said:


> I don't know what the dog's picking up on, scent maybe? Does our chemistry change with emotion? I'll have to research that. I know dog's can be trained to detect oncoming seizures in those with the disorder, so there's something there.



[yt]CHfRwJjgbLI[/yt]


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## grydth (Aug 11, 2009)

We all should have known _you_ would be irresistibly drawn to this thread.:wink:


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