A photograph from this shoot ended up on the cover of Dog World July 2007
2 Kuvasz in a very natural state of guarding.
k9 intelligence is a funny thing. Many people I talk to say “my dog is not the brightest.” Others think that there is no smarter dog than than theirs. How can intelligence be gauged? It’s not easy, in fact intelligence is quite a complicated idea to explain. That is because, like us…all dogs are different.
The canine species is highly intelligent.
Many people group specific breeds into intelligent/not intelligent groups. When in actuality they are all highly intelligent, but different. What some excel at others do not, just like us. Don’t put me in an office chair and ask me to shuffle numbers around, kill me. No thank you, that kind of stuff actually shuts me down. But ask me to write about dog behavior, train a dog or teach a cooking course and I’m on it. ;)
If we can grasp that humans are very, very different from each other; why can we not understand that each and every dog is it’s own dog?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “you can’t train bulldogs,” or “Beagles are untrainable.” That is when I roll up my sleeves and say “stand back and watch.” All dogs are trainable, that is unless there is something actually wrong with them. There has been one dog in my training career that I could not train and he had suffered brain damage after dying on the table when we was neutered. They brought him back but he was never the same. :(
Most people measure canine intelligence by their human interactions. Do they connect? Do they do what is asked of them? Do they grasp obedience training? Do they follow human lead? K9 intelligence has nothing to do with us. Whether or not they work well with humans is not a meter to judge intelligence by. Some of the smartest dogs out there don’t work well with humans because they don’t need us. While others are the ideal students, waiting on our every command.
There are most definitely smarter and less smart dogs, just like in humans. But they are all smart, how they are wired makes all the difference. What were these dogs bred to do? That is the difference right there. People, we humans have bred dogs for all kinds of purpose over the years; so now we have dogs that are hardwired for many different things.
Greyhounds - bred to run…fast.
Bloodhounds - bred to scent.
Jack Russells - bred to critter hunt.
Cane Corso - bred to hunt wild boar and guard.
Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever - bred to troll (lure ducks into range) and retrieve.
Border Collies - bred to herd sheep with human guidance.
Akbash Dog - bred to guard flocks without human guidance.
There is a huge difference is all of the breeds above. If we add a Border Collie to our home where we sit much of the day watching television, there will be issues. If we add a Cane Corso to the family and don’t expect it to be a very intense guard dog, there will be issues.
Some breeds are more utility in nature. Meaning that they can and will be happy in many different situations and thrive. While others really have a strong drive that humans bred them for. Intelligence is there, the difference is in the individual. The big factor in all of this is us. What do you want to deal with in a dog? If you are not willing to budge in your lifestyle, offer a dog with a strong drive of some sort an outlet, then choose wisely.
Much can be said with an early temperament test. There are simple temperament tests and more extensive type that search out specific traits in a dog. All dogs are different, even within a litter.
When we look at mixed breeds we see a wider range of behaviors coming from two or more different breeds within one dog. I have seen people struggle with herding issues from the Border Collie mix. And someone who wanted to get into Frisbee competition battle with their Border Collie/Beagle mix as it stopped all the way down the field to sniff.
Sadly many misplaced dogs are the fault of ours. People don’t research breeds, they pick dogs from exterior instead of interior. This is probably the biggest mistake of all when adding a dog to our family . There is also a big misconception of mixed breeds being better dogs. They can be great dogs, just like all dogs but what breeds are in that dog? You may not want to live with a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix but man that puppy is cute. You may want to have a running partner and end up with an adorable Bull terrier pup that wants nothing to do with running a marathon. Do your research.
Intelligence is a measure of smarts within a dog. That smarts might come in many different forms. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover and do not underestimate what a dog was bred for and it’s personal temperament. Just like us, they are all different.