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Einstein or Stooge:
Measuring Canine Intelligence
It’s only natural for us to look for signs of
intelligence in our dogs. Heck, even doggies that aren’t
that bright occasionally display shards of brilliance in
their everyday behavior, whether it’s darting out of the
path of a falling pot or smiling at the faraway music of
the ice-cream truck.
It’s only natural for us
to look for things in our pets that we look for in our
children or in each other: a keen mind, a sense of
humor, loyalty and compassion. But let’s face it; the
attribute we tend to brag about most is our dog’s level
of intelligence.
There is no one 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:
Adaptive
Intelligence
This pertains to learning
and problem solving ability, relating to the knowledge
and skills a dog can acquire during its time here on
earth. It also relates to how long it takes for your dog
to learn new relationships. |
For example, if your dog
recognizes guests after just one or two visits, this
speaks to its adaptive intelligence. You can also look
at how well your dog understands the laws of cause and
effect strictly by observation. For instance, if your
dog learns to use the remote control to watch his
favorite program on Animal Planet, then his adaptive
intelligence is off the charts!
Instinctive
Intelligence
This deals with behaviors
and skills programmed into the animal’s genetic code.
For example, Sheep dogs and Border Collies are exquisite
herding dogs. This is an innate quality that these
breeds possess and has little to do with training,
though some refinement of skills is necessary.
Working/Obedience Intelligence
This has to do with how
well an animal can follow commands. This type of
intelligence is largely dependant on the breed of the
animal. Two perfect examples are the dogs used for
guiding the blind and for K9 police work.
In addition, there is also environmental learning,
language comprehension, social learning and task
learning. There’s also short-term memory and long-term
memory. Our point? There’s nothing clear-cut about
intelligence. However, scientists are still trying to
find ways to quantify the intelligence of man’s best
friends.
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