Obedience… Or Intelligence?
Dog intelligence is a topic that I find fascinating. People often tell me that they want a certain breed of dog because that breed is smart. But what exactly is intelligence…and do people really want to live with a smart dog? Professor Stanley Coren has put together some tests for owners that are supposed to measure their dogs’ intelligence. He has a book and video full of tests, but 6 of them are readily available on the internet. I thought it would be fun to test my dogs and see how they fared. Our three contestants for “Smartest Dog in the Scarioni Household” are: Edgar, a 3 year old Border Terrier adopt ed from Border Terrier rescue 1 ½ years ago; Tina, a 12 year old pitbull mix adopted from the Petaluma Animal Shelter 11 years ago; and Butch, a 12 year old Shih Tzu adopted from the Bakersfield SPCA 11 ½ years ago.
I won’t bore you with the details of all 6 tests; I’ll just include a couple to give you an idea of what happened. One test involved showing the dog a treat and then putting it under an upside down cup and timing how long it takes the dog to get the treat from under the cup. Edgar flew at the cup the second he was released and inhaled the treat in an instant. Tina looked at the cup and then sat down and looked at me. I encouraged her to get the treat and she easily knocked the cup over and got the treat once she understood that she was allowed to. Butch just sat there and looked at me until the time was up. Another test was to cover the dog’s head and shoulders with a towel and see how long it took the dog to get it off. Edgar moved away when I tried to cover him with the towel, and immediately shook it off once I did manage to cover him. Tina sat obediently while I put the towel on her head and shook it off as soon as I gave her permission to move. Butch laid down and went to sleep. All of the other tests had similar results.
According to Professor Coren’s grading scale, Edgar is a genius, Tina is smart and Butch is not too bright. Hmmm…. Butch’s behavior seems pretty bright to me! He takes advantage of a good opportunity to nap, and doesn’t waste any energy trying to get a hidden piece of food when quite tasty meals are placed in easy reach twice a day without fail. Tina proved herself to be perfectly capable of solving most of the problems set before her, but was hesitant to act without clear human approval. Now, Edgar the “genius” certainly proved his ability to survive on his own. But were his actions really worthy of the label “genius”?! This very well-fed dog w ill spend an impressive amount of time reaching through the bars of an exercise pen in order to obtain one piece of kibble that was left behind by another dog. I’m pretty sure that he expends more energy trying to get the food than the food actually provides him with. That really doesn’t seem very smart! On the other hand, Butch once wandered into an exercise pen that had been left open and then stood looking at me through the wire, crying to be let out. I watched him for 20 minutes and he just sat there crying to be let out. He had walked in on his own, the opening was still there right behind him, and he really wanted out, but it never occurred to him to turn around and walk back out. At the time, I thought he was pretty stupid. Looking back, I’m not so sure. After all, I did eventually walk over and pick him up and take him out of the pen, so his strategy did actually work.
By the way, Butch the “not too bright” dog was the star of his obedience classes. Why? Because he does what is asked without thinking too much about it- he is “biddable”! Tina knows a lot of cues and enjoys showing off what she knows, but it is hard to teach her new things because she tends to be hesitant when she isn’t sure exactly what is expected. Perhaps she is thinking a little too much during training! Edgar the “genius” is perhaps an even bigger training challenge. The persistence to get what he wants that he showed in the IQ test often interferes with training. Sometimes he doesn’t do what I ask bec ause he is too busy searching the ground for something edible that he got a whiff of. Once he catches a scent, he wants to follow it through, even if I have chicken in my hand and the scent he is following is a piece of dog food. Other times he is too busy flirting with the other dogs in class to pay attention to his work. If I am working with him in a place without other distractions, he is often so focused on and motivated to get the rewards I have for him that he just starts quickly going through all of the behaviors he knows without slowing down enough to think about what I am asking him to do. He is also the dog that will figure out how to get out of a fenced yard in order to explore the neighborhood (he isn’t left in the yard unattended), is quite creative and persistent in his efforts to get to any food he can smell, and just generally needs more mental stimulation than my other dogs (even when they were younger) or he’ll get himself into trouble. Is he trainable? Yes! He came to me 1 ½ years ago not even knowing how to sit, and we now have so many Rally Obedience and Agility ribbons that we could wallpaper our living room. But when people tell me they want a smart dog, is Edgar really what they are picturing? Or are they actually picturing Butch: a dog that is easy going, well behaved, and readily follows directions?
Most of my clients that have dogs like Edgar label them as stubborn, not smart! So, when some one says that they want a smart dog, what do they really mean? Do they want a problem-solver, or do they want a dog that does what it is told? Are “intelligent” and “easy to train” really the same thing? I don’t think so! Are humans so species-centric that most people consider the ultimate sign of dog intelligence to be a willingness to do what people tell them to? I’m afraid so!
