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It is entirely natural to look for signs of intelligence in your dogs and cats. Even animals which are not thought of as being particularly bright will often show glimpses of brilliance in their behavior.
It is likewise natural to look for things in our animals which we look for in our children, like a keen mind, a sense of humor and loyalty as examples. But the trait that we often boast about is our dog’s intelligence.
There is not just one type of canine intelligence. According to Stanley Coren, author of The Intelligence of Dogs, there are really three major types of dog intelligence that we can measure using canine IQ tests......
The first is Adaptive Intelligence. This is just learning and problem solving ability, the knowledge and skills a dog can acquire. It also means how long it takes for your dog to learn new relationships.
Thus, if your dog recognizes people after just a visit or two, this speaks to its adaptive intelligence capability. You could likewise look at how well your dog comprehends the laws of cause and effect strictly by observation.
Another kind is called Instinctive Intelligence, which deals with behaviors and skills programmed into the animal’s genetic code. For example, Sheep dogs and Border Collies are excellent herding dogs. This is an innate abilty that these particular breeds of dogs possess and has very little to do with training.
The third is Working or Obedience Intelligence, which is how well an animal can follow commands. This specific type of intelligence is mostly dependant on the kind of dog involved. Two examples are the dogs used for guiding the blind and for K9 police work.
Another type is Adaptive Intelligence. At a time of the day you don’t normally walk your dog, quietly pick up your keys and his leash when you know he’s watching. If he starts wagging his tail and gets excited, 3 points. If you have to walk to the door before he knows what’s going on, two points. If he sits there with a dumbfounded look, give him one point.
Now if your dog lets YOU know it is time to go to the bathroom by bringing you his own leash (without being trained to) or has mastered the toilet, your dog’s a genius!
A way to test your dog's problem solving ability is to take a large towel or blanket and gently toss it over your dog’s head. If he frees himself from the covering in less than fifteen seconds, give him three points. If it takes fifteen to thirty seconds, two points. If it takes him longer than thirty seconds, give him or her a single point.
To test your dog's memory, Place some kind of treat under one of three buckets that are lined up in a row. Be certain your dog sees which bucket the treat or toy is underneath. Then simply turn the dog away for about ten seconds and let him dog go. If he or she goes straight to the bucket with the treat under it, three points. If it takes two tries to find the treat, two points. If he/she checks the wrong two first before finding the right one, one point.
Now if your dog scores six points or more, you have a canine genious four to five points is average three points or less, well…who said that intelligence was a prerequisite for love? For more detail visit http://www.dog-food-nutrition.info/
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