How intelligent is a dog?
Dogs are just as intelligent as young children and the average canine can understand 165 words. Longtime dog lovers swear that their pets read their minds. Perhaps that’s because their pooches have a lot more in common than previously thought.
Research shows that dogs have similar intelligence to a 24 - to – 30 month-child. For the record, cats are considered to have the intelligence of an 18 month-old.
The average dog has a vocabulary of about 165 words. The smartest canines understand up to 250 words and are able to figure out new ones on their own. That kind of fast language learning was thought only possible in humans and some of the higher apes.
But more than that, tests suggest that dogs and apes both have some of the basic emotions – fear, anger, disgust and pleasure – that toddlers experience.
While both the animal groups are missing some of the more complex, learned emotions such as guilt. “What we tend to be interpreting as guilt is really fear on the dog’s part. They get the impression you’re going to drop a piano on their head for something they’ve done wrong.
Stanley Coren, and author, psychologist and dog researcher, suggests smarter dogs can count reliably to five and can spot errors in rudimentary arithmetic. They can also learn basic abstract geometric concepts such as big and small.
Dogs may even understand fairness. In one experiment, a researcher trained two dogs to share a shake a paw. After both learned the trick, the researcher started giving a treat to one of the dogs every time he got it right but not the other. Not only did the unpaid dog stop performing he wouldn’t even look at the researcher in the eye. He doesn’t want any part of you. He doesn’t think this is fair.
Scientists are beginning to believe there are so many similarities between youngsters and dogs that canine researchers are adapting tests developed for young children. Since we’ve now found roughly the intellectual level of the dog is, we now have people who are modifying various types of tests, which we use on young human children in order to determine what the dog is doing.
“Does the dog feel bored? Does he feel lonely? Or Love? It’s all leading to a more accurate understanding of the relationship between humans and animals,” Coren said. “On the one hand, there are people who see animals – especially their pets – as tiny humans in fur coats. On the other, there are those who think of animals as genetically programmed robuts.”
The truth, suggests Coren, is somewhere in the middle. We’re not going to send (dogs) to Harvard, but it’s a sign that these glimmers are there. Intelligence also seems to vary between breeds. Older breeds such as hounds and terriers have less going on upstairs than breeds such as retrievers or herding dogs.
Not that’s necessarily a bad thing. Smart dogs need more attention. “If you don’t work with them, they become neurotic,” Coren said. “And they’re smart enough to make you neurotic, too.” “Sometimes it’s better to have a dog that is not so intelligent”. For example, it’s a good bet that a Doberman pinscher left alone all day will chew up the couch and smash vases.
If it is an English bulldog……it’ll take them eight hours to figure out you’re gone.
The Canadian Press - Article by Bob Weber Aug 10th 2009
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