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Originally Posted by Teresa Ford  I think the question of dog intelligence is very interesting.... ...Self motivation and problem solving skills may be a better indication of intelligence.
...I think about it like this, (excuse the generalized statements, I intend no put down to anyone) The smartest humans do very little manual labor. I mean they design the bridge, get the funding, manage the business that hires the contractor and so on. They don't usually shovel the dirt or push the broom. Why wouldn't it be the same in the animal world ?
I think Yorkies are brilliant. By being the perfect companion to people they get to really enjoy life. Our Yorkies have perfected their knowllege of human behavior. They can make the saddest puppy dog eyes, and have the most child like mannerisms. A tip of their silky head,a tiny paw on your hand, gets what they want. We rarely scold or deny them anything. We pay all the bills. We get their hair and nails done. They get the best food we can afford, expensive treats, toys, clothes and great preventive health care and state of the art treatment if they need it. We arrange our lives to accommodate their needs... |
Outstanding post!!!
I fully get your point, although you may be accused of a little anthropomorphism. I have often thought along these lines, too. Yorkies may not be the smartest breed when compared to some of the working dogs like the Australian Sheppard, but they are so cute they get what they want from us humans, and we are a team after all. I dont think our Yorkie friends would make it in the wild for long depending on their brains and physical ability. Of course, we humans are to blame for their diminuative size in the first place, but my guys do seem to think they are much bigger and tougher then they really are, which can get them into trouble if I'm not careful.
Gatsby seems very intelligent in some ways, e.g., he will go get his favorite toy and drop it in front of me when its time to play fetch, or he will get me to show off that he went on the pee pad and deserves a treat (I did not teach him this stuff, he just did it). It's actually hard to teach him basic commands such as "shake" or "roll over", mostly becuase he seems to be stubbern and does not like to put himself in those awkward postiions (he's not stupid). On the other hand, my first Yorkie Pippin learned the basic tricks in no time. I am convinced that he was no smarter than Gatsby, becuase he did not do smart things on his own, but he was MUCH easier to train; he knew ~30 commands in his prime. Part of that was personality and part was that he was more nimble (no luxating patella to deal with). I would bet these differences in individuals are much more important than breed differences in any case.