Jackson is sometimes scary smart. I have never experienced or had another dog like him. I had a GSD growing up that was smart in a different way but it's hard to explain how smart Jax is sometimes. But people who spend a lot of time around him pick up on it. Often, the smartness can make him difficult in a lot of ways because he's overly observant and somewhat fearful (mostly, he's pretty confident in public, etc, but he has his quirks too).
But he's also the dog that picks things up faster than most, often knows what I want before I ask, is willing to try anything (i.e. if I give him a box, he will try to jump in it, jump on it, put one paw on it, push it with his nose, etc, until he does something that I tell him is right). He knows many objects and things by name and he can problem solve pretty impressively. He is a very creative thinker and comes up with ideas on his own (ex: he learned that when he starts barking, the other dogs start too, so he will lead them all outside, and then he quickly comes back to the door while the other 2 are still outside, and will come in and steal their toy/bone/whatever they were chewing on).
He's very biddable and intuitive and even somewhat creative. He picks up tricks and commands very quickly. He's definitely "book smart" but also has "common sense" as well.
Whereas my dads dogs, a dachshund/spaniel mix and a JRT mix are smart in their own ways but they're not very biddable. They have no desire to please you or to truly learn anything on your terms. |