Your dogs intelligence!

[aladinsane33]

How would you measure how intelligent any particular dog is? Would it be by what you could teach it or by what the dog inherently, intuitively knows, for the two are different. In this thread please discuss, in the intelligence stakes what you think makes your Yorkie stand out from the crowd. Lets pool these findings and see exactly what is what and what life is like with these Yorkie terriers. Come on don't hold back, tell the audience from day to day what your Yorkie does that makes you stand back and think 'do all Yorkies do that' Discuss their [your Yorkies] habits, strengths and weaknesses and let the audience know about the daily lives of your Yorkshire terriers. Please don't hold back this can only be good for one and all and give everyone a good indication of what owning a Yorkie can mean to both dog and owner, So what is it obviously [without you knowing]that you think your Yorkie does that other peoples Yorkies don't.

[SirTeddykins]

Great headliner but can you start with what you think is unique to your Yorkies behavior so that we may better understand your expectations?


I will join in later today as I'm currently researching psychological development in early childhood so can hardly be expected to extrapolate to another species without the five coffees I require to wake up!

[gemy]

First I think that easy trainability is a sign of intelligence, particularly when coupled with a fast uptake and a necessity to vary the skills to avoid boredom in the dog.


Inborn or innate intelligence needs to be exercised to flourish! In dogs as in humans.


Overall I think my Razzle is of moderate intelligence, and I have no idea how he would compare to all other Yorkies.


He certainly on his own figured out how to get to my high china/crystal cabinet through a series of jumps.... a beloved toy was put there. That cabinet is about 5 ft off the ground. He used a stool to a chair to a chair back to a leap to the top of said cabinet. Needless to say we never store anything up there now. He also figured out how to sidestep the various blocks we put to keep him on our cottage deck, we finally resorted to having him on a long lead when we all sat out to enjoy a BBQ or a sunset.


He sights to *find the toy* and is very good at that game. But not to pick this toy or that toy.


He is *sneaky* again I find this a bit of an indicator for intelligence. He has learnt to quickly and quietly get up on the kitchen table to snatch a bit of food. He does this when my back is turned for one moment.


Razzle is hard to train in obedience. Took him 3x or 4x as long to master basic obedience commands. Now this may have something to do with his innate personality and desire to please and his focus, that being not as focussed naturally on his owner as my other breed.


What makes my Yorkie stand out from the crowd? Easy, his enthusiasm, and joie de vive! He is an excellent athlete and is scared of little. At about 2yrs old he backed up a GSD and chased him up to his front porch!
I about had a heart attack, but he wasn't phased at all! He is also well socialized to ppl and dogs as well.

He is a rugged little boy, and I believe his temperament to be true to the terrier breed.

[Rachael1983]

Originally Posted by gemy

First I think that easy trainability is a sign of intelligence, particularly when coupled with a fast uptake and a necessity to vary the skills to avoid boredom in the dog.


Inborn or innate intelligence needs to be exercised to flourish! In dogs as in humans.


Overall I think my Razzle is of moderate intelligence, and I have no idea how he would compare to all other Yorkies.


He certainly on his own figured out how to get to my high china/crystal cabinet through a series of jumps.... a beloved toy was put there. That cabinet is about 5 ft off the ground. He used a stool to a chair to a chair back to a leap to the top of said cabinet. Needless to say we never store anything up there now. He also figured out how to sidestep the various blocks we put to keep him on our cottage deck, we finally resorted to having him on a long lead when we all sat out to enjoy a BBQ or a sunset.


He sights to *find the toy* and is very good at that game. But not to pick this toy or that toy.


He is *sneaky* again I find this a bit of an indicator for intelligence. He has learnt to quickly and quietly get up on the kitchen table to snatch a bit of food. He does this when my back is turned for one moment.


Razzle is hard to train in obedience. Took him 3x or 4x as long to master basic obedience commands. Now this may have something to do with his innate personality and desire to please and his focus, that being not as focussed naturally on his owner as my other breed.


What makes my Yorkie stand out from the crowd? Easy, his enthusiasm, and joie de vive! He is an excellent athlete and is scared of little. At about 2yrs old he backed up a GSD and chased him up to his front porch!
I about had a heart attack, but he wasn't phased at all! He is also well socialized to ppl and dogs as well.

He is a rugged little boy, and I believe his temperament to be true to the terrier breed.

I certainly agree. I think Troy was very smart. I mean I did absolutely no training at all. I said sit, he did without enticing treats and repeating. He just did it. Every command I gave he did. So I think he was very intelligent and easy on my nerves.

Whereas Emma, is smart by way of sneaky. She's easily trainable but she needs incentive to listen. Treats more so than love. She has figured out how to do many things around the house or "steal" things. Example: dirty clothes basket. She has figured that if she moves the clothes with her paw in the holes in the basket she can get to the underwear and pull them through the holes.

[aladinsane33]

Originally Posted by SirTeddykins

Great headliner but can you start with what you think is unique to your Yorkies behavior so that we may better understand your expectations?


I will join in later today as I'm currently researching psychological development in early childhood so can hardly be expected to extrapolate to another species without the five coffees I require to wake up!

Typically not what your hoping for obviously. What would be the point of doing what you indicate, that is hardly going to impress a large viewing audience if I commit to telling them my Yorkie is the most intelligent dog they could ever wish to meet, but now that you pose this as you say, 'my expectations' would be that none of them are as intelligent as my little charmer however that would have never had to be said had you you decided to have your 5 coffees, you must be living with anxiety drinking that much coffee at one sitting, move over let them that want to commit and tell of their Yorkies behaviour without the pomp and circumstance.

[aladinsane33]

Originally Posted by Rachael1983

I certainly agree. I think Troy was very smart. I mean I did absolutely no training at all. I said sit, he did without enticing treats and repeating. He just did it. Every command I gave he did. So I think he was very intelligent and easy on my nerves.

Whereas Emma, is smart by way of sneaky. She's easily trainable but she needs incentive to listen. Treats more so than love. She has figured out how to do many things around the house or "steal" things. Example: dirty clothes basket. She has figured that if she moves the clothes with her paw in the holes in the basket she can get to the underwear and pull them through the holes.

When I first got Toby from my daughter at two years old I knew immediately he was of high intelligence, he has the ability to learn, and he knows words and their associations, he knows instinctively which harness goes with walk and which one goes with ride [as in a car] and even if they are moved and one tries to stymie him he cannot be out foxed. He shows a photographic memory as he knows where he has been and seems to memorize it, Here is an example- when I had owned Toby but one year my wife and I took him on holiday to a small village named Elton at the other side of The Cotswolds in England not far from the river Severn and the Bristol Bore. We all stayed in this remote farm house whilst travelling to see Brian Jones [the ex Rolling Stones frontmans grave] we stayed at this cottage only one week but walked about a bit, four years later we were passing through Elton and Toby got really excited and was quite uncontrollable so I decided to stop. Mindful that this cottage was 2.5 miles up this hidden country road we had no sooner stopped when he pulled me all the way up to that cottage, up that long, long road right to the door of where we had previously stayed 4 years previous, this was no mistake either as there were/are four cottages on that site. It has come to pass since then that this ability he has he puts to good use. I have even tried losing him miles from home, 25 miles once along the seafront at Sunderland, and he shows this ability to get home, always walking in the right direction and never flinching from his set course. I have owned dogs all of my life, my late father did too when I was at the family home, and certainly I know of no other dog then or now that shows the intelligence of Toby ,and he shows it time and time again.

[Britster]

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.

[smelcerk]

I had my yorkie for six years and during that time our bond evolved and my husband and I noted that we could speak to her in a conversational tone and she would respond or do the things she heard us say. We didn't have to give her commands or formal training. And we NEVER had to use any sort of negative discipline or reinforcers. She was so in tune with us and our lives and just seemed to know what we wanted or expected and was eager to make us happy. Intuitive intelligence.

[calismama]

Originally Posted by aladinsane33

Typically not what your hoping for obviously. What would be the point of doing what you indicate, that is hardly going to impress a large viewing audience if I commit to telling them my Yorkie is the most intelligent dog they could ever wish to meet, but now that you pose this as you say, 'my expectations' would be that none of them are as intelligent as my little charmer however that would have never had to be said had you you decided to have your 5 coffees, you must be living with anxiety drinking that much coffee at one sitting, move over let them that want to commit and tell of their Yorkies behaviour without the pomp and circumstance.

Uhhhh...really??

[Britster]

I meant to add, too. I even have to be careful when I am having phone conversations. If I say something like "Mom is coming home soon" to whoever I am talking to, he often runs to the door looking for my mom. Clearly we order pizza too much because he does the same thing when I mention the word pizza. He knows that means someone will be at the door soon lol.

He also remembers everything. One time the smoke alarm went off because the oven was smoking. Now he hates ALL smoke. He won't even go near a fire anymore because he associates it with smoke alarm.

years ago, I was trying to swat a fly and kill it and accidentally knocked over a lamp. It scared the crap out of him and he still hates fly swatters. Even if he sees a fly flying around, he hides, even if I don't pay attention or get the swatter.

Whereas a lot of the things that bother Jax will also bother the other dogs, they forget about it. Jax never forgets lol.

[SirTeddykins]

Originally Posted by aladinsane33

Typically not what your hoping for obviously. What would be the point of doing what you indicate, that is hardly going to impress a large viewing audience if I commit to telling them my Yorkie is the most intelligent dog they could ever wish to meet, but now that you pose this as you say, 'my expectations' would be that none of them are as intelligent as my little charmer however that would have never had to be said had you you decided to have your 5 coffees, you must be living with anxiety drinking that much coffee at one sitting, move over let them that want to commit and tell of their Yorkies behaviour without the pomp and circumstance.

lol - I don't know how you meant for me to take this but I laughed so thank you I meant no offense, if my post was taken that way. I just didn't want to focus on general intelligence in the breed if you wanted specific examples from my dog only. However, since others seem to have rightly grasped the point of your enquiry, I will follow their lead!


I think Teddy (my dog) is very smart when compared to my other dogs. This is not because he does all of the tricks I ask him to do, rather, because he can do them but chooses not to with a glint in his eye which suggests he is superior to my commands!


In addition to being intelligent, I find the stubborn streak in him very endearing.

[aladinsane33]

Originally Posted by SirTeddykins

lol - I don't know how you meant for me to take this but I laughed so thank you I meant no offense, if my post was taken that way. I just didn't want to focus on general intelligence in the breed if you wanted specific examples from my dog only. However, since others seem to have rightly grasped the point of your enquiry, I will follow their lead!


I think Teddy (my dog) is very smart when compared to my other dogs. This is not because he does all of the tricks I ask him to do, rather, because he can do them but chooses not to with a glint in his eye which suggests he is superior to my commands!


In addition to being intelligent, I find the stubborn streak in him very endearing.

Of course others have grasped what this thread is about, but, what you wanted to do was start with an hypothesis and prove by research qualitative and quantitative because and I am thinking by what you wrote and how you wrote it that your a research fellow aren't you, so sorry, but, I had a lifetime of it and was not going to introduce this type of thing to an unsuspecting audience of Yorkie owners, it is just not fair and would have soon shut this thread down. Actually I was given a personal invitation to contribute by the administrators who thought I had left so I tried to come up with a subject matter that would get everyone interested and talking, meanwhile giving me an insight into this wonderful breed of dog which quite honestly [because of Toby my yorkie] I find quite fascinating.

Yorkshire terriers are 27th in the hierarchy of breeds as far as intelligence goes or so this internet and various books would have us believe, however, from what I have gleaned so far from the people who own them they should be placed much higher.

[SirTeddykins]

Originally Posted by aladinsane33

Of course others have grasped what this thread is about, but, what you wanted to do was start with an hypothesis and prove by research qualitative and quantitative because and I am thinking by what you wrote and how you wrote it that your a research fellow aren't you, so sorry, but, I had a lifetime of it and was not going to introduce this type of thing to an unsuspecting audience of Yorkie owners, it is just not fair and would have soon shut this thread down. Actually I was given a personal invitation to contribute by the administrators who thought I had left so I tried to come up with a subject matter that would get everyone interested and talking, meanwhile giving me an insight into this wonderful breed of dog which quite honestly [because of Toby my yorkie] I find quite fascinating.

Yorkshire terriers are 27th in the hierarchy of breeds as far as intelligence goes or so this internet and various books would have us believe, however, from what I have gleaned so far from the people who own them they should be placed much higher.

??


Not sure what you're on about, sorry about any bad experiences you may have had, and good luck.


Thanks for letting me contribute

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Britster

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.

Brit we will have to get together maybe Jackson can teach Razzle :-D


We are going to Salisbury Maryland Nov 5th - Nov 10th Only 3 wks away now. Come and meet us at the show! Magic Dara and Razzle will all be there, but only Dara is showing. Bring Jackson and his crate and we can put you up in our grooming area. Say yes, just would love to meet you both!

[BobbiB]

I can't really contribute to this thread because Sheldon is a Biewer, not a Yorkie, but I was interested to read the replies because the breeds are so similar.

And I'm more confused about how weird this post got than interested in the subject matter at this point. Lol