Tricks and intelligence
 

I've always thought that the quicker a dog picks up on tricks, the more intelligent the dog is. One of mine literally learns new tricks in 5-10 min - even tricks like lay down and roll over. It took me 3 weeks to teach the other one to sit and that's the only trick he knows. I was recently talking to someone who said they believe the dog that actually refuses to do tricks is the more intelligent and strong-willed dog because he wants to be the master. In my case, it is true that my dog that does do tricks is the more submissive dog.

Does a refusal to do tricks mean a dog is more intelligent? Does picking up on tricks quickly really mean a dog is less intelligent?

My boy who I adopted 3 years ago when he was 2 1/2 years old is by NO means a submissive kid lol, he learns new tricks and commands FAST, is extremely smart. He knows all tricks and commands by name and hand signals. But that IS a good question, it should be interesting to see some replies.

I believe intelligence in dogs can be measured many different ways. All of the expert reports on dog intelligence that I have read focus on tricks and obedience tasks. I believe they should look at more.

My boys do not know a lot of tricks because I am a terrible trick trainer. They are really good at learning life stuff though. They know way too many words, spelling, and so on. They excel in picking up life routines.

Funny story about tricks though -- Teddy took a year to finally shake hands with me. He would watch Max do it, but when it was his turn, he would look at me like, "This is dumb. Why do you want me to do this?" :D

I would say both of my boys are strong willed, definitely not submissive, but generally eager to please.

I have four dogs. I find each has his/her own strengths. Of my two collies, both therapy dogs, one is a cancer spotter and one is great working with kids. Of my two yorkies, one has a huge vocabulary, knowing the name of about 30 toys, and the other is an alarm clock. He is new to me ( adopted five weeks ago at 10) but he comes and announces it's time to make dinner precisely ten minutes before the serving hour.
My collies are super-trained in therapy, obedience and agility but that took lots of work and time. The yorkies are equally smart, but my expectations and desires for them are different so they, likewise, act and learn differently.
Intelligence? Submission? Not sure, but their love motivates them the most I believe.

[QUOTE=Bamboo15;4690061]I've always thought that the quicker a dog picks up on tricks, the more intelligent the dog is. One of mine literally learns new tricks in 5-10 min - even tricks like lay down and roll over. It took me 3 weeks to teach the other one to sit and that's the only trick he knows. I was recently talking to someone who said they believe the dog that actually refuses to do tricks is the more intelligent and strong-willed dog because he wants to be the master. In my case, it is true that my dog that does do tricks is the more submissive dog.

Does a refusal to do tricks mean a dog is more intelligent? Does picking up on tricks quickly really mean a dog is less intelligent?[/QUOTE


What an interesting question. I have never had a pup learn that fast, although once foundation is establish my old one is very fast learner.

Right now I believe it to be more a function of innate plus trained personality. If you have a dog with a high desire to please coupled with a high work ethic, that dog would be easiest to train.

Dara is very very smart, in that she plans things out. How to sneak up on bed without getting caught, for eg. How to take toy away from the other dogs, usually when they are not looking. And she will focus on the dog or dogs in question for as long as it takes. Much longer then I can get her to focus on her obedience training. Sigh.

Magic is the work aholic. Never wants to stop. Getting the toy, going over the jump is reward enough. He is also very food motivated too.

Both mine have picked up on tricks very fast and I think are very intelligent. Callie you can talk to like you would another human and she will do what you said and understand you to crazy amounts that it would freak you out. She also knows when I'm haveing anxiety and getting ready to go into a panic attack. She's pretty awesome. Joey is not a year old yet but knows several tricks and we start basic obedience tomorrow. He picks up on things quick. We did not teach him fetch he instinctively knew how to do it and apparently that's some awesome thing because when we told the traininer at puppy class she was saying it was great. I'm not sure being stubborn means intelligence or not but Callie has that covered too lol.

My one that refuses to do tricks is actually the faster learner with everything else (the meaning of do you want to go out (for a walk)?, etc., using the pee pads, schedules/routines (he knows when someone comes home from work and waits behind the door). He understands what everything means. I think he even understands the trick commands but just doesn't like to do them. Even when he does sit he pops back up right away.

My one who does tricks is slower to learn everything else and kind of follows the other one. I think the fast pace in which he learns his tricks is actually due to the fact that he wants the treat so bad coupled with the fact that he is inherently submissive so he doesn't fight it.

Emma picked up on sit and down fairly quickly. She can follow certain commands I say but I hadn't tried any specific tricks with her because to be honest she probably would look at me like I'm crazy.

I do think she's very intelligent because she knows "time" because she knows what time my daughter comes home from school (she gets antsy at the door waiting for the bus around 330) .

What an interesting question!

I often compare my two and wonder who is smarter, because one is more stubborn and the other picks up tricks faster. I can't say who is smarter though, because they're both very intelligent in different ways. They also have different approaches to get the same things too.
Here's a short video of what they do when they're hungry and want their dinner lol: https://www.instagram.com/p/BO8ZvJph...cottieandcasie

I think I attribute their differences to personalities, rather than level of intelligence.

I agree that intelligence should be measured in more sophisticated ways, too. I was told at the behavioral university where I took Teddy that he was the most intelligent dog they'd come across in three countries based on his responsiveness to commands. I was like, "But he can spell?"

There's also another element at play, and that is their learning style. My boy Théo is a doer. So, for example, when I was teaching him the names of different toys and would present two different toys and say "dinosaur", he would just go to whichever toy he wanted to, and I would tell him if he got the right one by clicking and rewarding. For him and other dogs who are doers, it takes lots of repetitions for them to truly learn it. The clicker however cuts down on the number of repetitions needed.

With my girl Maezie, she's a thinker. When I was teaching her the same thing, I'd get a completely different behavior from her than Théo. She would just sit and stare, bark, pace a little bit back and forth like she was thinking about it, and hesitate. But once she got it and ended up going for the right toy, it took far less repetitions for her to learn which toy I'm asking for when I say dinosaur.

Some people might think that one is more intelligent than the other, and that may be true, but it can be tough to come to a conclusion on that because they have very different learning styles. And their learning style relates to the number of repetitions needed for them to learn something.

Just to add on, the differences in their learning styles is something I've seen from day one, and it's still there and holds true for pretty much everything I've ever taught them. So I think it is something that is part of their personality and is pretty stable and probably won't ever change.

LOL! :D Callie is obviously very intelligent, and you work very well as a team. You are an excellent trainer.

Max is like Emma with the inner clock. More accurate than a Timex! :D

My dad and I argued for a long time who was smarter, Max or Teddy. Dad didn't give Teddy enough credit because Teddy is more understated and crafty. Definitely different personalities and approaches, as Airplane's posts above also point to.

lol :luvu::luvu: