An Outlook on ‘The Intelligence of Dogs’

After a brief conversation with a good friend of mine, it seems that dogs have a sort of a canine intelligence hierarchy that classifies intelligence based by their breed type. A psychologist named Stanley Coren, a professor at the University of British Columbia, wrote a book entitled The Intelligence of Dogs that discusses canine breeds intelligence published in 1994. Coren used simple psychological tests such as “understanding of new commands” and “obey first command” as the ’standards’ of intelligence outlined in his book.

Dog Intelligence

However, Wikipedia explains “While this method of ordering dog intelligence is acceptable for training and working with dogs, it does not apply to the genetic intelligence which can be measured by ingenuity and understanding of common situations. Some dog breeds may be lower on the list due to their stubborn nature, but this nature does not make them unintelligent or impossible to train.”

This reminds me of a college class I attended on “Westernization of Native tribes in the 1800s”. In 1800s, many European countries criss-crossed the ocean sprouting colonies where ever they landed. One of the key components of assimilation between the cultures was the studying and the categorizing of the natives to the Western culture. The reason being was that European colonist needed a way to understand their cultures and the way to give authority to the different tribes.

Colonists would measure and calculate so that they could determine which tribe was the best suited as the “leaders” of the surrounding areas. Some examples of these measurements were simple measurements based on skull size and inherited physical traits. In my opinion, I have never understood the need to classify such things. Of course, measurements of IQ and ability to do work is vastly important, but that does not mean that senseless measurements should classify intelligence in such a broad manner.

Generally, people take information from studies and tests at face value and unless you really pay attention to every detail it would be hard not to make judgments based on the information presented at face value. Listed below is Wikipedia’s top breeds, however please visit Wiki’s entire list.

Ranking of dogs by breed
Brightest Dogs: Understanding of New Commands: Fewer than 5 repetitions; Obey First Command: 95% of the time or better.