As a Dog Owner, you’ve inevitably asked yourself, “How smart is my dog?” After all, you’ve gasped at moments of unfiltered brilliance, like the first time that your puppy mastered the “ sit” command. And, you’ve definitely also witnessed moments of complete bamboozlement, like the time that your doggo walked into a sliding glass door—perhaps more than once.
So, how can you tell how smart your dog really is? What are the criteria for doggy intelligence? And, are there ways that you can help your dog flex their thinking muscles to be a tiny bit brainier?
If you’ve been asking your dedicated Pet Sitter, vet, and groomer how your dog compares to their other clients, rest assured. We have a better way for you to learn about your dog’s IQ!
Just as Snoop Dogg honed his street smarts to prevail over his east coast hip hop rivals, so can your dog hone their real smarts.
What does smart mean in the dog world?
Asking the question, “how smart is my dog” may seem obvious. But actually, the concept of “smart” isn’t as black and white as you might think.
Does smart, for instance, refer to trainability? Work ethic? Problem solving? Cleverness? Emotional awareness? Alertness?
As we covered in our article, Top 10 Smartest Dog Breeds, dog expert Stanley Coren literally wrote the book on doggy intelligence. As he pointed out, the most popular way to measure canine intelligence is willingness and ability to work. These highly trainable dogs are seen as smart because they learn new commands quickly and are able to complete tasks effectively. And to be sure, there are some wip-smart doggos on the list!
But the truth is, over the thousands of years that we’ve had dogs at our side, we’ve moulded them to excel in multiple different categories, all of which require some level of intelligence. You won’t see a Maremma Sheepdog on the list of trainable doggos, for example, but these dogs are equipped with a set of inherent skills that will blow your mind. Other dogs, like the Jack Russell Terrier, aren’t as quick to learn new tricks, but they will wow you with their ability to problem-solve, a remnant of their rat-hunting past. According to Coren, these other types of intelligence deserve our attention, too!
So, as we think about how smart our doggos are, it’s helpful to consider in what ways our dogs show their intelligence. The closer you look, you’re sure to find signs of canine cleverness that you never considered before!
How intelligent is my dog when it comes to training?
As we mentioned, trainability is a good starting place to think about doggy intelligence. Here are a few questions that you can ask to get a sense of how school-smart your dog is:
- How long does it take for your dog to learn new tricks? According to Coren’s research, dogs with trainability intelligence were able to learn new commands with fewer than 15 repetitions. Super smart puppers could learn commands in as little as 5!
- How many times does a learned command need repeating before your dog complies? Smart dogs in this category tend to perform a task on the first command about 85-95% of the time.
If your dog scores well in these categories, you have a highly trainable dog! Dogs who excel in this area are able to learn up to 250 words and are well suited to agility training and other competitive sports.
How smart is my dog when it comes to independent problem solving?
Another way to think about doggy intelligence has to do with problem-solving. How well, in other words, are our dogs able to think independently?
Many studies have attempted to answer this question by presenting dogs with a food-dispensing apparatus, setting a timer, and taking notes. Simple as it seems, the findings can tell us a lot about our dog’s ability to learn independently, practice persistence, use cause-and-effect reasoning, and remember past successes.
One fascinating 2020 study found that the dogs who performed best at independent problem solving tests were assistance and therapy dogs rather than herding dogs or guard dogs. That may be because these dogs are better at performing tasks independently and making life-saving decisions when their Owners are incapacitated.
While the successful group of therapy dogs did include some of the highly trainable breeds like Border Collies and Labs, other problem-solving puppers included a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, an Airedale Terrier, and an English Cocker Spaniel.
Here are a few ways hints that your dog might be a great problem-solver:
- You have to hide all food from them because they’ve found their way into treat drawers and cabinets
- Normal puzzle games and treat-dispensing toys are no match for your clever pup
- Your dog is a pro at opening doors and climbing fences
- You have to be very strict about boundaries and house rules, otherwise, your pupper will find loopholes
The truth is, if you have an independent thinker on your hands, you probably have plenty of examples beyond what we’ve provided here. Living with a highly intelligent pup can be a challenge, but their problem-solving skills are something to behold!
How smart is my dog in other ways?
Maybe your pupper isn’t the fastest learner or the best problem-solver. But that doesn’t mean their canine brains aren’t doing some impressive work!
Here are a few other forms of canine intelligence worth celebrating:
- Alertness. There’s no denying that it takes a huge amount of brain power to stay alert. Guard dogs like the Tibetan Mastiff, and sighthounds, like the Borzoi, are masters of keeping one eye and ear on the horizon. While you may not have considered this to be a form of intelligence, your doggo’s ability to tune into their senses at the drop of a pin is a sign of a brain in overdrive!
- Emotional awareness. One of the reasons why dogs are so good for our emotional wellbeing is that they seem to know exactly how we’re feeling. They do this by reading our facial expressions, body language, and even pheromones. And while it’s certainly a boon for Dog Owners, this emotional intelligence is beneficial for dogs too. Without it, they may never have risen to the exalted status of (hu)man’s best friend. Want to test your dog’s emotional acuity? Take a look at the DIY experiment we explain in our article, Can My Dog Read Facial Expressions?
Can dogs become more intelligent over time?
One of the valid critiques you might hear about dog intelligence lists is that they don’t account for the human factor of it all! After all, a person may have a highly trainable dog, but struggle to find the right training method to bring out their dog’s amazing intelligence.
You can bring out your dog’s unique intelligence and hone their thinking skills by:
- Sticking with science-backed training methods. Time and again, studies have shown that Positive Reinforcement Training is the most effective training method for dogs. So, stock up on a variety of delicious treats, chews, and toys and reward your pup when they show moments of brilliance!
- Learning as much as you can about what your dog was bred to do. If you try to assess your dog’s intelligence based on tasks that they were never bred for, you might get the wrong idea about their abilities. So, learn as much as you can about your dog’s breed background (or mix of backgrounds) and try training them based on their inherent strengths.
- Building communication to avoid confusion. Even the “smartest” doggos can get confused by unclear communication with their trainers. We’ve got helpful tips to avoid confusing your dog so they can reach their full potential!
- Giving your dog opportunities to flex their problem-solving skills. The more you put your pup in situations to power up their noggin, the better. Start training your doggo early, play games to encourage problem-solving like hide-and-seek or scavenger hunts, and provide activities to awaken their senses such as daily walks, scent tracking and more.
- Being a good observer! If there’s one thing we hope you take away from this article, it’s that all dogs are smart in some way. Even if your pup is a total goofball or can’t seem to figure out how not to get tangled up in their own lead, we can bet that little brain of theirs is smarter than you think. And, if you can spend a little bit more time every day observing their mind at work, you’ll know how to answer, “How smart is my dog?” once and for all. We can bet they’re pretty darn smart!
