When it comes to smart dogs, Rico the Border collie is the leader of the pack. This dog has a vocabulary of approximately 200 words. He
can remember the name of a toy that he is not familiar with just by
looking at it one time. This can be credited to something called “fast
mapping”, which is actually a process seen in the human language.
The fact that this dog can learn so quickly on a one time basis is astonishing. It seems that humans are not the only ones who have the brain structure to sustain this type of learning. When new toys are put among Rico’s old toys and he is given the name of the toy, he will be able to pick out the new toy seven times out of ten even though he has never seen it before. The reason for this is because he knows that new words tend to refer to objects that don’t already
have names. He can make the connection between items and sounds.
The dog that was voted the smartest dog in the world was a poodle named Chanda-Leah. She
was a canine genius who had a repertoire of almost 1,000 tricks,
including skateboarding, playing the piano and untying shoelaces. She would also visit hospitals, schools and nursing homes and perform tricks.
Here is a list of the ten brightest dogs:
· Border Collie
· Poodle
· German Shepherd
· Golden Retriever
· Doberman Pinscher
· Shetland Sheepdog
· Labrador Retriever
· Papillion
· Rottweiler
· Australian Cattle Dog
What
are all these smart dogs really thinking? They are totally in tune to
the moods of their owners and know just how far they can go to get what
they want. The best way to gauge the intelligence of your dog is to evaluate their ability to solve problems
Just because these are smart dogs, it does not mean that they would necessarily fit easily into your household. Some of these are working dogs and they need a job to do. For
example, the Border collie loves to herd and, even though they are
gentle dogs, they may tend to try to herd children. The personality of
the dog and how it is trained is an important factor as to how your dog
will respond and act. The most intelligent dog is not always the ideal
pet. Sometimes dogs that are very intelligent can get easily bored and
may need a lot of stimulation.
I
also came across a list of the least intelligent dogs but I wouldn’t
even try to list them because I’m sure anyone who owns one of these
adorable creatures will be highly offended to hear that their pooches
have made this list. And who is really to say that these lists are written in stone and are really typical of the behavior of every individual dog.
The thing to keep in mind is that intelligence is an intricate subject. Even
if your dog does not fit into the category of smart dogs because they
do not become skilled at tasks very quickly, they may have other
talents.
