What's Your Dog's IQ? – Part 2
posted 7:22 pm Fri May 02, 2008 - Lynchburg, VA
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Dog obedience trainers will tell you the most trainable canines are border collies and poodles. But, does that trainability mean the dog is smart? ABC 13’s Margaret Clevenstine put a number of dogs to the test. We wanted to see how purebreds and mutts would do on a canine intelligence test.
So, out of a possible 25 points, let's see how they do. The scores have been calculated, the grades are in, so who goes to the head of the class? Pedro? Cooper? Jack or Toby?
He gets points for Mr. Photogenic, but Toby scores the least amount of points. But his owner takes the blame.
Linda Thomas, Toby's Mom - "I think his inability to show it is probably his owner, not him if I were able to train him he could learn lots more."
Scoring six points higher than Toby is Cooper the Cocker Spaniel. Not a surprise to his owner.
Rob Whitely, Cooper's Dad - "He knows what you want him to do and tries to get out of it."
And there's a tie for doggie valedictorian -- Jack and Pedro.
Joey Gantt, Jack's Dad - "I'm tickled that he did that well."
They each scored a total of 21 points. But they both scored very differently on each test. Remember... how Jack wouldn't get the treat and would only retrieve the can?
Dr. Les Mulligan, Peaks View Animal Hospital - "Some dogs are very, very food motivated... some dogs are not, so one may not appear intelligent enough to find the food, but maybe aren't as interested in finding the food."
For Jack, retrieving is a better reward than finding food. Dr. Mulligan says that's why this "IQ" test maybe more of an obedience test.
Dr. Mulligan - "Does that mean the smart ones are more obedient, or less obedient? And I think that's the question in any of these intelligence tests."
Dr. Mulligan says after years of dealing with all types of animals, testing intelligence is harder than we think.
Dr. Mulligan - "Even in people if you try and define intelligence with the ability to pass tests. Einstein was very poor in school I understand so he didn't pass these tests that were created--I don't think that's really an answerable question."
If Einstein tested poorly, maybe we underestimated little Toby. Now it's your turn. We want to test your dog. If you want to show off your pet is smart, click here to send Margaret an email to submit your doggie. We'll test he or she and they'll appear here on ABC-13.
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