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Intelligence can be measured several ways: how well or how quickly your dog can understand your meaning, figure out ways around obstacles or recognize people and things. But intelligence should not be confused with being a good companion. The important quality of a companion dog is that he wants to please you. After all, most basic training involves conditioning your dog to listen to a command, but doesn’t require that your dog ‘understand’ the command in the way a person does. Smart does not always equal trainable. A smart dog might very well understand you but still choose to do something else.
Some signs of intelligence are easy to spot. For example, watch how your dog uses his paws. Using paws to reach for or retrieve a ball that has rolled under a couch is one sign of intelligence.
One popular test is to show your dog a new toy, then set it on the floor and cover it with a towel. Dogs of above-average intelligence will make the connection between the towel and the toy and look for their toy. Other dogs will think the toy simply disappeared and never look for it.
Evidence of memory can be seen in how your dog greets people he has met before. A dog with a stronger memory will not need to go back through the introduction process and will become comfortable with the visitor quickly.
Wherever your dog falls on the intelligence scale, remember that skill is developed through practice, just as it can be in humans. The more involved your dog is in your life, the more time you spend training and working with your dog, the more skillful he’s likely to be.
And regardless of intelligence, the important thing to know is that your dog wants to please you. Unless you really need or want a dog that can figure out how to open the refrigerator, intelligence can be overrated. For most families, the qualities to look for are gentleness, tolerance and devotion - those are what make a family dog one-in-a-million.
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