The Intelligence of Dogs
March 16, 2009
Dear Diary,
Mom saw a question on-line about what is the most intelligent breed of dog. So she searched and found a list; same list on many sites. It put the Border Collie first. Ya, maybe. Then, it listed the poodle next. Well?? Don’t get me wrong. I know a couple of standard poodles and I like them. I’m not sure how intelligent it is to let your mom dye the hair on top of your head and on your tail bright pink. But I guess that’s a personal thing. But Mom says this list is way off!!!! It has the Australian Shepherd ranked 42. No way!! Not even close!!
Look at me. I’m doing real well with my arithmetic lessons (see Good Intentions). Of course, Mom does say that I wouldn’t give it away so quickly, if I would stop calling out the answer (Bark!Bark!) before she has finished the problem.
And I am doing well in my reading lesson. (See an earlier post, Cure for a Boring Day). She has me look at two cards now. One has letters on it and one is blank. The letters look like this -Tucker. When she asks “What’s your name?”, I touch that card. It doesn’t matter if it is on the left or the right. The one with those letters is the one to touch. Does that sound like a rank 42?
I mean LOOK AT ME?
I mean it - look at me!!!!
Signed, Tucker (your blog host)
To read more about me go to The Sensible Dog.
Whoever compiled the list obviously doesn’t know any Aussies. Australian Shepherds are #1, but to avoid looking like we are bragging, we’ll make it the top 5. We understand English and we can think for ourselves (even when everyone would rather we didn’t). We just discovered your blog and are enjoying it. We are a black tri (Peter) and a red tri (Sophie)
Hi Peter and Sophie,
Thanks for sending a comment. We “smarty” dogs need to stick together. We certainly do understand English. Mom and Dad were starting to spell words that they didn’t want me to understand. But now, I get excited when I hear them saying letters ’cause I know it involves me. Now they’re trying really long words, like “daily constitutional” instead of “walk”. They think they are so clever – but you just watch – I’ll learn those too.
We can tell time. We work very hard at keeping everyone on schedule for breakfast, walks, treats, dinner, bedtime…..
Peter and Sophie