Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
That same quote can be paraphrased to describe judging the intelligence of our canine companions: Every dog is a genius. But if you judge a pointing dog for its ability to herd sheep, for its entire life everyone will believe that it is stupid.
Given that the dogs we now have are a direct result of selected breeding over many years, to create different dogs to perform and excel at different tasks, I find it distressingly ironic to hear dog owners judge another dog's intelligence, or lack thereof, based on their personal standards of intelligence.
Yet dog owners and many trainers seem to have an odd fascination with canine intelligence and judging the IQ of one breed (or mix of breeds) versus another.
Current tests for canine IQ place a dog in a situation and expect it to perform certain tasks that have little - if anything - to do with what a dog is instinctively bred to do. So as far as I am concerned these tests are biased and, well, redundant!
I'll use my own pack of three as an example. My German short-haired pointer, Piper, is a dog that for more than a hundred years has been bred to point and flush furry and feathered creatures. Zumi is my German shepherd, which traditionally were herding dogs, but for the last 50 years, if not more, they have been bred for obedient sentry work. Then there is Raider, a mix of cattle dog and border collie, both of which are still bred for and used extensively for herding sheep and cattle.
Piper is a disaster in obedience. His instinct is to be acutely aware using the sight, sound and scent of his surroundings which may yield the slightest movement of a bird, rabbit or deer. This means he can't sit still for longer than 10 seconds without being distracted by a leaf blowing in the wind. Some people might say he is hypersensitive or has ADD, but in fact he is brilliantly in tune with his environment as he was bred to be.
On the other hand, Zumi is so singularly focused and obedient that if a rabbit ran past her while she was in a down-stay position, she would not move. According to current canine IQ tests she would be in the top three per cent. But unless she is given a "job" she is on constant alert and requires continuous management and is just "too much dog" for most people.
Now for Raider, or as I like to call him, Mr. Independent. Put him in a field of cattle and ask him to move that herd to the next pasture and he gets the job done in no time. But ask him to sit/stay and he looks at you like you are a stone statue. Some might call him stubborn or aloof, but it is just his cattle dog confident independence. They are bred to be able to stand alone in front of a herd of 1,500-pound cows and say "Move! Now!"
All three of my dogs are brilliant at what they have been bred to do but ask any one of them to do the job of the other and they all fail and look stupid. Judging a dog's intelligence based on human values of intelligence does a disservice to the efforts made over hundreds of years to create the breeds we have now.
Every single dog is a genius in its own right. We just need to love them and work with them for what they are instead of judging them for what they are not.
Joan has been working with dogs for more than 15 years in obedience, tracking and behavioural rehabilitation. Contact her through her website k9kinship.com.
