# Are your dogs the same intelligence?



## eusty (Jan 5, 2014)

I was just wondering as both ours are completely different.
Pebbles picks things up really quickly and seems to understand what you are trying to show/tell him.
Jasper (the one with the pedigree papers!) on the other hand doesn't! He's a lot harder to train and doesn't seem to understand.

Take toilet training for instance, Pebbles got it really quickly and will wait till he is taken outside to go, Jasper will go on the way to the door!
Tried praising him when he does it right and also telling him off (a stern voice really) when he doesn't, but it just seems not to sink in! 

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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

how old did you say they were again when you first got them? i've forgotten.


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## My babies (Aug 14, 2012)

I have 2 toys and I always say that Gucci is the smarter one. Gucci understand everything that you're saying to him. He's a little thinker. He learns everything within 15 mins tops. Learned sit after 3 tries as a pup. But since he's such a thinker that always means he doesn't always obey me and he talks back...A LOT. If he learned a trick and he thinks it's stupid or too easy then he might not do it if I ask him or if I have a treat that he doesn't care for he'll smell then then is like nope that's not worth my time and walk away. But if I swap it for a treat that he likes then he'll perform the trick right away. He thinks stay is a stupid trick. He got that in 2 mins. And when I'm training Miu Miu he'll try to mess her up by walking in front of her in a zig zag trying to get her to move. It's actually quite funny. If he's doing something bad like nagging Miu Miu and she seems annoyed then I'll tell Gucci to stop. He would get upset and starts talking back with his ra ra ra. I'll say no then he goes ra ra ra again. We talk back and forth for mins sometimes. Then he gets mad at Miu Miu and nudges her off the couch like it was all her fault. Lol

Miu Miu on the other hand is also smart but she's not a thinker. She does exactly as told. No questions asked. She loves to please so training time is her favorite time. She does anything that you ask her to even without treats. She the good kid


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

My dogs aren't both poodles, but since Peeves is another of the top 3 ranked breeds for smartness, German Shepherd dog, I think I can comment here. They are both very smart, but in very different ways. Lily though is easier to train for performance activities. Peeves has more ability to figure out things for himself when he wants something badly. For instance he has figured out how to open our back storm door to let himself out if the inner door is open. 

Here is a funny thing though. We have a couple of Nina Ottosen puzzle toys. When we got the first one Lily found it very frustrating, but Peeves figured out in a flash how to get to the treats. Lily promptly decided she wouldn't bother doing the work to lift the little blocks off where the treats were, but that instead she would wait right there and steal them from Peeves as he lifted the blocks. So who is smarter the one who figured out the game or the one who figured out how to cheat?


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## My babies (Aug 14, 2012)

lily cd re said:


> So who is smarter the one who figured out the game or the one who figured out how to cheat?


I vote the cheater! How clever of her. Lol

I got a few or those games too. Gucci figured it out in less than 5 mins. He was such a stinker about it. He'll find all the treats and not eat them. He'll come over to me and make me look at his accomplishment then walk away like that was too easy not worth my time look.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

The thing about Maddy is, she's a clever one, but Indy will watch what she does and do the same thing a long time later (like bonking the front door knob with her nose; it goes to the front yard, which she is never allowed out of, but she does that to let me know she wants to go out in the backyard). Which makes me wonder, is Indy as smart as Maddy but just not as motivated? And also, we have little Aria who is 3 months old (Boston Terrier), who isn't anywhere near the top of the intelligent dog list, but she learned to sit, lie down, come to her name and go in her crate for a treat in 1 weekend! But I know being intelligent is a whole lot of things, not just trainability. And I must admit Aria is being a stinker about learning to be housebroken while the poodles only had a few accidents each.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

My babies said:


> I vote the cheater! How clever of her. Lol
> 
> Yes I am inclined to vote for the cheater too, but then again she is my star dog.
> 
> I got a few or those games too. Gucci figured it out in less than 5 mins. He was such a stinker about it. He'll find all the treats and not eat them. He'll come over to me and make me look at his accomplishment then walk away like that was too easy not worth my time look.


That is very funny about Gucci with those games. Nothing that is edible on the floor of our house stands a chance of staying there for more than 5 seconds. So much for that 5 second rule about being able to eat something off the floor. The people here will never get there fast enough!


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## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

Gucci sounds like Callie. She learns really fast, and is very routine oriented. But she HATES to pick up her toys before we go to bed. As soon as the tv goes off, she stands by the ones on the floor and waits to pick them up and hand them to me. But each I time I tell her to pick it up and give, she gives her protest sound of disgust. Its a special sound of frustration she uses only when she doesn't like to do something and its easy to tell her compliance is very reluctant. Sometimes I think she is half human - sounds like my daughter when I asked her to clean her room.


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## My babies (Aug 14, 2012)

SusanG said:


> Sometimes I think she is half human -


My mom says there's a kid trapped inside Gucci's doggie body. He's so very humanish. I wonder if most poodles are like that? Miu Miu isn't tho. She smart but I call it doggie smart. Nothing like Gucci's smart


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

forget half human. Oh I have a border collie in a poodle suit. She is crazy smart when she wants to be and *VERY* persistent.


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## SusanG (Aug 8, 2009)

Sometimes it's a little spooky when my husband and I are having a conversation and I mention I am going to do or get something and before I can move, Callie gets up and waits for me and leads the way. She listens to everything we say, and I swear she understands half of it.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

when i was in school, we used to talk about book smart as opposed to creative people. book smart folks operated very well within a pretty well-defined framework. they crossed t's and dotted i's, did their homework and did very well in school. creative folks were also smart, but were the epitome of thinking outside the box and coming up with the unexpected answer; sometimes they failed because they got off on tangents and sometimes they dazzled because of the ideas they brought to the table. then there were a few who could cross over and do both.

sounds like people are talking about at least two categories of smarts among their dogs, too, as well as a few crossovers. and, oh, yeah, toilet training in human kids is not necessarily linked to intelligence. sometimes it has to do with physical development and sometimes it can have to do with the response a child gets for "making a mistake." a friend's child started crying one day when i was out on an excursion with him and his parents. they both looked at him and couldn't figure out what was wrong. he was their first child, but i had been the oldest of eight cousins, and i looked at him and said, he needs to go to the bathroom. that was it all right. later his mother said to me, gee, she had expressed irritation at one point when he didn't let her know in time and maybe... might be true of dogs, too, depending on the dog.

don't you hate it when the answer is "it depends..."


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

I have 2 GSDs & Racer. Scrappy (my female) is very bright. She was a good performance dog before she retired. Huck (the male) is very laid back & often seems like he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. 

I really notice that they work for different reasons. Scrappy works just because I ask. Racer only works as long as the game is fun. Very different styles. I did train very differently. Scrappy doesn't know any actual tricks but had obedience down pat. Racer knows several. I did this because I know more now about how dogs learn. I am a much better trainer 7 yrs down the line.

Funny thing about Racer is that he has to process information. Something in a few minutes, sometimes in several days. 

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## eusty (Jan 5, 2014)

patk said:


> how old did you say they were again when you first got them? i've forgotten.


They are both the same age, nearly 7 months.
I think the toilet training maybe due to circumstances, Pebbles was paper trained when we got him at 14 weeks, but we only got Jasper a month orut so ago and wasn't really trained. We are trying to miss out the paper training and go straight to outdoors.

It's not just that, reading other comments they sound the same as other dogs. Pebbles seems to understand what you tell him (the thinker).....while Jasper doesn't.

But actually thinking about it he's come along way. Pebbles waits and sits for his food until he's told to eat it....when we first fed Jasper Mrs eusty had to grab him by the back legs as he kept trying to get to the food!
Now he waits with pebbles until he's told.....So unless guess its just a matter of time until he 'gets' the toilet bit 

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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

can't blame intelligence at this point. they didn't both have the same upbringing. henceforth they will. hopefully they will not turn into cookie cutter dogs. the differences can be wonderful and enlarge your world. it's the fact that they are individuals that makes them so unforgettable a part of our lives.


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## eusty (Jan 5, 2014)

Cookie cutter dogs ???

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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

eusty said:


> Cookie cutter dogs ???


exact, undifferentiated duplicates of each other.:boring:


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Cookie cutter = from the same mould = identical ("twp peoples divided by a common language"!).

Sophy and Poppy are intelligent in very different ways. Sophy hates arbitrary rules, even if they mean treats. And she hates it even more if the rules change - if sitting and waiting is asked for, and earns a treat or permission to cross the road, that is fine, but better not expect a down/wait next time! There are times when I suspect Sophy is more intelligent than I am - she recognises not just every person who has ever given her a treat, but their dogs, associates, and often their cars as well. She knows where all the gaps in the field fences are, and has no doubling back on herself to get back on track. And she will remember a route once she has walked it, even though it may be months or years before we go that way again. She thinks, plans and problem solves, but if you ask her to do something you had better be prepared to make it worth her while, and be very, very clear and consistent in training methods, or you will get The Look and she will take herself off to find something more interesting.

Poppy will do anything to earn a treat. "Sit? I can do sit. Look at me doing sit! Or would you prefer down? Or half sit, half down, while bouncing? Backwards?" She is a doddle to train in some ways, as she is so enthusiastic about it, but the quick fire delivery can be challenging! I must get back to clicker work with her. She depends on Sophy to tell her which people and dogs are safe to talk to, and how to get back through fences (although the other day she surprised me by climbing a stile so I could lift her over, something we practiced just a few times last summer). She is younger, of course - Sophy was a young adult and very mature for her age when Poppy joined us - so in some ways she has grown up in the shadow of a bossy older sister, but they are very different dogs. I'm taking Poppy to Rally classes, for example - she is enjoying them, while Sophy, I know, would love the socialising and the treats, but would very quickly get bored and frustrated with the repetition!


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## hopetocurl (Jan 8, 2014)

As a parent of human children, I'd assume that furry children are a lot like human ones... they are different in every way...even if they have the same parents and are raised the same way. My ds and dd are VERY different. Both are intelligent...but in different ways. One is artistic and creative, the other is scientific and logical...


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