- Puzzle/problem solving ability: Mr. N is very good at figuring out food puzzles which is why we don't buy them for him anymore. He can get out of a soft crate. Onyxx can do a couple of the easy food puzzles we have but it took him a few days to get the hang of it.
- "Street smarts": Mr. N has no car sense whatsoever. And his sense of self-preservation is severely lacking. This is a dog that tries to chase horses. If he got lost, I think he would just wander up to the nearest human and be like, I'm hungry. Feed me. As for Onyxx, I played a video of coyotes howling and he didn't stir from his nap. Mr. N looked up and became all alert.
- Emotional Intelligence: Mr. N doesn't really react when I'm sad but if he thinks I'm angry or arguing, he'll try to help. He'll come over and stand between us, or nudge me with his paw. Onyxx doesn't seem particularly attuned one way or another.
- Breed-specific intelligence: Mr. N overflows with prey drive. He'd make an excellent mouser. He wants to chase every rodent he sees. As a companion dog, he certainly likes pets and attention from me but he's not therapy dog material. I'm not quite sure about Chihuahuas. I've heard various theories: companion dogs, used to hunt small rodents and bred for meat. Onyxx loves sitting in laps but he has no prey drive whatsoever.
- Traditional "obedience" intelligence: Mr. N is very biddable for a terrier. He definitely wants to please me but he isn't hanging on my every word or anything like that. He is a quick learner and generally obeys commands. Onyxx kind of loses his brain around food even low value treats like kibble. He knows a few things but he doesn't seem particularly interested in training itself. He just wants the food!
- Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: He's a speedy little thing and scampers up mountains like a goat. He likes to stand on his rear legs a lot. He can't catch treats in the air though. Onyxx? He's good at perching on things but he's not very athletic.
Guess who is the easier dog to live with? Onyxx is a simple soul and is content with food, a warm soft place to nap and attention from his humans. As for Mr. N, when people see him doing his tricks and say they want a dog like him, I'm like no, no you don't. He's a (double) handful.
When we were looking to adopt, I was envisioning a dog more like Onyxx and we got Mr. N instead. It's definitely been an interesting journey.
How do your dogs rate?
When we were looking to adopt, I was envisioning a dog more like Onyxx and we got Mr. N instead. It's definitely been an interesting journey.
How do your dogs rate?
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| The boys waiting for Thanksgiving dinner. Onyxx had such a hard time looking away from the food. |
Roxy is smart, but very laid back. She is not super food motivated like Torrey. Torrey is the smarty pants. She can learn a trick in 5 minutes, if there is a treat involved.
ReplyDeleteSmart Torrey! Onyxx is super food motivated but he gets too excited to think about learning.
DeleteGreat article - it is fun to compare the dogs because they are so very different. We'lve had 5 in our lives so far and each quite different than the others.
ReplyDeleteThey all have their strengths and weaknesses. It's fun to watch!
DeleteOne of the best reasons to have foster dogs is to be able to compare them to Honey.
ReplyDeleteHoney is smart as a whip. But she's so attached that she has trouble looking away. She's very tuned into looking into my eyes. So if I try to point to something, she won't look at my finger to see what I'm pointing to.
According to recent research by Brian Hare, dogs have excellent abilities to understand what pointing means. But he never meant Honey. :)
That's an interesting issue(?) to have. Maybe you could train her to look away from you towards where you're pointing? I point all the time with the dogs to indicate where their ball is or which direction I want them to go or for various other purposes.
DeleteI don't buy puzzle toys for Gretel anymore either. They aren't cheap and she figures out even the "hardest" ones is a couple of minutes.
ReplyDeleteYeah, for the amount of money you pay, I want them to be occupied for at least 30 minutes. Preferably an hour.
DeleteVery interesting. Most of my dogs are not at all into puzzles. Its very hard for dogs with flat faces to solve them as many of them involving moving with the nose and my dogs cant seem to use the paws for it. Wealseu like one puzzle ball we got from Bark Box that you roll across the floor. Norbert is just not motivsated by puzzles. He will just bark at the puzzle cleverly realizing if he barks long enough I w ill weaken and give him the food inside
ReplyDeleteurban hounds
Norbert is smart in his own way! I'll nudge the puzzle to indicate a clue sometimes but other than that, I won't help.
DeleteI think that Sherman is very smart but lacks patience and that Leroy may quite possibly have a brain made of rocks-but that's ok-he's still awesome!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like our household!
DeleteOh, they're adorable. :) Intelligent dogs are difficult, though, for lazy people like myself. We've always had Aussies, bright dogs. They need a lot of training and attention. Until they get old. I think my next dog might be a stupid one. Is there such a thing?
ReplyDeletewww.dogtreatweb.com
Well Onyxx isn't "stupid" but as long as he gets pets, he's pretty happy. He doesn't really "need" training and thinking like Mr. N does.
DeleteRoooo I think MrN and I have a whole lot in common! *waggy tail*
ReplyDeleteWoofs from Alfie
www.alfiesblog.com
Mr. N wants Alfie for a partner in crime.
DeleteInteresting comparison. I wonder how much of that is a difference in breeds and what has been done to them over the years. For example, many popular hunting breeds, the prey drive and ability to be a hunting companion has been bred out of them to make them more biddable. Living with a dog with high drive can be a challenge, but if you look at pet goldens and labs many have little to none. That is a shame imo.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely going to consider each of these points in regards to my Cattledog Cooper. I might be back with a deeper analysis. Thanks for this!
ReplyDeletePenny is certainly our over-achiever! She's REALLY into training and learning, and is very food and toy motivated. She's teaching me to not be so laid back and get out there and get involved in stuff. Right now, it's nose work.
ReplyDeleteWe've been working on some nose work too.
DeleteThat Thanksgiving dinner photo is just adorable - such well trained pups!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThey are so cute!! I've never really compared any of my dogs' before. I'll say one thing - every dog has quickly figured out how to get my husband to do what they want.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Well that's a valuable skill!
DeleteMy dog is a crazy terrier too. Huge prey drive and not food stupid so difficult to train. I ended up with him because no one else could handle him. He ended up with me for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteMr. N is the same way but he's pretty easy to train for me anyway. Other people he's not so convinced he has to listen to.
DeleteMy dog is a crazy terrier with a huge prey drive and is not food stupid so is difficult to train. I got him because no one else could handle him. He ended up with me for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteRuby is lacking in street smarts as well - especially with cars. She is very tuned into my emotions to the point where sometimes I feel like I have to hide them from her. She gets very upset if I'm upset - I always have to reassure her that everything is OK.
ReplyDeleteMr. N likes to play mediator.
DeleteI would describe my Prince as emotionally intelligent he always knew when i was low or in a foul mood. At the same time would love to learn new tricks and do his commands too but other than that i wouldnt call him superior intelligence but i LOVE him - always
ReplyDeleteEmotional intelligence is a great skill!
DeleteGreat article! I don't think the Goldens have many street smarts, that's something we need to work on! lol
ReplyDeleteMr. N would not be a good scavenger!
DeleteLayla is very laid back, mellow but smart and when she wants something knows how to tell me - sometimes I say she is too smart but would not trade her for anyone or anything in the world
ReplyDeleteMr. N is also too smart for his own good!
DeleteMr. N is a super smart guy! He does seem to pick up on things really fast. Onyx seems like an adorable, fun companion. My cats have different intelligence factors. Both Manna and Dexter are really smart. They each have things that they do better than each other. Manna has figured out how to use her paw to get liquids/food out of containers with narrow openings. Dexter learns how to use different types of toys a lot faster. It is fascinating to watch the two of them learn!
ReplyDelete-Purrs from your friends at www.PlayfulKitty.net
Maybe they'll team up!
DeleteVery interesting post. I remember studying Multiple Intelligences in humans when I was working on my Ph.D.
ReplyDeleteThank you. It's interesting seeing how it works in dogs.
DeleteI love the "street smarts" point - Bruisy was adopted when he was about one and we KNOW he has crazy street smarts and could probably fend for himself in any situation and when you compare him to Walter who we've had since he was a puppy it is SUPER obvious which dog would survive the zombie apocalypse!
ReplyDeleteMr. N would not fare well with zombies.
DeleteThat's really interesting. Phoebe is more like Onyxx, and just as good obsessed! Icy, my Husky is more like Me. N with a strong prey drive & too smart!
ReplyDeleteLove & biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Sounds like Mr. N!
DeleteIt is interesting to think of the multiple intelligences. My Delia sounds a lot like Mr. N and Chewy sounds like Onyxx. Delia is very ball driven, she picks up on things quickly, she's very agile and quick. Chewy is all about food and chews, not as quick to pick up on new things...if at all...and he takes his time with everything. There's no rushing him.
ReplyDeleteOr so much space is taken in their brain thinking of food, there's not much room for else!
DeleteI know that all of my dogs have different strengths, but I never really thought about it terms of multiple intelligences.
ReplyDeleteI figured it made sense to look at it that way.
DeleteI don't like my dogs too smart-it gets us in trouble lol
ReplyDeleteSmart dogs are too smart for their own good!
DeleteEcho, who is mixed with Border Collie, is super smart! He is wonderful at puzzles and is very in tune to the world around him. He does get a little tense when encountering something new.
ReplyDeleteGracie is smart too. She is super stubborn though so sometimes it's difficult to measure how smart she actually is.
Oh there's always that problem solving ability where they do "bad things" while using their brain!
DeleteLove the article! Dogs are so smart. It's neat to dissect it like this.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are. It's interesting seeing in which avenues.
DeleteWow, lots to think about here; great perspective! My husband and I often debate which corgi is smarter, but we can't ever come to a consensus. You are so right about them having different types of smarts. Common sense comes into play with mine, for lack of a better term. Dewi seems like a doofus in his mannerisms, but he can learn a trick faster than lightning can strike and never forgets how to do something. Jon Farleigh is sly, on the other hand, but slower than Dewi with the "processes." I think this is why they get along so well! Bert and Ernie. :) Love the photos in this post!
ReplyDeleteHaha. We used to say Goofus and Gallant!
Delete