Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on June 22, 2015 at 6:25am

11? Must be a typo. They meant 1.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by susan on July 23, 2015 at 1:56pm

AGREE!!!!  ;)

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on June 22, 2015 at 8:22pm

Haha Vicky! When you think that there are 184 dog breeds recognized and Corgis are 11th...that's pretty darn good.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on June 22, 2015 at 8:54pm

Definitely smarter than the average bear. ;-)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Carl Koch on June 23, 2015 at 2:41pm

I doubt there is a reputable source. Most of these "experts" look at some dogs, write a book and they are instant experts on the subject. I think every dog is different just as humans are. Breed aside, there are smart dogs and some that are a treat short. That said, there is no doubt that Border Collies are probably the smartest. Many tests and research have established that. As for the rest.....

Our Corgi has days when she is scary smart. She also has days when I don't think she can find her own tail. Every dog is unique. Love them for what they are, not what you wish they were. They are their own little personalities. Each has its quirks just as we do.. Accept them as they accept you.

As for the difference between Pembrokes and Cardis...

Once again this is an opinion of a self proclaimed expert. What dogs were used in the trials? Did they use a very large sample of each breed (they are separate breeds you know). Were precise results kept and correlated? I have a Cardi. She is generally smarter than I wish sometimes. She has a stubborn streak but that doesn't make her dumb, just hard headed. The Cardi preceded the Pembroke by about 2000 years. They don't share DNA or source breeds. I would be very surprised if they had identical traits and personalities. Once again love them for what they are and what they bring to your relationship. Don't expect them to help the kids with their algebra homework.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Doglover on July 5, 2015 at 4:14pm

I think these rankings of intelligence are very subjective. There are different types of intelligence. I think the one where corgis are ranked #11 is based on how quickly a dog learns a new command. Given that, yes, corgis are smart. I taught my corgi most of her new tricks/commands by repeating something over and over and within 15 minutes, she's learned a new trick, rewarded with treats, of course. However, I've had 2 malteses, and I think they're really smart dogs in a different type of "intelligence". My first Maltese was very smart because he was extremely in tune to our emotions- was happy when I was happy, lay quietly by my side when I was sick, knows when humans are upset/raising our voices and when everything's fine. He was bilingual and understands more words than my corgi. My current Maltese is very visually intelligent. He can spot a tin dog on the TV screen, computer, iPad, phone, picture on the wall and know the difference between a dog and a bother animal. He becomes interested and engaged when it's a dog, but is indifferent when it's another animal. The corgi however, doesn't seem to see anything when I facetime him. So there are different types of intelligence and what dogs are smart at varies amount and even within breeds.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Beth on July 6, 2015 at 12:34pm

Curious:  Does your Corgi not see you on Facetime, or has he learned it's not important to him?

The reason I ask is my male Corgi used to listen to my husband's voice on the phone and get very excited, but after a time or two he realized my husband never, ever materialized from the phone and so started ignoring him.

Similarly, the first few times he saw animals on tv, he looked at the tv, looked behind the tv, etc.  He soon learned those tv animals had nothing to do with him and stopped paying any attention to them at all. 

Dogs are primarily scent-oriented, so they can learn to recognize shapes as meaning something, but unless they are rewarded for interacting with those shapes or disembodied voices, they often just tune them out.

It's sort of like saying you don't interact with the photos on your desk.  You put them there because they mean something, but most of us soon ignore them.   We don't treat them like the people they represent.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Holly on July 21, 2015 at 1:36pm

The television used to be a bit of a problem as Sully would get upset about crying puppies and people, such as the lady crying for help when she falls and can't get up. After a couple of months the TV seems much less worrisome, barely getting a glance or two at sounds of distress. I don't FaceTime so I can't say what would happen but I assume it would be similar. It would be interesting to see how it effects other pets.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anya Q. on July 9, 2015 at 1:36pm

I don't trust those lists. I do think they're based on trainability, more than actual intelligence, and corgis can be a little stubborn at times.

Malinois are not on the list, and they're hands down one of the most intelligent breeds ever, so it doesn't make sense.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by GPN on August 2, 2015 at 3:11am

I agree.  I have a brilliant extreme genius corgi that fetches in the newspaper.  It doesn't get any better than that.

Greg N

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 4
• 5
• 6
• Next ›
• Page