Are most 'mutts' smart?

Sheridan · 04-12-2007, 04:42 AM

My older sister has an adorable mutt he will be a year old sometime this month. He is so smart. For instance, most dogs don't realize when they tie out leash will pull them back if they are running. My sister's dog (his name is Max) knows how far to go out on his tie out even when running around. He already knows several tricks. Max resembles a blood hound.

Also, my dog is two years old. I thought she was a Chinese pug but I think she is half pug and half something else. My Grandmother (who does not really care for dogs) says my dog Sheridan is really smart. My husband gets on to Sheridan every time she barks when there is no reason to. Several times she let a bark out and would turn her head to see if my husband heard her (he would be in the other room).

Is this typical for most mutts to be smart?

skelaki · 04-12-2007, 07:44 AM

Every dog is an individual and some are smarter than others. The smartest dog I've ever been around was a purebred Maltese our family owned years ago. He did some things that supposedly dogs don't do or that no one has been able to figure out how he did it. For one thing, we had two intact males who,would sometimes mark in certain areas of the house if they managed to gain access. Shimo, the dog I'm talking about, would only react when shown the spot if he'd actually done the marking (we tested this out) but Jamie, the other dog would react the way you'd expect.

Sometimes they got to take special "out front walks" by themselves late at night (don't worry it was safe to do so back then where we were living). We could tell Shimo to be back in a certain amount of time (i.e. 10 minutes) and he would come back in the time you told him. He never missed by more than a minute. And, no, we did not go to the door and open it when time was up so he wasn't hearing a door open or reading body language. He was just an amazing little dog.

SFury · 04-12-2007, 07:51 AM

Each dog is different. My parents own their third golden retriever now. I grew up with the first two, and of course know the new one. I would say that the second dog was the smartest of all three of them. He learned things at a much faster rate than either of the other two dogs.

The first dog was by no means stupid, but he just wasn't as quick to catch on.

The third one is dumb as a box of rocks. He's a wonderful dog, but he just isn't that bright.

Snowshoe · 04-12-2007, 08:08 AM

I would say it depends on the individual dog.

Captbob · 04-12-2007, 11:00 AM

There was an article that I read about 2 months ago, where they compared the intelligence of mixed breeds vs purebreads, and they found that some mixed breeds actually had a higher intelligence that the purebreds. I think the test was done by a Vet University, but I can't remember which one. Anyway, here is a link on the topic.

http://www.i-love-dogs.com/dogsartic...fferences.html

Laurelin · 04-12-2007, 03:50 PM

I think it depends on the individual dog and the mix of breeds. My golden/german shepherd was smart but he is not nearly as smart as Beau is. Beau is the smartest dog I've ever been around. He just picks up on everything so quickly and seems to understand everything that goes on around him.

Then there's intelligence versus trainability.

For example, Trey is the most trainable dog I've had, but I don't think he's the smartest. He understands commands but lacks a little common sense at times. Nikki is smart in the fact she's sneaky, but she also takes commands well too. Harry is smart too, but he's not quite at Beau's level and he is harder to teach commands to. You have to work a little more with him.

Our mutt was smart and trainable, but he wasn't smarter than Beau for sure.

Chloef_2799 · 04-15-2007, 10:39 PM

I think every dog is smart in their own way. Some learn quickly, others learn slowly. Some learn by example other need to be shown over and over and they still need instructions. Some need constant repetition and others are shown once and remember it forever. IMO, there are no stupid dogs purebred or mixed breed.

SFury · 04-16-2007, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chloef_2799

IMO, there are no stupid dogs purebred or mixed breed.

No, I have definately met some stupid dogs.

When it comes to dogs, just as with people, some are just plain stupid. Most dogs fall in the middle with a fairly high level of intelligence, but there are those few on both ends of the spectrum that are the exception to the rule.