Is My Golden Retriever Smart? Interesting Insight About the 3 Types of Canine Intelligence

Canine Intelligence

What is going on in your golden retriever’s head? Is she dreaming of a tasty treat or imagining the next exhilarating cat chase? While we often give them less credit than they deserve, dogs are incredibly smart animals. Canine intelligence is impressive: dogs can understand over 150 words, recognize vocal tones, read facial expressions, and interpret body language. Dogs can learn new tricks, solve puzzles, and navigate challenging environments. Equally remarkable, dogs have superb short- and long-term memory. They can recall people, places and events from the past. While all of us have probably observed something smart our dog has done, scientists have actually categorized the three different ways that canine intelligence can be measured.

Instinctive Intelligence

Instinct simply means that dogs have a natural capacity from a young age for certain tasks due to their breeding/ancestry. For example, Border Collies are bred for herding. Their instincts direct them to round up, keep together, and drive livestock.  Bred for retrieving, Labradors are wired to “fetch” whether this be a bird, ball, or stick.  Bloodhounds are bred to track. They will “doggedly” sniff out and follow scent trails. Bullmastifs are bred for guarding and chasing off strangers.  So, for certain tasks, it is true that dog intelligence is related to breed.

Adaptive Intelligence

Defined as “a measure of what a dog can do for himself”, this type of intelligence involves problem solving, learning from experiences, and adjusting behaviors. Dogs use this type of intelligence to figure out a puzzle toy, navigate a maze/obstacle course, or open a closed gate. Memory plays a key role in adaptive intelligence: dogs need to remember where something is or how to access it. This type of intelligence varies widely across a breed. Some golden retrievers might exhibit exceptional problem-solving skills while others appear clueless.

Working/Obedience Intelligence

This can be explained as a dog’s ability to learn and follow commands from humans. It is what a dog can do when instructed and guided by a human trainer. A dog responding to his master’s commands and signals appropriately would be an example of this type of intelligence. This is often the type of intelligence we intuitively think of when discussing canine smarts. While this type of intelligence crosses all breeds, certain breeds are known for high obedience intelligence: German Shepherds, Poodles, Border Collies, Labradors, and Golden Retrievers.

Conclusion

Canine intelligence is multifaceted. Genetics, breed, environment, and human interaction/input all contribute to your dog’s IQ. While we can’t guarantee that our golden retrievers are the smartest dogs out there, we do know that golden retrievers are highly trainable and “super smart” at bonding with their humans friends. Please reach out for more information about our superb line of goldens. To see our golden retrievers in action and interact with them, visit us here in beautiful Bradford, Maine.