Exposing the Smart Dog/Dumb Dog Myth

I'm tired of hearing people tell me how dumb their dogs are and how smart mine are. They see how well behaved my fur kids are, and they make some remark about Border Collies supposing to be the smartest breed. Let me just tell you what I think about that. Poppycock! I believe that all dogs are born with relatively the same amount of gray matter to work with. How smart they are is a product of a couple of factors.

One factor is what they were bred to do. My Border Collies can do just about everything but drive the car (and I keep the keys out of their reach, just in case). But this is due to the fact that herding breeds were programmed to work as a team with a human partner to move sheep from one place to the other. To do this well, the dog had to possess the natural ability to look to the human partner for directions, understand the instructions, and do as directed. These inbred traits, or instincts, require the ability to pay attention, think on your feet, take directions, and be biddable. Possessing these traits naturally makes the Border Collie seem smarter than a northern breed or a sight hound, which were both basically bred to focus on what s out in front of them and run away from the owner as fast as possible.

If you test which breed is smartest by seeing which breed responds best to training or solves puzzles the fastest, the dog that was bred to solve puzzles, use judgement, and respond to training is going to come in first place every time. I don t really think the Border Collie has a superior intellect. I just think that the breed is better suited for what we all wish our dogs could be: attentive, quick to learn, able to evaluate and make wise choices.

People see how smart and well trained Border Collies can be, and they all want to rush right out and buy one. But this breed is not the best choice as a family pet for many ordinary people. You re not going to be able to leave this dog alone for hours on end. Without at least an equally intelligent owner, the dog will soon be ruling the household, and making the people crazy with his hyperactivity, ability to open doors, and desire to herd the children into a group and keep them still. Because, the same traits that make the breed look so intelligent are the traits responsible for the unquenchable urge to pester you to play constantly, learn new stuff, and invent games of their own. A lot of Border Collies end up in the animal shelter or in rescues because of this. The owner blames the dog, saying that he was a stupid one.

Which brings us to the second factor in what we perceive as smartness : Training. You can start with a potentially genius dog, but if you don t channel his energy into learning productive things, the dog is going to use his powers of observation, and ability to evaluate situations and make choices to suit himself. This leads to extreme frustration on the owner s part. The person somehow believed that he would get an instant wonderdog. Instead, he got this manipulating, uncontrollable beast, which has become the scourge of the household.

Instant wonderdogs don't exist. Everyone must take the responsibility of training the family dog to perform only those behaviors that are acceptable for that family. If you think you re going to get a brilliant dog without putting in the work to channel the brilliance into having him do what you want, you will be cursed with a diabolical genius of a dog. This dog will be very good at training you to do just what he wants.

A lot of the smart dogs you see on television were adopted from the pound. They were deemed too dumb to live, and were gotten rid of by their owners.** These dogs that were too dumb to learn are now famous, and putting money in their new owner s pockets every week, as TV stars. The very dog that one family threw away as no good, now thrills audiences, and makes the dog-owning television viewers say, Gee, I wish our dog was that smart! Every dog has the potential of being that smart if you simply train it.

So, before you start labeling your dog as dumb, ask yourself what you have done to school your dog. When you look at my dog, dog actors, or prize-winning show dogs, remember that the main thing that makes them look so smart is their training. I don t have a magic leash, and I am not a rocket scientist. Everyone is capable of channeling their dog s intelligence and energy into learning good habits. The difference between a dog seeming to be smart or dumb is the training. I say seeming to be, because, as I stated at the beginning of this article, there are no innately smart or dumb dogs. What the owner does or doesn't do is the determining factor in how the dog turns out.

Be a smart owner and train your dog. It's so simple--you have no excuse not to. And don't ever let me hear you call your dog dumb again!

**The first Lassie (of television fame) was gotten rid of by her original owners because they couldn't get the collie to stop chasing cars! Moose (the Jack Russell Terrier that stared as Eddie on the T.V. sitcom, Frasier ), was dumped by his previous owners because of his pesky terrier habits. Sandy (the mutt he trained for the part in the movie production of Annie ), was found on death row in the pound, due to be euthanized the next day. The famous Benji was also a rescue, but I don't recall the circumstances. All of these dogs were dumped because they were problems. They were deemed too dumb to live. They were actually some of the smartest dogs in hollywood they just had ignorant owners (people who did not know how to train them).

-Lonnie Olson

See additional information on this website on how simple it is to train your dog to be wonderful!