Add up your dog's points. The highest possible score is 111 points
If Your Dog Scored High
Are you excited that you have a high-scoring or "smart" dog?
Whoa. You may be surprised by this, but... "high-scoring" and "smart" don't automatically go
together. There are other reasons your dog may have done well on these tests.
He may have done well because...
He has had some training.
In other words, he may have done well because of YOU. If you've taught your dog his name, if you've taught him to listen to you, congratulations! Because of your training efforts, he is accustomed to paying attention and working with you. These experiences probably helped him score higher.
This is good! His higher score may reflect YOUR skill and persistence, rather than HIS innate intelligence, but rest assured, your teaching efforts have made him smarter! The simple act
of teaching things to your dog develops his brain and makes him more successful doing new things.
He may have done well because...
He is eager to please.
A dog who is eager to please will double his efforts on each test. So he will often score higher than a dog with greater raw intelligence but with no desire to please.
This is great! Personality is far more important than intelligence when it comes to ease of training.
He may have done well because...
He is indeed very smart.
This may -- or may not -- be good. I repeat -- personality is more important than intelligence when it comes to ease of training.
If your smart dog is eager to please, this is terrific!
He is both willing and able to learn.
BUT... if your smart dog is independent or stubborn or strong-willed or dominant, this is not good -- and his high intelligence may make it worse. Because he may use his clever reasoning skills to do things you DON'T want him to do; for example, figuring out how to open the back
gate, or the cookie cabinet.
Whatever his personality, if you don't keep a smart dog busy, if you don't teach him new words and behaviors to keep his mind stimulated, he will get into
trouble.
Smart dogs get bored very quickly.
Smart dogs are always looking for stimulation, challenges, interesting things to do.
Smart dogs want to go for walks in new places, meet new people, play with new toys, learn new words, solve new puzzles.
Smart dogs must be kept interested and entertained. If you do too much of the same thing with them, they will look for other ways to amuse themselves, i.e. destroying the furniture, or digging craters in the yard.
Smart dogs learn very quickly which behaviors bring them the most attention -- and unfortunately, doing something "bad" gets LOTS of attention
If Your Dog Scored Low
Are you disappointed that you have a low-scoring or "not-so-smart" dog?
Whoa. You may be surprised by this, but... "low-scoring" and "not-so-smart" don't automatically go together. There are other reasons your dog may not have done well on these tests. He may not have done well because... You don't have the proper relationship with him.
If your dog doesn't listen to you, if he doesn't pay mattention to you, if he doesn't respond to his
name... it's hard to determine whether his failure to do a test is because he CAN'T, or because you haven't developed the proper leader-follower relationship so that he will work
with you.
This is not good. You must have the proper "leader-follower" relationship if you hope to train your dog.
He may not have done well because...
He doesn't care about treats or toys.
If your dog isn't food- or toy-oriented, it can be hard to motivate him to even try a test.
This is not so good, because treats or toys are offered as rewards in most types of training. However...
He may not have done well because...
He is timid of new things.
If your dog is suspicious of change, or reluctant to do anything out of the ordinary, he may be afraid to even try a test.
This is not good. Timid or rigid dogs don't adjust well to the normal curves that life throws them. Being anxious and easily stressed is no fun for any dog.
He may not have done well because...
He has a specific type of intelligence.
Some dogs are generally bright -- capable of learning virtually anything.
Others have strong abilities in one limited area (herding livestock, guarding, hunting birds or game animals, pulling sleds), but don't learn things or solve problems very well outside of that specific field.
This is not good. A breed that is a real specialist (hunting, herding, sledding, guarding) has such strong instincts hardwired into his genes that he may not adapt well to a home
environment where his working behaviors are not possible or valued, and may even be considered a nuisance.
He may not have done well because...
He is indeed not very smart.
This may not be good -- or it may be just fine. As I've said, personality is more important than intelligence when it comes to ease of training.
If your not-so-smart dog is eager to please, he will be fine. He may learn slowly, but the important thing is that he is WILLING to learn. Yes, the not-so-smart dog -- with the right personality -- can make a fine companion. In fact, he often thrives in a normal household where much of his life is repetitive and predictable, whereas the very smart dog would go stir-crazy
with such "boring" routines.
NOW... if your not-so-smart dog is independent or stubborn or strong-willed or dominant, this is really bad. Not only does he learn slowly, but also he doesn't want to learn.
If Your Dog Scored Average
Join the club! Most dogs are average. The more important question is: What is his personality like? Because personality is the real key to how easy or how hard he will be to live with and train. If your average dog is eager to please, he will make a fine companion.
NOW...If your average dog is independent or stubborn or strong-willed, you and he have some work to do!
