Are large dogs smarter than small dogs?

[Ranger99]

i think it was col. cooper that
said dogs have owners, cats have staff.

[gstewart44]

I have been fortunate enough to have a wife who has her Masters Certification in Dog Training.   Our household consists of a Border Collie, a Golden Retriever, a German Shepherd, and a black Standard Poodle/Golden Retriever designer mutt.   


I say there is a distinct difference between canine "intelligence" and trainability.     Our Border collie is the smartest of our dogs but also the most stubborn and independant......she watches and learns - how to manipulate the door latches to get into the bedroom, how to lift the latch to open the gate outside,  how to put her paw on the Down button to lower the window in the back seat of the car....she understands probably about 100  different words... but she will not listen to simple obedience commands!


The Shep is almost as smart, but she has a great desire to please and protect.   By far the easiest train and she's eager to please.   
The Golden is the most trainable (wants to please) but not quite as smart as the other two. 


The designer mutt (Poodle/GR mix) is the most well rounded.   this dog looks like a 150 lb bear when his coat grows out but he is trained for scent detection/trailing, search and rescue, agility, retrieving and personal protection.   When he is not working he is a big clown.   


They all are my collective early warning system.   the teens around us talk about the "house with all the crazy dogs!".    Good 'nuf fer me.

[scootrd]

The designer mutt (Poodle/GR mix) is the most well rounded.   this dog looks like a 150 lb bear when his coat grows out but he is trained for scent detection/trailing, search and rescue, agility, retrieving and personal protection.   When he is not working he is a big clown.   

I have always gravitated towards the working breeds. Our last Dog was a throwaway Caanan. (She was not the correct AKC color or some such stupid nonsense) We adopted her as a puppy when a breeder discarded her. She passed away last year .

Never had to teach her anything. It was like she just came inherently equipped with the knowledge "ok this is now my clan" and I am to watch over and protect all people , goats, pigs , chickens (yes she even protected her chickens) etc from foxes , ermines , weasels, raccoons, hawks, coy dogs etc.

Some days I think I would like another dog but it's still hard for me to move on when you've had the best. Heart still aches.

Maybe someday a stray mutt will find their way up my driveway  needing a home and decide to stay, till then I probably wont seek to get another.

Guess I'm still having a hard time movin on from losing my old gal. 

[Gun Runner]

I've had a dog all my life. Mostly G. shepards. 2 Great Pyrs, Dobie, English Mastif, Cocker, Malmute/wolf cross, several unamed strays, and have a Auzzie Kelpie now. Its a riot to watch him herd my 3yr old (hard headed) grandson around the yard when he heads for someplace he's not suppose to be. My wife is disabled and when she goes out of the house the dog is right next to her where ever she go's, couple times she has started to loose her balance and the dog will be under her hand with his back to give her support. Not a real big dog, 50=60 lbs but solid as a brick wall.

Gun Runner

[BBF]

...........
...........................Cats could not care less.

 
Not so, my best ever cat wouldn't leave my side in the bed when I was sick, even the Missus and his litter mate were not allowed to approach close.
He would purr for hours lie on my chest and cleaned my mustache and beard. He is gone for many years.

[SHOOTALL]

Cats are conditioned also. A guy I knew had three kittens his wife found. They were still nursing but the mother was gone. He had a Beagle that had three pups and was nursing them. So they put the kittens in with the dogs and everything was good. Well the dogs were deer dogs and when they started running the cats did also. I was at the guys house one day and this 8 pointer was in the field , he lets the dogs and cats out the pen ( yep they stayed in the pen with the dogs by choice) and they run the deer for over an hour , not bad for puppies. Well I bring a cat home for my daughter and it was a good cat but it always run deer and if any of us went in the woods to sit on a stand he would follow and sit with us which was good as he knew deer were coming long before we did. The cat was conditioned to hunt deer add the hunting instinct they are born with and he was very good at it.   

[FPH]

I've raised 3 cats since they were 5 days old.....they think I'm Momma and tag with me every where......one is as good as a "guard dog" as a dog for alerting me to a strange situation.   My dogs "look" after me due to my poor balance........two of them are always at the ready with a supporting back.  They seem to get concerned if they think I have hurt myself.  They have put their well being on the line to protect me from a pack of PIT Bull types.

[Empty Quiver]

I believe inside dogs are smarter than outside dogs. Living inside with you is a constant education for a dog.


My daughter is much smarter than the dog but she won't do a damn thing I tell her...

[mechanic]

I believe inside dogs are smarter than outside dogs. Living inside with you is a constant education for a dog.


My daughter is much smarter than the dog but she won't do a damn thing I tell her...

 
 
We have a little Pomeranian who right now is resting about 3 feet from me keeping watch.  If I ask her if she wants to go somewhere she gets all excited and spins around like a top.  If I tell her to sit, she sits.  If I tell her to stop she stops.  If I tell her to run the cat out, she chases him to the back door.  Yep, she obeys much better than my kids did.
   Ben

[Empty Quiver]

I believe inside dogs are smarter than outside dogs. Living inside with you is a constant education for a dog.


My daughter is much smarter than the dog but she won't do a damn thing I tell her...

 
 
We have a little Pomeranian who right now is resting about 3 feet from me keeping watch.  If I ask her if she wants to go somewhere she gets all excited and spins around like a top.  If I tell her to sit, she sits.  If I tell her to stop she stops.  If I tell her to run the cat out, she chases him to the back door.  Yep, she obeys much better than my kids did.
   Ben

Just gotta make sure we aren't confusing obedience with intelligence.

[goodshot]

       I have a friend whose yorkie has figured out which button to press on his cpap machine to turn it off and wake his human.

[SHOOTALL]

When you consider what people call smarts and relate to inside and outside dogs you need to look at the utility of the conditioned response. Of course the inside dogs learn more tricks to entertain their masters But do they add utility ? are they helpful  ? Out side dogs hunt , work and protect all useful conditions . Some also entertain. And for some entertainment is needed and good for the masters . A friend of mine has a small house dog and when let out to answer the call of nature on returning will stand on the door rug and raise each paw to be wiped off then turning and sticking it's butt up for the same treatment. It also does a slew of tricks and to be honest it is a good fit . But then my dog will hunt and protect and is a lot of fun. A dog I lose several years ago , my first lab was one to spoil a hunter , He would fetch ducks and geese , run deer and flash point quail. He also protected my children several times . The lab I have now doesn't care to deer hunt    but once up in Canada she retrieved 26 decoys off a mud flat when the wind changed and we could not get to them.    I was told she would never be any good after that and would always mess with the Dekes but to this day she has never messed with one . And she has gone thru. them hundreds of times since. So to me these traits are much better than what a house doge does and at least to me shows the same if not higher level of conditioning.

[FPH]

I think dogs can sense that we are sick. I've never had a dog that wasnt like that when I was sick.
Cats could care less.

Not true.....I have seen reports of cats that will lie down with and comfort people right before they die.  (cancer ward).

[scootrd]

I think dogs can sense that we are sick. I've never had a dog that wasnt like that when I was sick.
Cats could care less.

Not true.....I have seen reports of cats that will lie down with and comfort people right before they die.  (cancer ward).

I recently read a similar article about a cat in a nursing home that did the same thing. Somehow it just knows, and goes and comforts the person just before they pass away. It was an interesting story , and apparently the cat has an uncanny accuracy for sensing a persons life is near end.

[Bob Riebe]

From what I have seen, many small dogs are a lot smarter than the large people that own them.

[FPH]

From what I have seen, many small dogs are a lot smarter than the large people that own them.

Hey,who caries who around?

[SHOOTALL]

From what I have seen, many small dogs are a lot smarter than the large people that own them.