Are dogs really Intelligent?

You, yes you there, reading this may be thinking to yourself, “yeah right, dogs are just another type of “mutt” with a pea sized brain that tend to disobey their owners’ commands”. Although you would be amazed if you knew are the things dogs are capable of in realization. Trust me it’s a lot more than the stereotypical “sit”, “roll over” and “lay down”. Over the years, dogs have modernized, gone through training courses, programs, selective breeding and civilization. These unique animals have become domesticated throughout generations of civilization, they have adapted to human talents and responsibilities.

Dogs have about an equal intelligence of a 2-3 year old child when the peek adult age.

Some examples of this are – dogs learning the names of items, as well as their meaning. Being assistants to the blind and developing fine motor skills. Receiving approving results from tests on their concentration levels and being able to find their way home.

Dog are Able to Sense Emotions

Did you know that our furry, four legged friends are said to be able to sense emotions? For instance, on those bad days (that we can all secretly relate too) where we want to curl up in a ball and hide away from the world, our stressed and responsibilities, dogs can sense that we’re upset and instinctively, they see it as their job to cheer us up.

Dogs Cooperate

To add on, experts have tested dogs as well as other animals to see how a variety of animals cooperate when tested and visually experience their attention span. Dogs had very approving results when two cups were placed in front of them with a treat under one of them. The dogs successfully chose the cup with the treat under it each time, their unique sense of smell also contributed to their approving results. The results from these tests show that canines have developed a longer attention span compared to other mammals.

Has the thought of how a dog’s mind is shaped, ever pondered through your mind? Well if it has, read on.

Dogs are believed to have evolved from the wolf species. Even though other animals have a brain larger in size than dogs, dog have been believed by many people to have adapted to our social cues throughout thousands of years which in favor made them develop similar social skills to our own. Also, dogs have learned to become more tolerant of humans over a vast period allowing them to thoroughly enjoy interacting with humans, playing games and participating in various activities.

Phenomenal Memory

Researchers have begun opening new cognition labs for dogs to experiment and try to understand how these animal’s brains operate. Experiments have proven that dogs are fast learners with memorizing names of items and their meaning, this could be with stuff animals or other items.

Researchers have taken a pile of stuffed animals and told the dog a name off a list, giving the dog the task of having to find and bring the researcher the stuffed animal with the given name. Dogs have been proven to be fully capable of completing the challenge as well as succeeding at it.

Amazing Navigation Skills

Alongside all that, scientists have been trying to solve the mystery of whether dogs have an internal GPS. How they know the route to reach destinations independently. Many animals are said to find their way by magnetism, directing themselves along the North and South shorelines of the Earth’s magnetic fields. Although dogs have a very wide range of smell which is rumored to be the key to how dogs locate themselves around places they’ve previously been to.

Assisting Blind People

A responsibility dogs have been trained to accomplish is assisting blind people. Dogs go through a full training program in assisting the blind before they begin to work with a blind person. So it’s ensured that they will take good care of the patient they are working with.

The blind have begun relying on the assistance provided by trained guide dogs so they can run errands, go places and attend events. These pups are trained to direct blind people in the right direction, given directional commands by their patient, the dog’s job is to steer them away from any obstacles they could crash into, preventing them from having an accident.

Furthermore, dogs have about an equal intelligence of a 2-3 year old child when the peek adult age.

Dogs and Humans Working Together

They express many characteristics, for example; protecting their owners and loved ones for strangers and danger, their very loyal, playful, loving, sensitive, caring and helpful. These characteristics are believed to have been passed down through generations from their ancestors (wolves).

It’s known that puppies who are born and aren’t given attention and love from humans for a period of time don’t develop the same domesticated form as do dogs who are given love and care right after birth. From this process dogs grow up around people and become comfortable around them and then living around humans is a common routine.

Dogs that are given a higher percentage of love and care early in their lifetime, reach a higher potential, this is especially important if the dog works with people in it’s line of work (ex. Police force, military, FBI, performing as guide dogs, assisting their owners at war, working with people through therapy, herding other animals on farms, acting in movies, search and rescue services, tracking and hunting, detecting drugs, food, explosives and money, and guiding sleds). Dogs have worked with people for years, have saved many lives and helped people in extraordinary ways while on duty.

Conclusions

Domestic Dogs are very smart creatures, some people downplay them like they’re just annoying, loud, barking mutts that require care and have to be cleaned up after. But if you take time to read about dogs or spend time with them, you will realize that they are really very talented creatures with a lot of potential and they should be thought of as animals of honor with all they have done.

Dogs are talented, hardworking, loving, smart creatures that consider humans part of their “pack”, like their ancient ancestor’s years and years ago.