This first one was taken while I was dogsitting my sister-in-law's dog, Tori, and my Mother was staying with me so I had her dog, Misty, as well. Going clockwise from the beagle-basset mix in the back, left corner, we have (1) Ceili, (2) Jack Daniels, or JD as he's called, (3) Coop, (4) Misty, and (5) Tori.
Last year, I had a section of the yard fenced in. This year, I bought us a 10' x 10' canopy. It's wonderful! We all love to go out and hang out together in the lovely warm afternoons. Get too hot, and you come under the canopy for a drink of water and a bit of rest. I can even work out there with my laptop. Life doesn't get any better than that!
And finally, what is intelligence? That is a question that has fascinated me for many, many years. I've gained some insights more into what it isn't than what it is. It isn't the same thing as a formal education. That was a faulty definition I had for a long time. And I don't even think it's the same thing for everyone. I believe a somewhat standard definition of intelligence is how well someone is able to learn. But I'm not sure about that. The ability to learn new things is certainly one component of intelligence, but it doesn't mean that an intelligent person can learn anything. It's entirely possible for a person to be capable of excelling in just one area and still be extremely intelligent.
Which brings us to what is intelligence in dogs? There are various "IQ" tests for dogs. One involves putting a cloth over the dog's head and seeing how long it takes him/her to take the cloth off. Poodles are thought to be extremely intelligent. Certainly, I would put the poodle I had growing up named Gensel's Cherie Amour among the most intelligent dogs I've ever known. She used to go look at herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door right after she got back from the groomer's. No one will ever convince me she wasn't checking out her new "do." Which, of course, requires a level of self-awareness that the image reflected in the glass is you. Astonishing!
JD is certainly an intelligent dog. He's been described by the canine professional with whom I've worked as being too smart for his own good, as he's always able to figure out when he's being manipulated and turn that manipulation right back on us. Take, for example, the use of the ecollar to stop him from barking. Coop has never figured out the business of having the collar put on and associated that with feeling little tinglies when he isn't behaving nicely. But JD figured it out in only 2 sessions. So he learned if the ecollar is on, he stays quiet. But when the collar comes off, oh Lordy! He immediately begins making up for lost barking time. And JD can, quite literally, herd cats. Five of them, in fact. So I strongly suspect he could herd just about anything. There's got to be a ton of smarts behind that.
And Ceili? Well, she's an enigma. I bought a dog puzzle that requires the dog to move a series of bone-shaped plastic pieces that fit into tracks in order to obtain treats. Both Coop and JD figured the thing out within a half-hour. Ceili took one look at it, immediately smacked each of the bones with her paw, and grabbed up all the treats. Her expression was clearly, "Is that all you've got?" But in learning anything remotely practical (e.g., sitting on command), I'd rather try to train a cement block.
The latest venture into dog intelligence was an Orbee maze ball I just purchased. You put treats into the thing. The inside of it has a maze of plastic pieces. So the dog has to really work to roll the ball about in order to get the pieces of treats to come out the hole in the ball. The timing was great, as I had four dogs to test it on--JD, Ceili, Coop, and Tori (our visitor). The results:
- Both Ceili and Tori looked at the ball, then looked at me. Then they looked at the ball. Then they looked at me. Neither of them would make any effort to touch the ball or roll the ball. Even demonstrations by me as to how it worked had no effect on either of them. They just walked away.
- JD immediately got the concept there were goodies inside the ball. Unfortunately, he totally refused to roll the ball about to get them to come out. He was all for the direct approach--rip the ball apart and chew it viciously until it yielded up its treasures. Again, multiple attempts to demonstrate the "proper" way to get the treats had no effect on him. If he couldn't get those treats out by savagery, then never mind.
- Coop? Ahh, you gotta see for yourself in this video. Sorry, it was too big to include directly into the blog. What can I say? No demonstrations necessary for him. My wunderkind! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFR3x5fK9mQ
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