Anonymous wrote:Our dog is gifted and much smarter than your dog. That's why we can never have playdates together, because our dog is so bored with your ordinary dog. We have to get him special toys for enrichment. He finished the obedience course in record time. I feel sorry for you because your dog is so dumb.

Our dog is a huge dummy. Both literally and figuratively. But he's a sweetie so it's okay.

An average dog has an intelligence of a year old child and if you try and teach him and communicate a lot and talk a lot to him then he will be smart, otherwise do not expect much
from a dog that has only himself to learn from your cues. He will some but it is like
going to a foreign country as an adult and try to learn language of the natives
without anyone taking time and trying to explain, point, repeat and teach meaning
in non verbal way.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. She knows when we're packing up to leave in the morning & just heads to her crate without any signal, same with when dinner is getting ready to put on the table.

Similarly she uses her smarts for evil (j/k) because she will ONLY steal toys or try to steal food when no one is in the room with her. And if she succeeds, you know it immediately because her guilty self gives it away.

She's a 2 year old lab-beagle mix rescued from a kill shelter as a tiny puppy.

"heads to her crate without any signal" + "She's a 2 year old lab-beagle" = ???

Why would you lock a beautiful smart 2 year old lab/beagle dog in a crate for a whole day?
Dog that is not a puppy and that is trained not to chew on furniture nor pee or poop in the house can be easily left at home for the day when you are at work.
Worse case scenario if you are afraid of soiling you could designate an area that is easy to clean as for instance the kitchen and gate it around so dog can walk about freely and have his bed there to sleep, water and food accessible.

I can not imagine crating and adult dog. It is very harmful for them because the dog is a large creature and needs to move about. Crating animals leads to depression, circulation problems, joint problems and obesity.

Free dog is a happy dog.

Is my dog smart in that she figures things out and knows lots of tricks? Nope. She will cry at a half-open door so we can open it. Our trainer said that smart dogs tends to get into mischief so I'm grateful to have a dog of average intelligence who knows to stay off the counter (even though she is a giant breed and the counter is at eye-level) and is reliable with most of the important commands. She also likes to "tuck herself in" by pulling her blanked over herself with her teeth.

What impresses me is how well she "reads" her humans and she is very sensitive. I swear she knew I was pregnant before I did because she suddenly got protective of me on walks and with visitors and became even more clingy. If I cry about something she is right there trying to lick my face or nuzzle me. One time a friend's baby was crying so our pup tried to help buy bringing over her favorite toy. She somehow knows that kids are more fragile because she is gentle and calm around them. So I guess my dog does not really have problem-solving intelligence but makes up for it in emotional intelligence.

I've fostered about six dogs now and I have my own (very dumb) dog. I have seen a wide variety of intelligence in these dogs. Some of them, you can really see the thinking that is going on. I found a poodle and a silky terrier to be the smartest. The dumbest is my chihuahua and the cleverest in an evil way was also a chihuahua. He would sneak, scheme, plan.....

We have one total dumb dumb and one smartypants. But we love them, they love us, and they're both absolutely nuts about DD and that's what matters to us.

Yes. Her EQ is fabulous. My parents were here; it was awkward, and the cockapoo laid down on the couch next to me. Each time I took my hand off her, she would look up at me to put my hand back. Once I had a migraine that was making me puke over and over and I wound up laying on the floor. She came and laid down next to me. Her emotional support is huge.

I can point and say "Out of the kitchen!" and she runs to the edge of the kitchen and sits and watches. I also taught her "Out of the street" and she'll hop back onto the sidewalk. I once told her "I'm going away for a few days but I love you and you'll stay here okay?" and she ran to DH who was staying home.

Our dog is gifted and much smarter than your dog. That's why we can never have playdates together, because our dog is so bored with your ordinary dog. We have to get him special toys for enrichment. He finished the obedience course in record time. I feel sorry for you because your dog is so dumb.

No, he is dumb. He has this long stick toy & when he carries it around the house he can't figure out why he can't make it through the doorways. That has been going on for months.

No. She's a dog.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Golden seems as dumb as a rock most of the time. But, he does know to jump on command, and stay(for a few seconds) and sit and lay down, and knows not to come when called unless I am holding a snack in my hand. And to wait when kids are eating in hopes of getting some food, but will not eat any food of the table or kitchen counters. Heck, he is so dumb, my DS left a burger on a living room table and it was still there when I came back from work, 8 hours later. He also can't stay still when we go to his vet, no treats will help. So really, I don't know. I tried to teach him to knock the empty bottle down for a treat and he just lays there waiting for me to give up and give him food.

Oh, just to add, he does go to his spot when I say "night,night." Is that smart?

Ha. Our golden used to "shark" around the table when the kids were younger - she would circle the table and then suddenly go for something on their plates. She is and always has been a major, unapologetic carb-aholic. Bagels in particular are way too tempting. Sandwiches, rolls, pizza - all fair game. A burger on a bun? Gone.

I only wish that I could train her to stay off the counters and tables. My kids are bigger now and they tend to eat at our breakfast bar which is a bit above golden retriever height. I guess she's trained us all well.

Mine does regress when my mom comes to visit. But, it is her fault. She A) eats non stop(not that I would ever tell mom that) and B) she feeds him when she is eating non stop. After her visit it takes me few days to get him to stop.(There was a case of missing bacon I just cooked for kids for breakfast and some eye contact avoidance....)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Golden seems as dumb as a rock most of the time. But, he does know to jump on command, and stay(for a few seconds) and sit and lay down, and knows not to come when called unless I am holding a snack in my hand. And to wait when kids are eating in hopes of getting some food, but will not eat any food of the table or kitchen counters. Heck, he is so dumb, my DS left a burger on a living room table and it was still there when I came back from work, 8 hours later. He also can't stay still when we go to his vet, no treats will help. So really, I don't know. I tried to teach him to knock the empty bottle down for a treat and he just lays there waiting for me to give up and give him food.

Oh, just to add, he does go to his spot when I say "night,night." Is that smart?

Ha. Our golden used to "shark" around the table when the kids were younger - she would circle the table and then suddenly go for something on their plates. She is and always has been a major, unapologetic carb-aholic. Bagels in particular are way too tempting. Sandwiches, rolls, pizza - all fair game. A burger on a bun? Gone.

I only wish that I could train her to stay off the counters and tables. My kids are bigger now and they tend to eat at our breakfast bar which is a bit above golden retriever height. I guess she's trained us all well.

Anonymous wrote:My Golden seems as dumb as a rock most of the time. But, he does know to jump on command, and stay(for a few seconds) and sit and lay down, and knows not to come when called unless I am holding a snack in my hand. And to wait when kids are eating in hopes of getting some food, but will not eat any food of the table or kitchen counters. Heck, he is so dumb, my DS left a burger on a living room table and it was still there when I came back from work, 8 hours later. He also can't stay still when we go to his vet, no treats will help. So really, I don't know. I tried to teach him to knock the empty bottle down for a treat and he just lays there waiting for me to give up and give him food.

Oh, just to add, he does go to his spot when I say "night,night." Is that smart?

My Golden seems as dumb as a rock most of the time. But, he does know to jump on command, and stay(for a few seconds) and sit and lay down, and knows not to come when called unless I am holding a snack in my hand. And to wait when kids are eating in hopes of getting some food, but will not eat any food of the table or kitchen counters. Heck, he is so dumb, my DS left a burger on a living room table and it was still there when I came back from work, 8 hours later. He also can't stay still when we go to his vet, no treats will help. So really, I don't know. I tried to teach him to knock the empty bottle down for a treat and he just lays there waiting for me to give up and give him food.