obeying a command, the first time it was issued, 95% of the time. The only Toy breed placing in the top ten was the Papillon, ranked #8. Those dogs ranked #11 to #26 were likely to un- derstand a new command in five to fifteen repetitions and obey the first command 85% of the time. The Po- meranian was ranked #23. Dogs ranked #27 to #39 were clas- sified as above average working dogs. The Toy breeds included were the Yorkshire Terrier, Affenpinscher, Silky Terrier, and Miniature Pin- scher. Dogs ranked #40 to #54 were classified as average in their working or obedience intelligence. That would include the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the English Toy Spaniel. Dogs ranked #55 to #69 were classi- fied as only fair. The Toys on that list were the Pug, French Bulldog, Brus- sels Griffon, Maltese, Italian Grey- hound, Chinese Crested, Japanese Chin, and Chihuahua. Finally, those dogs ranked #70 to #79 were judged to be the most difficult to train for obedience. That included the Shih Tzu and the Pekingese. Let’s take a look at the top two Toy breeds according to this ranking. Pa- pillons were bred down from Span- iels, hunting dogs bred to flush birds out of the bush. If I were breeding and keeping Spaniels to help me hunt and keep food on the table for the family, I would breed and keep only those dogs that had good intelligence and hunt- ing ability. Pomeranians were bred down from working sled dogs. Again, only those dogs that had good apti- tude for learning their job would be kept and bred. Now let’s look at the Shih Tzu and the Pekingese. They were both bred as a companion for Chinese royalty and expected to not wander far from the Imperial Palace. Rather than being prized for their obedience intelli- gence, they were prized for their lion- like appearance and their qualities as companions. It is not surprising to me that the Toys, which were bred down from working dogs, would fare better in obedience trials.
Looking at the AKC Standards for the Toy breeds, about half mention intelligence in the Standard. But ex- actly what kind of intelligence is be- ing described? Dogs possess working and obedience intelligence (ability to learn from the trainer), instinctive intelligence (ability to perform the tasks it was bred for), and adaptive intelligence (ability to solve problems on its own). Coren’s ranking list was really only indicative of the first type. So how do the Toy breeds fare in in- stinctive intelligence, the skills and behaviors preprogrammed into their genetic code? One of the first uses of dogs was that of watchdogs, barking to alert humans to a possible intrud- er, which is not the same as a guard dog that could physically intervene. Again, Coren went to the experts, this time to trainers of dogs for protection and police work. The Yorkshire Ter- rier, Chihuahua, Shih Tzu, and Silky Terrier all ranked in the top fifteen for watchdog barking. The tiny Chi- huahua will do a better job of giving warning than a huge St. Bernard! Certainly, the Toy Terriers were bred for their instinctive intelligence for the hunt of small mammals. To determine adaptive intelligence, CorendevisedvariouscanineIQtests. Some tested learning and memory, others tested problem-solving ability. It is fun to try these at home with your own dogs. Of the Toy breeds, the Toy Poodle excelled in overall scores, and the Chihuahua was particularly good at problem-solving. Finally, we need to look at how per- sonality affects a dog’s abilities. The Obedience Personality Test provides a score that shows the willingness of a dog to obey a human. Some Toy breeds were selectively bred for gen- tleness, friendliness, and lack of ag- gression. Happily, these personality traits can combine with intelligence to make a little Einstein out of your
So, Coren went back to the drawing board. He came to the conclusion that the peoplewith themost extensive ex- perience evaluating dogs were the dog obedience judges, themselves train- ers. He sent out long, comprehensive questionnaires to every obedience judge in the AKC and the CKC, ask- ing them to rate each breed in many aspects of intelligence and ability. Over 200 judges responded, and then many had follow-up interviews. Those judges cautioned that there were certainly many variations among dogs of the same breed, and that a great deal had to do with the skill of the trainer. Yet, there was strong agreement when rat- ing the top breeds for working and obedience intelligence. After correlating the data, Coran pub- lished the rankings. He included 133 breeds, and with ties the list capped off at 79. As might be expected, there was a certain amount of “growling” from lovers of breeds that placed low on the list. It should be noted that Toy Poodles, Toy Manchester Terriers, and Toy Fox Terriers were not sepa- rated by variety but were grouped with the standard size of their breeds, making it impossible to rank them on their own. Havanese, Biewer Terriers, and Russian Toys were not on the list at all, as they were not yet recognized by the AKC at the time of the study. The dogs ranked in the top ten were described as understanding new com- mands in less than five exposures and DOGS, WOULD FARE BETTER IN OBEDIENCE TRIALS.” “IT IS NOT SURPRISING TO ME THAT THE TOYS, WHICH WERE BRED DOWN FROM WORKING
beloved Toy. SOURCE
Coren, Stanley, The Intelligence of Dogs: Canine Consciousness and Capabilities , Macmillan, Inc., New York, NY, 1994.
T op N otch T oys , M ay 2022 • 21
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