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Your
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one of the most important people in your dog's life. You should
choose your veterinarian just as you select your own doctor..
Dog Health Emergencies
During
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reduce your dog’s immediate pain.......
Pet Grooming
There are
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Measuring
Your Dog's Intelligence
Some dog
owners and dog trainers expect their dog's level of thinking and
smartness to be the same of humans, when being trained. This mistaken
assumption about dog psychology can be devastating to the expectations
of both the dog owner and the dog itself.
Trainers shouldn't assess canine intelligence against human standards.
Each individual canine may possess his own unique talent. If the
occasion does not arise for the animal to display this talent, it
doesn't mean he's dumb. For centuries, behavior experts have been
trying to devise a test that measures all aspects of human intelligence
and have failed miserably. With this success rate in mind, how can
canine experts profess to measure the dog's intelligence when we do not
even speak the same language?
Labeling a dog dumb can be as unproductive and damaging as labeling
humans. If an animal is labeled dumb, the owner usually gives up trying
to teach the dog. The label then becomes self-fulfilling because if his
owner won't train him, the dog really won't know anything.
On the other hand, labeling a dog smart may create unrealistic
expectations and disappointment if he doesn't respond as expected.
Perhaps all these "dumb" dogs are just clever enough to make their
owners think they are dumb to avoid the effort of obeying!
A very
frustrated Basset Hound owner complained to his instructor that he had
spent a month trying to teach his dog to sit on command and the dog
just didn't get it. As the owner was explaining his dilemma, the
instructor was mindlessly playing with a piece of liver that she had
not put away after working with another dog.
The Basset noticed the
liver and began nudging the instructor. From pure habit, she told the
dog to sit. The Basset plopped his rear end down as fast as Bassets do.
This is a good demonstration of learning theory proven long ago that a
lack of response does not mean that learning is not occurring. This dog
was learning, the owner just hadn't found the right motivator to get
him to respond.
Perhaps canine intelligence is not measurable, particularly when the
criteria for intelligence are measured on another species' yardstick.
Fortunately, regardless of breed, the great majority of dogs are
intelligent enough to grasp basic obedience commands when training is
intelligently presented.
A trainer armed with motivating training
methods and a good understanding of the principles behind canine
learning can shape a dog's behavior into desirable conduct.
There are more
information articles on all aspects of basics dog training, dog health
issues, dog grooming and dog nutrition in
John Mailer's article directory
Copyright 2007 http://www.BasicsDogTraining .com
Measuring Your
Dog's Intelligence
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