Comments on: What a Blockhead! Head Shape and Trainability in Dogs

By: Gene Freecomb

Gene Freecomb — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:23:03 +0000

Have you been following all the news about Hybrid dog mixes – “just don’t call them mutts” This is to breed out bad qualities and breed in the good. I wonder how their going to manipulate personality and intelligence on these new breeds?

By: Anika Stevens

Anika Stevens — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:32:25 +0000

Like what most had said, I agree that the trainability factor can be the measuring tool for a dog’s perceived intelligence. However, I find it interesting to read the head shapes theory – I had never encountered that and perhaps my veterinarian cousin will be very much interested in this read,

I must say that I have split views on it. As what Jim had said, about being both dumb and smart, my dog is somewhat like that. She’s a cross-breed of Labrador and a Basset hound (imagine that- but she’s very cute and very loud). She’s easy to train but can be very very stubborn.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:36:20 +0000

“But some work HAS been done on what might be one aspect of intelligence: trainability.”
I think this would be a good measure of dog intelligence. My brother-in-law has dogs and they are pretty much trainable. I guess they’re smart! Nevertheless, I still love dogs no matter what their level of intelligence is. They are truly man’s best friend.

By: Teddy Trent

Teddy Trent — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:17:36 +0000

I agree with “James Ha” about this blog which tells us about human perception and I would say that learning more about the actual trainability of dog breeds,

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:16:40 +0000

I’m not sure what truth there is to this theory, however I’m sure there may be some relevance. I have a Doberman, which obviously has a fairly narrow head. Now mine is a male & is on the large size of the average one. This is not due to being over weight as he is in good shape at 90 lbs. His head is also a little bit wider than some of the skinny head show Dobermans. Now my dog is both dumb & smart. When it comes to train-ability, he excels. Everyday stuff on the other hand, well he can be a real dummy. I am curious if there is much truth to this as I may consider it in the next dog I get. I love my dog either way so dumb or smart, I will keep him.

Jim

By: Wayne, Wes

Wayne, Wes — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 22:21:53 +0000

In this post it states….

“But some work HAS been done on what might be one aspect of intelligence: trainability.”

I must admit this has to be a great indicator of the intelligence of dogs. I’ve had a number of dogs, some that were easily trained and other that were not. And we also referred to the easier trained ones as “smarter.”

interesting thoughts on the head shapes.

-Wes
hope you don’t mind a plug for my site: http://www.watchthemastersonline.org

By: James Ha

James Ha — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:27:03 +0000

Andy,

I would agree, that’s why I commented at the end of my piece that this study may tell us more about human perceptions than dog behavior! CERTAINLY needs lots of follow-up, but it wouldn’t be surprising if there were a nugget of truth in there somewhere.

Cheers,
Jim Ha

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:07:43 +0000

Perceived trainability? I have to wonder how much owner characteristics come into the picture. For example, an owner who wants a (wide-headed) bully breed may want it for status and protection without having any real understanding of how to handle and train the breed. And obedience judges are not seeing a representative segment of the dog population, because it’s the owner who decides whether to enter formal obedience training. Anyway, this was an interesting read.