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Obedience and working intelligence is just one dimension of canine intelligence.
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They’re some of the best learners and most obedient dogs. When it comes down to obedience and working intelligence, the Doberman Pinscher is second to only a handful of breeds. For example, the Dachshund, Boston Terrier, Australian Shepherd, Siberian Husky and Shiba Inu are in this intelligence class. That’s also not bad company for being just “average intelligent.” 2 More Reasons Why Dobermans Are Smart Some of the world’s most popular dog breeds are “average” intelligent. However, it doesn’t mean average intelligent dogs don’t understand what you’re asking. The numbers suggest they’re certainly less obedient. In addition, average dogs tend to obey a known command on the first attempt just 50% (or higher) of the time. In other words, Dobermans are at least 5 times faster than the average dog when it comes to learning commands. The average dog is capable of learning a new command with 25 to 40 repetitions. All dog breeds are smart enough to provide most people with their needs. But out of curiosity, how does the Doberman Pinscher compare to the average dog? There’s nothing wrong with being average, especially when it comes to dogs. Not only are Dobermans smart, but remarkably obedient too!Īnd just for reference, other dog breeds in the same intelligence class as the Doberman include the Rottweiler, Papillon, Australian Cattle Dog, Labrador Retriever and the Sheltie. Not a bad group of breeds to be associated with. Dobermans did so well that they were placed in the top 10 smartest dogs list – the highest category for dog intelligence.īeing in the top 10 meant that Dobermans were capable of learning a new command with less than 5 repetitions! Depending on the complexity of the command, you may be able to teach a Doberman a new command in just a few minutes!įurthermore, Dobermans will successfully obey a known command on the first try 95% (or higher) of the time. The Doberman Pinscher performed exceptionally well. In addition, only recognized dog breeds were evaluated by the obedience judges. As such, thanks to their immense popularity, the Doberman Pinscher qualified for the trials. The trials also did not include mixed dog breeds. Rather, only breeds that had at least 100 responses qualified. Still, not all dog breeds that participated in the trials qualified for his final intelligence list. Stanley Coren received a much larger response than he anticipated.
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The higher the rate, the more obedient and intelligent the dog breed. The success rate of a dog breed obeying a known command on the first attempt.Fewer repetitions meant the dog breed was a faster learner, thus more intelligent. The number of repetitions needed for a dog breed to learn a new command.
Doberman intelligence picture shapes trial#
The Dog Intelligence CriteriaĬoren requested the help of 199 obedience trial judges (from the AKC and CKC) to help evaluate and rank dog breeds based on his obedience training criteria. Though he was credited for the research, he didn’t do it all by himself. The most intelligent dog breeds list was published by pHD and canine psychologist Stanley Coren. But how did the “experts” come to this conclusion? Only the Border Collie, Poodle, German Shepherd and Golden Retriever rank higher. As the 5th smartest dog breed, Doberman Pinschers are more intelligent than nearly every other breed.
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