Dog IQ Test :-P

So I did this test with all three of my dogs today:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/pets/testyourpet/flat_alternative.shtml

Here's a breakdown of how they each did individually:

Cedar
Test One, Paw Preference:
It's likely that your dog is either right- or left-handed. In the wild it makes sense to have a paw preference, because in emergencies, one side of the body will take the lead. Why left or right are dominant is open to debate, but in some species it has some amazing consequences.

Cedar used her right paw to get the treat, which was option B. If option B - Your dog appears to be right-handed. Right-handedness in humans is often associated with language ability and a logical mind. There is some evidence that right-handed animals can be better at remembering and using words, so maybe your dog understands more of your conversation than you had thought!

Test Two, Flip The Tin:
This is a view-of-the-world test. Your dog must be able to understand that even though the object disappears from view, it still exists. If the treat has a strong smell, the test would not be conclusive, because scent would give its position away.

Cedar flipped over the cup immediately, which was option A. If option A - Your dog understands what psychologists call "object permanence". It realises that objects continue to exist even after they have disappeared from view. This is cleverer than you may imagine. To understand this, it must believe in a world beyond its perception.

Test Three, Drop The Treat:
This is another view-of-the-world test. It looks at your dog's understanding of how objects, especially horizontal objects, relate to each other. Animals that move about more in 3 dimensions should do better at this than those that move only on the ground.

Cedar looked at the floor briefly, then back up at the treat, which was option B. If option B - Your dog was surprised that the treat didn't hit the floor, but quickly worked out where it was likely to be. Many animals have trouble with this test. Pets that move about more in 3 dimensions should do better at this than those that move only on the ground.

Test Four, Round The Bend:
This is both a problem-solving test and a detour test. First your dog has to work out a route to the reward, and then it has to walk away from the treat in order to get it.

Cedar walked immediately around the barrier to retrieve the treat, which was option A. If option A - Your dog cracked this puzzle remarkably quickly. This may be because it has come across a similar situation before, or it may be very good at looking at physical problems and coming up with solutions. This takes a fair deal of brain power.

Test Five, Command of Language:
This is both a learning test and a memory test. Your dog learns your words, phrases, body language and vocalisations so that it can understand us and can guess what we're going to do next. The number of commands that an animal can understand is to do with both its ability to learn and the size of its memory.

Cedar knows more than 25 commands (38, not including agility and herding) and performed them all on command, which is option A. She is the best trained of my three dogs, so she definitely won this category ;) If option A - Your dog is obviously skilled at learning and remembering commands. When it learns a new command, your dog is associating the sound or body signals that you create with one of its own actions. Your dog's learning and memory has probably got a lot to do with your own training habits as an owner. It looks like you've given your dog plenty of opportunity to learn.

Test Six, Pull The String:
This is a speed-of-learning test. Your dog is presented with a task that it hasn't encountered before. It has to learn how to conquer it by trial and error, but can it learn in just three attempts?

Cedar pulled the shoelace with her paw almost immediately to get the treat, which was option A. If option A - Your dog has very quickly associated the action of pulling the string with the delivery of a reward. It could be that your dog has experience of performing this action already, and that it therefore took to this task quickly, or maybe your dog is simply very good at learning new physical tasks.

Test Seven, Hide and Seek:
This is a spatial memory test that tests two parts of your dog's memory. If your dog can find the treat, it has managed to remember both the layout of the room and the position of the treat in relation to all the other objects in the room.

Cedar went immediately to the hidden treat, which was option A. If option A - Your dog has performed well. It has used two types of memory to perform this task. It used its spatial memory to remember the layout of the space, and it used its episodic memory to remember the action of you placing the treat in the hiding place.

Moss
Test One: Moss first used his left paw, then switched exclusively and enthusiastically to the right. So I'm going to say it was option C, difficult to tell paw dominance. If option C - It could be that your dog has no preference; in other words, it could be ambidextrous. In some animals this has been shown to be unhelpful. It's often good to have a dominant hand to lead the way.

Test Two: Moss flipped the cup over almost immediately to get the treat, which was option A. If option A - Your dog understands what psychologists call "object permanence". It realises that objects continue to exist even after they have disappeared from view. This is cleverer than you may imagine. To understand this, it must believe in a world beyond its perception.

Test Three: Moss looked at the floor, then back up at the treat, which is option B. If option B - Your dog was surprised that the treat didn't hit the floor, but quickly worked out where it was likely to be. Many animals have trouble with this test. Pets that move about more in 3 dimensions should do better at this than those that move only on the ground.

Test Four: Moss walked immediately around the barrier to get the treat, though he did get a little distracted walking around ;). His response was option A. If option A - Your dog cracked this puzzle remarkably quickly. This may be because it has come across a similar situation before, or it may be very good at looking at physical problems and coming up with solutions. This takes a fair deal of brain power.

Test Five:Moss knows between 11-25 commands, which was option B. If option B - Your dog has learnt and remembered a broad selection of the commands that it finds most useful to pay attention to. When it learns a new command, your dog is associating the sound or body movement that you create with one of its own actions. Your dog's learning and memory has probably got a lot to do with your own training habits as an owner. They may be able to learn more commands with the right encouragement.

Test Six:Moss did the best out of all three dogs on this one! He almost immediately pulled the string with his mouth to get the treat. This is option A. If option A - Your dog has very quickly associated the action of pulling the string with the delivery of a reward. It could be that your dog has experience of performing this action already, and that it therefore took to this task quickly, or maybe your dog is simply very good at learning new physical tasks.

Test Seven: I used a toy with Moss, and he found it immediately, which is option A. If option A - Your dog has performed well. It has used two types of memory to perform this task. It used its spatial memory to remember the layout of the space, and it used its episodic memory to remember the action of you placing the treat in the hiding place.

Scully
Test One: Scully used her right paw, which is option B. If option B - Your dog appears to be right-handed. Right-handedness in humans is often associated with language ability and a logical mind. There is some evidence that right-handed animals can be better at remembering and using words, so maybe your dog understands more of your conversation than you had thought!

Test Two: It took Scully a little bit of time to figure this one out, but she eventually used her face to move the cup, which is option A. If option A - Your dog understands what psychologists call "object permanence". It realises that objects continue to exist even after they have disappeared from view. This is cleverer than you may imagine. To understand this, it must believe in a world beyond its perception.

Test Three:Scully did the best of all three dogs on this one. She never looked to the ground, instead following the treat to where it landed on the pillow. Option A. If option A - Your dog understands the way that horizontal objects relate to each other. This may not seem like much, but many animals have difficulty with this test. Pets that move about more in 3 dimensions should do better at this than those that move only on the ground.

Test Four: Once she figured out that I wasn't testing her "stay" command, lol, Scully figured this one out right away. I'll give her option A on this test. If option A - Your dog cracked this puzzle remarkably quickly. This may be because it has come across a similar situation before, or it may be very good at looking at physical problems and coming up with solutions. This takes a fair deal of brain power.

Test Five:Scully knows between 11-25 commands, which is option B. If option B - Your dog has learnt and remembered a broad selection of the commands that it finds most useful to pay attention to. When it learns a new command, your dog is associating the sound or body movement that you create with one of its own actions. Your dog's learning and memory has probably got a lot to do with your own training habits as an owner. They may be able to learn more commands with the right encouragement.

Test Six:It took Scully awhile to figure this one out, but she eventually used her paw to pull the string to get the treat, which is option B. If option B - Your dog has worked out that if it carries out the physical action of pulling the string, it will be rewarded. This is pretty impressive because pulling a string may be an entirely novel thing for your dog to do.

Test Seven:Scully found the hidden treat immediately, which is option A. If option A - Your dog has performed well. It has used two types of memory to perform this task. It used its spatial memory to remember the layout of the space, and it used its episodic memory to remember the action of you placing the treat in the hiding place.

Overall, this was a really interesting test and I'm glad I got the chance to try it out on my three mongrels :)

"Oh yeah, we're smart."