“We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet, and amid all the forms of life that surround us, no one, excepting the dog, has allied with us.” — Maurice Maeterlinck.

In his book “The Intelligence Of Dogs,” psychologist Stanley Coren ranks dogs for working intelligence and obedience, the two basic and limited ways dogs’ intelligence is measured.

Mixed breed dogs can’t be ranked in the same way since their breed origins are often unknown.

Generally, biologists believe that a mixed breed dog is most likely to act like the breed it most looks like. If a beagle-poodle cross looks most like a beagle, it will probably act like a beagle.

In his book, Coren ranked 42 breeds for intelligence.

The top ten are, in order: 1. Border Collie, 2. Poodle, 3. German Shepherd, 4.Golden Retriever, 5. Doberman pinscher, 6. Shetland sheepdog,  7.Labrador retriever, 8. Papillon, 9. Rottweiler, 10, Australian Cattle Dog.

I’ve been reading about dogs’ intelligence for years and living with Border collies, Labs, and mixed breeds for most of that time. It’s a subject that fascinates me.

Intelligence rankings are tricky and often misleading.

Border collies are the smartest dogs I’ve known in the way they work and respond to commands, yet they are capable of doing many stupid things – biting people with hats, trying to herd plow trucks, nipping car and truck tires as they speed by.

Labs are brilliant scholars of food, but they will also eat rocks and bones that sometimes need to be surgically removed.

For one thing, scientists and researchers have never agreed on what intelligence is or what it means, how it is organized, or how it is measured. In our everyday language, we use the world intelligence and its synonyms smart, clever, brilliant, wise, perceptive, and sage.

We also use words like stupid, dumb, dense, slow to describe both people and dogs.

But if you ask people to be specific about what they mean by intelligence, most are not precise about what it means to them.

What are the boundaries of intelligence? How do we separate instinct from conscious thought?

Our Boston Terrier Bud is not particularly obedient and never wants to work on cold days. But he is a wizard when it comes to figuring out how to maneuver into somebody’s lap when they are sitting on a couch.

Does that make him dumber than Fate, our border collie ho can tell where we are going by the shoes we put on?

In the British Isles, shepherds have found that herding dogs often learn best by observing older dogs working. They pick up their skills by observation.

St. Bernard’s work in mountain rescue work in three-dog teams.

When a lost traveler is found, two of the dogs lie down beside him to keep him warm and lick his face to keep him conscious, while the third returns to the rescue office to sound the alarm and guide rescuers to the lost traveler.

They aren’t trained to do this; they do it naturally. Is this intelligence or instinct or observation? St. Bernard’s have been rescuing people this way for centuries.

My own perspective is that dogs’ intelligence is judged by how well they respond to the commands of people and how valuable they are at work.

Work is believed to be a key element in different breeds’ intelligence.

Most American domestic dogs have little work to do and few commands to learn. It is difficult for their intelligence to develop.

My experience with dogs is that the more decisions they make – border collies make scores all the time – the smarter they become. I hear lots of people tell me their Labs are not particularly bright, but if I ask, I learn that the dogs spend most of their lives in yards or basements.

The less they do, the more lethargic and “dumb” they seem. All dogs need to work, working dogs especially. As many well-meaning but lazy dog owners are learning, border collies can do wonderful work, and they can be awful pets.

It may take some time to teach a dog simple commands like sit, down, and stay, but the same dog can quickly learn much more complex commands involving retrieving or jumping.

Trainers have found – I have found – that the more you train your dog to do, the faster it will learn to learn, and easier it is to train them.

I believe it’s critical to give dogs some space in which to learn for themselves. I’m amazed by what they can learn when given some freedom.

Zinnia is a responsive dog; she learned basic commands in a couple of weeks. When the pandemic struck, I was no longer allowed to go to the Mansion (an assisted care facility where I volunteer) or to Bishop Maginn High school, where I trained Zinnia to work with the refugee students.

The residents and students missed her, so I came up with the idea of releasing her outside of the building and asking an aide or teacher to open the door for her. I had a hunch she might know what to do without me, and I was correct.

She enters the building, goes from room to room, seems to identify children or residents who are fearful or upset, and goes straight to them. She goes from room to room, greeting people, then moving on to another room.

She is appropriate, doesn’t jump up or approach people who don’t make eye contact with her.

When she has made the rounds – joyously greeted by people – she goes back to the front door and waits to be released. She runs to the car and jumps in.

To me, this suggests intelligence and the power of observation.

She knows what she is supposed to do and does it. Labs are not supposed to be as smart as border collies, but I’ve never had a border collie who would figure that out on his or her own.

Breeding groups like the AKC judge a dog’s intelligence by obedience and work because those are the two things of most importance to people. It’s an interesting place to start, but I feel the issue is much more complicated.

Some behavioral tricks: Keep A Close Eye On the dog’s behavior.

A brighter dog should respond to commands quickly.

A Newfoundland will move much more slowly than a miniature poodle, but when your dog has learned a task, it should move briskly and directly as they are able.

Brighter dogs should be encouraged and expected to move quickly, and they should be corrected for slow responses as if they had not responded at all.

Often a slow response is just the dog’s attempt to see what it can get away with.

The human relationship with dogs has always been complicated and remains so today, despite our long association with them.

In many places, dogs are seen as loving, noble, faithful, intelligent; in other times and places, dogs are seen as cowardly, filthy, disease-ridden, and unreliable.

There are great confusion and controversy about dogs. Do they think, or are they biological machines? Do they have memories of the past and visions of the future? Do they have feelings of guilt, loyalty, joy, and sorrow? Do different breeds really vary when it comes to what we call intelligence?

Dogs occupy a critical space in the lives of Americans – more than seventy-two million live in homes in the United States. But there is no formal education about dogs anywhere in the public or private school system.

As much as we love them and lavish billions of dollars on their care, we still know relatively little about them. Our real knowledge of them is limited. When I observe my dogs, I understand that I can only know what I see.

I really have no idea what is happening inside, where I can’t see.

Our best sources of solid information about our dogs are each other. That’s why I’m happy to be writing this series. It’s a dialogue every dog lover wants to have.

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