How to Test Your Dog's Intelligence

Like humans, dogs have various levels of intelligence. Some breeds are smarter than other breeds, and some dogs within that breed are going to be smarter than other dogs. There are a number of different ways to judge intelligence as well. How easily a dog can learn new tricks is one method that some dog owners and trainers like to use. However, another method of testing your dog's intelligence has to do with testing its ability to solve problems. Canines with problem solving skills tend to show more intelligence than other dogs. Below are some methods of testing your dog's intelligence.

Dog IQ Testing Games

• Find the Treat 
One of the most common ways to test your dog's problem solving abilities is to see if your pet is able to find and uncover a treat that has been hidden. First you put the treat in front of your dog's nose so that it smells it. Then you put the treat a few feet away and cover it with a bowl or can. The faster your dog is able to knock it away and find the treat, the better your dog did at this test. Smart dogs can complete this exercise in 5 seconds or less, though this number varies depending on how difficult the cover is to knock over.

• Where'd You Go? 
This test can be a lot of fun, though make sure that you place your pet in a safe location. All you need to do is take a regular sized towel and throw it over your dog's head so that the towel covers your dog's line of sight without easily falling off of its face. The faster your dog gets out, the smarter your dog. Anywhere from 5 to 15 seconds is considered "fast."

• Pick a Can, Any Can 
Another exercise involves using 3 cans. Place a treat under one can at random and show the treat to your dog before covering the treat up. Leave the other two cans empty. If your canine goes to the can with the treat first, your dog has performed this exercise correctly.

• Use Your Paw 
Find a location within that is thin or small enough that your dog's head cannot fit through it, but that is not too far away for your dog. A popular choice is underneath a chair. Show your pet a treat and put it in that location. If your dog uses its paws to get the treat out within 30 seconds or less, your dog has performed well. If your dog tries to get it out with its paw but fails, this is still a good sign. If your dog only tries to use its head or it gives up, then it did not perform this exercise well.

• In Touch With Emotions 
Dogs that can pick up on the actions of their owners are known to be more intelligent than other dogs. There are different ways to test this. Some recommend simply smiling at your dog and seeing if its tail wags. Other people recommend picking up a leash and seeing if your dog notices it as a cue to go outside. There are ways to see if your dog can pick up emotions, and if it can it is likely to have greater intelligence than those that cannot.

Testing Procedures

There is no true IQ test, only different exercises that you can give your dog to see how smart it appears. Still, if you would like to see how intelligent your dog is, the above exercises should do the trick.

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How To Teach A Dog Tricks The Ideal Way

Any one who owns a dog wants to know how to teach a dog tricks. It would be superb fun and entertainment to see your dog perform tricks such as roll over, play dead, shake hands, etc. In reality you'll find, you are required to teach your dog basic obedience training first before jumping into teaching your dog tricks.

Before learning how to teach a dog tricks you will need to learn a number of basic skills that will make teaching your dog tricks a great deal more trouble-free. You must teach your dog the simple commands such as sit, stay, come, down, and heel. When your dog has learned how to perform these primary skills on command then you are ready to teach your dog other tricks.

Fundamental Equipment You'll Need to Have When Learning How To Teach A Dog Tricks:

* An assortment of treats

* Collar

* Training Leash

You ought to keep training sessions for teaching tricks quick, try to keep it down to around 15-20 minutes at the most each session and practice regularly daily. This is to be sure that the dog doesn't get bored by hearing the same command over and over. Make certain you reward your dog each time a trick is performed properly and keep the classes positive.

Once you have picked out a command name of the trick you want to teach your dog, you need to always use that same command throughout your dog's training. Use a hand signal and vocal command a handful of times if the dog isn't responding, and always make sure to remain consistent. As your dog understands a trick and is in the process of solidifying the trained behavior, slowly decrease the reward. For instance in the beginning you would want to use treats to teach your dog a trick and then slowly but surely replace treats with just praise and then replacing praise with just verbal praises like "good boy". This is fantastic when you learn how to teach a dog tricks given that it won't encourage your dog on to learn that it should always expect treats after it has performed a trick and recognize that just by performing a trick it has pleased you and that is good enough.

Make sure you remember to not get annoyed or angry if your dog doesn't learn something first time around. It will take some practice before your dog gets it right, but you'll get there if you keep trying. Sooner or later your dog will get it correct and make you extremely pleased. Dogs typically want to please their masters, so keep this in mind when you are teaching your dog. If you get angry and scold your dog, this will only have negative results in the future when you are trying to teach your dog new tricks.

When I asked other experts their favored tactic when it comes to how to teach a dog tricks, the all agreed clicker training is a great method. A clicker can be picked up at any pet store and has been revealed to be very successful when training dogs how to perform tricks. Dogs understand information by using their sense of smell and hearing so this is the key reason why clicker training has been established to be so advantageous.

The foremost important aspect in all of dog training and particularly when learning how to teach a dog tricks is that you stay consistent with the training practice sessions, keep things optimistic, and praise your dog to display that you are pleased when it has done the right thing. Your dog will be able to astound your family and friends if you carry out this advice I have given you, and you devote the right amount of time to work with your dog each day.

Chris L. Brown is a enthusiastic dog lover that enjoys helping other people train their dogs to be obedient.

To learn more about how to teach a dog tricks, how to train your dog or solve any dog behavioral problems you can check out his website at http://www.dogobediencehub.com

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