breed intelligence rankings.

[Pugbus05]

It has been my experience that Pugs are very trainable...as long as food is involved. But, hey, whatever works is good! I always say that there's nothing so dangerous as a smart Pug.

[Lemon]

Zoe, I hope this doesn't ruin your day... we all KNOW you're the exception to the rule. The rest of your breed is ranked at #77.

[Pugsly's Mom]

I'm just shocked at the pug ranking! I think you are right, Kathleen, they are too human to be fairly measured! Thanks for sharing, though - very interesting. My coworker is thrilled that her lab ranks 4th!

[amber]

I would like to support that a Golden's behavior is the result of their owner. My fiancé John has a Golden (Mack b/c he is 120lbs and basically the size of a Mack Truck), and he is the most well behaved and yet still loving dog I have ever known. I know this is a result of John working with him as a puppy, but I just had to put in my 2 cents!




Mack:

[eclecticmk]

Mom has a yellow lab - sweetest dog you would ever want around - dumb as a rock. When Molly and I were going to obedience class, the trainer used to make fun of my little pug dog in the class full of big dogs but she pulled me aside after class one evening and said she and the assistant trainer had been watching us and Molly had immediate recall. She was expecting great things from us! At the end of advanced obedience, we had an exercise where we had to teach our dogs a multi part trick they had never seem before. Molly and I won both tests. We were the first to complete both and she ran through both of them perfectly in front of the class. Most of the labs/golden's never did learn their tricks.

Now that's it's fall again, we will probably start back in Rally classes.

[amber]

As long as we are on the subject of dumb dogs - I'd also like to throw in my Dad's Weimerainer (SP?) is the absolute dumbest dog I've ever met. She's lovable and cute but just always looks really blank and not all there.

[Mum]

Pepper is our first puggie...we've always had labs in the past. I've never been able to teach a dog tricks so fast as I can with Pepper! I may be prejudiced, but I think she's brilliant.

[Billie]

[QUOTE=Lemon]... but the Labrador Retriever ranks 7th! Are they serious? Maybe it's just the particular labs I've known, but every last one's been dopey. Beautiful, but not the sharpest tool in the shed.[/QUOTE

Amen to that! One we had ate the bird he was supposed to retrieve.

[KHaas]

IMO, like any dogs, labs are only as good as their owner. My uncle has raised labs as hunting dogs my entire life. He gets them from a great line, works with them religiously and I swear I have never been around better, more obiedent, fun dogs. He can communicate with them by voice or by hand signals. Pretty neat if you ask me. We always joke that he could put them in a sit/stay, go mow the lawn and when he returned the dog would still be there.

Having said all of that - I agree with Dante - you have to train a lab to do what you want but do you have to train a pug to be a companion? It is just their nature. In my book, Pugs are #1 on the list - but nobody asked me .

[tall grass pugs]

Of course, education is repetition. One behavior after another, structured and rewarded. The big dogs are bought as cute puppies, and put outside when the teenage years begin. A serious trainer can teach a rock to dance. But the daily teaching and interaction has to be there. Few things are as pretty as an afghan taking a round of hurdles, but it takes the owner to make the effort.