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WHAT makes a border collie so smart? (ethology and genetics)?
So, there you have it: what makes certain dog breeds so intelligent? I've saw many posts claiming border collies are the smartest dogs there are, but on what ground besides competition have we decided border collies are indeed the smartest dog alive? Do they actually have a larger/different brain? Or is it simply because they have the need to work with us and to please us.
I've started to wonder what this can be and I haven't found an answer yet. I'm about to dig into Google Scholar so if anyone can point me towards the right direction, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm not looking for a 2 sentence easy solution, I really want to know what brain part, what neurons, what part of evolution (genetics, epigenetics) created the border collie and it's seemingly special brain. I'm studying ethology so please don't simplify it, just hit me with everything you got :)
Thanks for the answer, but it's not really the answer I was looking for (I knew that already).
It still doesn't explain IF border collies have indeed a greater intelligence than other breeds or that just are simply better at learning. I wish to learn if border collies have a bigger brainsize and "doggy-IQ" to put a word on it and if this is indeed the case how we managed to go from wolf, decrease it's brainsize and still end with an extreamly smart animal.
Just one more thing I wish to add: I have a border collie myself and he's well trained. I also work with other border collies during flyball (I'm a doginstructor) so I really know what they are capable of, I just wish to learn why they are so good in what they do.
Hm-mm, I'm not saying the answers thus far are wrong, but it's not really the answer I was looking for. True, the higher drives that put the dogs in constant "gogogog" mode makes it easier to train by playing, but how does it explain that border collies respond to the angle you hold your arm while teaching a new trick? Some BC don't understand "sit" when you change the angle of your arm by a few degrees, they think that the change in angle means you wish them to learn a new command and thus don't link it to the old one whilst other dogs can do with "sloppy" arm positions, the BC will analyze it and will no longer know what he/she has to do. It also doesn't explain other "strange" things about BC.
There's also the emotional part, some scientists believe border collies are on the same level of a 2.5-3 year old child whilst "normal" dogs are around 2. These tests and conclusions are probably questionable, but the a
These tests and conclusions are probably questionable, but the actual outcome of the tests isn't: BC's were one step ahead when it wasn't just about learning tricks, they seem to have another edge on other breeds. So that leads me back to the original question: Are there differences between the brain of a border collie (and how did this evolve) and a normal dog? Assuming brain size has declined since the domestication process (wolf --> canis Lupus familiaris) and border collies are stuck on the third learning phase on prey stalking, how can their intelligence be explained?
+ their language processing is more than remarkable. They even > chimps, to me it seems that's more than just a playful mind
3 Answers
- Anonymous8 years agoFavorite Answer
Its not a bigger brain, its not higher on "IQ" points, its the fact that they have higher drives then other dogs and because of those drives, they are easier to train then a dog with lower drives.
BC's, for example, have huge prey drives...if it moves, they want it...now take a toy, ball, tug, whatever, if you make the dog understand that "when you do this, you get to chase the toy", you can start to see why they seem more intelligent.
Having a dog with high prey/play drives makes it easier to train it then a dog with none, make sense?
Source(s): Realist - Anonymous8 years ago
Most if not all dog breeds were created by selective breeding. Border collies and German Shepherds are good examples of dogs breed to do jobs that show an impressive amount of intelligence and an extremely high learning capacity.
- BrennaLv 58 years ago
It's just from selective breeding. For their purpose, people chose the best dogs to combine. They chose the dogs that were easy to train. So, I guess it is somewhat genetic now. Just through evolution of the breed they have developed a quick mind that easily grasps many topics.
