Dog Smarts
All dog owners think their dog is the smartest. But researchers have determined the
most intelligent dog breeds based on more objective measures a dog's abilities to
learn, solve problems, and obey commands. According to scientists, the 10 most
intelligent breeds of dog obey a command 95 percent of the time and require fewer
than five repetitions of new command to learn it. A dog's intelligence is not
necessarily affected by what the dog is bred to do. The tenth-smartest dog is the
Australian cattle dog, which, as it name suggests, is used to herd cattle. In ninth place
is the Rottweiler, originally used in Germany to pull carts. Today, it makes an
excellent guard dog. The golden retriever, fourth, is very popular around the world as
a hunting dog and a companion. The most intelligent breed of dog is the border collie.
which excels at doing jobs and following commands. This dog, like the Australian
cattle dog. was bred to herd sheep. Border collies must be able to listen closely and
pay attention to their owners commands. One border collie named Betsy understands
more than 300 words. She is able to learn a new command as fast as a human toddler
and is more intelligent than most of the great apes. At the other end of the scale, the
Afghan hound is considered the least intelligent dog. However, it's very likely that
Afghan owners would disagree with this ranking.
1. What are the objective measures that determine the most intelligent dog
breeds?
2. What breeds of dogs are mentioned in the text?
3. Which is the least intelligent dog?
4. Have you got a pet? / Do you like dogs? Why (not)?
decous