Labradors are lively, amiable, and social dogs. They possess all of the desirable characteristics of a good family dog. It’s no wonder that they’re America’s most popular dog breed. Is their popularity, however, mainly attributable to their intelligence?
One of the most intellectual dog breeds is the Labrador Retriever. In fact, when it comes to devotion and functional intelligence, they’re the seventh smartest dog. But it’s the Labrador’s superior retrieving instincts and ability to easily adjust to new locations and situations that make them genuinely clever.
Labradors are not only extremely faithful dogs, but they are also extremely bright in other areas. Let’s take a look at what makes Labrador Retrievers one of the world’s smartest dog breeds.
Measure a Labrador’s Intelligence
As previously said, the Labrador Retriever is among the top ten dogs in terms of intelligence. But how did we arrive at this decision? Who conducted the research and how did they assess dog intelligence?
Stanley Coren, a canine psychologist and pHD, is largely responsible for the single list of brightest dog breeds. Despite leading the study, he received assistance from 199 of North America’s greatest conformance trial judges.
How Labrador Retrievers Performed
The Labrador Retriever did an outstanding job. They performed so well that they were easily ranked as the 7th best-performing canine breed in the top 10 smartest dogs list. Conveniently, the top ten breeds are also the most intelligent.
Labradors in the top ten were able to learn a new command in less than five repetitions. It’s really simple and quick to teach your Lab new instructions and skills!
Labradors, on the other hand, are one of the most loyal dogs in the world. They will obey a recognized instruction with a success percentage of 95% or higher on the first try!
The “Average” Dog vs. Labs
Yes, Labs are bright and obedient animals. But how do these clever dogs stack up against the “typical” dog breed? Let’s have a look…
With only 25 to 40 repetitions, the average clever dog breed can learn a new command. In other respects, a Labrador Retriever learns new commands at least 5 times faster than a Golden Retriever.
In addition, most dogs will obey a known command with a 50% or greater success rate on the first try. It’s not bad, but it’s not as obedient as a Labrador Retriever!
Other Factors That Make Labs Smart
Labrador retrievers are intelligent dogs for a variety of reasons. Coren’s rankings, on the other hand, solely took into account attentiveness and working intelligence, which is only one aspect of actual dog intelligence. It’s all we have because it’s the most scientific way to test dog intellect.
Even yet, Stanley Coren acknowledges that adaptable and spontaneous intelligence are two other aspects of canine intelligence. Both of these factors are significantly more critical for determining a dog’s IQ.
However, as you might expect, the two other forms of IQ are significantly more difficult to assess. For more information, click here.
