The authors spotted this service dog at Lancaster Brewing Company a few weeks ago. The place was packed on a early Saturday night when the dog entered with his sight-impaired handler and a companion. He settled under the high table with some other patrons and immediately spied a french fry on the floor. He quickly ate it before settling down as pictured. It was a nice reminder that despite their incredible temperament and rigorous training, service dogs are still dogs at heart.
When it comes to finding creative ways to extract treats from us, Pom is probably the smartest animal on earth. He’ll go outside to fake a pee because we’ll probably reward him. He’ll use an arsenal of cute faces in order to get a empathy treat. And he’ll do unprovoked training tricks because we gave him treats in class. His creativity knows no bounds yet, according to the Internets, Bulldogs are the 8th dumbest dog on earth.
If you google smartest dogs and dumbest dogs, you’ll find a variety of sites that reproduce a similar list. These lists are widely reproduced but rarely attributed. I traced the source to Professor Stanley Coren from this article in the Telegraph. While Coren was widely featured in the article it wasn’t clear if the smartest and dumbest lists were produced by him. I was able to track him down through his university page and he directed me to this article in Psychology Today.
In the article, Coren distinguishes different types of intelligence. There is instinctive intelligence, which refers to the execution of tasks for which a dog was bred, i.e., herding, hunting, etc. There is adaptive intelligence which describes a dog’s ability to solve problems and adapt to his environment. Finally, we have working and obedience intelligence which Coren describes as the closest thing we have to school learning. It was from this measure that Coren constructed his lists. The rankings were based on results from judged obedience tests. You can find them after the jump.
The Sunday Times Magazine focused their coverage on the English Bulldog this week. If you missed it, click the link below for more. The initial focus of the article is the UGA line of bulldog mascots at the University of Georgia. I have a good friend who once worked for the university, and he told me that the dogs couldn’t be rolled over because they couldn’t breathe. They’re cared for by the school’s veterinary program.
It’s no secret that the English bulldog has some serious health issues, and their current popularity clearly isn’t helping the breed. As the article mentions, bulldog clubs in the breed’s homeland of England are changing the breed standard in hopes of creating healthier animals. However, the American Kennel Club has been unwilling to bend their standards to breed dogs with larger hind quarters, longer noses, and fewer wrinkles.
At Where’s Pom, we’re behind any effort to make the English Bulldog healthier and more comfortable. While the exaggerated features of UGA are beautiful to me, I was heartbroken to learn that the latest UGA (UGA VIII) only lived to be two. He passed away in February 2011 of lymphoma, which the article mentions is becoming common in the breed.
To all those who would like to own a bulldog, please read our advice on selecting a dog.
Our first bulldog passed away just six months shy of his 13th birthday. He had few health problems, but he did have a few “bulldog” related issues that had to be managed including keeping his wrinkles clean and his eyelashes trimmed. The Pom has longer legs, the larger hind quarters, and the slightly longer nose that the article mentions as good improvements to make for health. He does, however, have a tight screw tail that requires careful attention.
One thing I would add to this article is the caveat that all dogs need to be managed, exercised, and cared for. Veterinary care should be an expected expense when you’re purchasing any dog. You should also expect to spent time cleaning, grooming, and exercising your pet to keep them in good health. After all, they’re yours for a lifetime.
We’ve blogged about this issue before but couldn’t resist posting this tool as well. It’s not as fun to watch as the Breed Breakdown, but it yields some surprising results. What kind of breed should you get? Use the bone slider to select a range of attributes and find your perfect dog.
Incidentally, Men’s Health also feels the English Bulldog is a good choice for guys.
The Breed Breakdown can help you choose your next dog. Select the attributes you’re most interested in, and the pages of tiles shuffles to help you make your choice. Want a medium size dog that is difficult to train but “decent” at keeping intruders from stealing your electronics, then you need a bulldog, my friend.