Smartest (Bird Hunting) Breeds
 

Sample List

Goldens #4
Labradors #7
Springers# 13


GSP #17
Vizsla #25

GWP # 44
Griffon #46

http://petrix.com/dogint/40-54.html

Smart to what?

What STD was used to score the breeds?

JW

Do a search, just about all the lists have the same exact rankings. Border Collies #1 (though not a hunting breed), etc.

How quickly a dog picks up a command, how many times told, etc.

I believe its a fallacy. I believe it would depend upon the trainer and the individual dog. An exceptonal bright dog will not overcome a bad trainer. The dog doesn't pick its trainer (unlike those Disney movies). It has no control over what its taught or exposed to. On the other side, an exceptional trainer will bring out the best in a dog.

Comparing both situations, who can say which dog is more intelligent, the dog with the bad trainer (limited exposure to training) or the dog with a good trainer (that learned more)?

Not surprised about the GSP being # 17 because compared to Labs they are not very bright, but the Irish Setter not even being in the top 30 surprises me. Pike

That is laughable! You can't be serious! I have 2 shorthairs right now and both have picked up on commands much... much faster than any lab I have owned and I have had a few. Overall when you take the average lab breeding and compare that to the gsp, you have many more deficiencies in the lab breed due to people breeding a dog just for the sake of making some $, intelligence being one of those traits not being a strong suit in the larger percentage of labs. There are alot of lab breeders that are reputable and doing good things for the breed but the percentage is not as high as in other hunting breeds.

Don't take what I am saying out of context.... there are many more labs in this country than gsp's and with that there is also a higher percentage of unsound breeding practices being done to create such a higher population of these labs in comparison to other hunting breeds.

Doesn't surprise me Labs are listed high. You see them doing very difficult Field Trials which are the epitome of field work. You see them used in customs, bomb dogs, service dogs, search and rescue.

I do believe the Border Collie is the most intelligent dog. Dogs, by nature, differer in their ability to learn. Some understand better than others, some train easier than others.

That being said, I also believe our sporting dogs have been bred to hunt. It's part of their makeup and they live to hunt birds. Some take more time to train than others but for the most part bird dogs can be trained to do what they were bred to do. Plus, I could care less in how intelligent one breed is vs the other. Once they understand what they should do in the field, you will have a dedicated dog for life.

Poodle # 2 -------- They gotta be joking :rolleye0011:



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This does not surprise me at all. With all the show line breeding that was done to distroy the Irish Setter as a hunting dog that had taken place. The lines that have been brought back from the past would not be in any part of these so called tests..LOL Alot is not known about some of todays Irish Setters. It has to stay that way for the most part. No one wants to see any breed of dog have happen to them what had happened to the Irish Setters. Those that are around are very hard to find and will not succum to what ther past did to them..

Good to see you posting something Doc..