A dog’s intelligence influences how he goes through training. Learning
how to evaluate your dog’s intelligence early on will help you to anticipate
what your dog is likely to do so you can do a better job. The training method
doesn’t change—you just have to be on your toes and stay one step ahead in
order to be successful when training an intelligent dog.
A while back, I asked a couple of pro trainers how
they measure a dog’s intelligence. Dave Walker said that he believes intelligence
and natural ability are one and the same. The more intelligent the dog, the
more natural ability he has. A good example is delayed chase (see chapter 25
for more information). Delayed chase is when a dog returns to birds he
previously found rather than continuing forward with the handler. Without a
doubt, a dog that returns to birds demonstrates natural ability, as well as the
skill to learn from experience.
Maurice Lindley noted that intelligent dogs figure
things out faster. He described four new dogs he recently got in for training.
“When I began check-cording them, one dog was still pulling against the
pinch-collar after thirty minutes of walking him around. The other three were
giving in to the pressure after five minutes. How quickly a dog figures out pinch-collar
pressure tells me a lot about his intelligence. Dogs that require repeated firm
pressure are not as intelligent as dogs that give in.”
I thought a lot about what these pro trainers told me
and began paying closer attention to things like delayed chase and how dogs
react to the pinch-collar.
I decided to run some pups together and let them find
birds. Then, I waited a couple of days before running them again on the same course.
I watched closely to see if any of them returned to spots where they had
previously found birds. Some pups went right back to these spots, some slowed
down as they went by, and others gave no indication. One pup actually pointed
where he had previously found birds. I also paid attention to the pups around
the kennel and watched to see which of them figured things out the fastest.
When I introduced the pinch-collar in the training field, I noted which pups
gave in to pressure first. These observations helped me to make informed
decisions about the best training methods to pursue with each pup.
It’s very easy to make mistakes with intelligent dogs.
You might be able to get away with repeating a training setup or leaving an
occasional foot trail to a bird with an average dog, but an intelligent dog
will figure it out quickly. These dogs remember where birds are planted. They
learn to trail foot scent or four-wheeler tracks to find birds; some even start
to get birdy when they come across scent left from the exhaust pipe where you
stopped the four-wheeler to plant birds. They read your body language, and
sometimes it feels like they can read your mind. Just when you feel like you’re
getting a handle on anticipating their actions, they’ll surprise you yet again.
I had a pup last summer I’d determined was pretty
intelligent. The second time I worked him on a pigeon in a releaser, he took
off in the opposite direction of the bird flushing, running as fast as he
could. It took another workout before I realized he wasn’t running away
from the bird; he was running to intersect it. The first time I’d
worked him on a releaser, he’d figured out that after the pigeon flushed, it
flew in big circle before returning to the loft.
Most well-bred dogs are smart, but the really intelligent
ones can test your skills as a trainer, especially if you’re an amateur. Being
able to evaluate your dog’s intelligence while he is young will help you to
anticipate how he will go through training, hopefully allowing you to stay one
step ahead of him. Without a doubt, intelligent dogs make superior bird dogs.
They can be more challenging to train, but they will sharpen your skills, keep
you on your toes, and teach you a lot more than you teach them. To quote a
successful horseback pro trainer: “Intelligent dogs are more fun to work.” I
would add—if you know what you’re doing.
