Dog IQ Test

We were watching one of those news magazines on TV one night and they had a dog IQ test. You take a dog treat, show it to the dog, and then cover it with a wash cloth. The faster the dog removes the wash cloth and retrieves the treat, the smarter the dog.

So we had to try. (This is, by the way, the story I always tell when people ask me to describe the original Terrible Trio in the days before The Thundering Herd. It describes the pack in perfect detail).

Cocoa

We had always known that she was very smart and figured she would ace the test. Show her the treat. Tail starts wagging. Cover the treat with the wash cloth. Cocoa starts whining. Release the dog. Cocoa goes
straight for the wash cloth, rips it off the floor, and eats the treat. Aced the test.

Ginger

Bless her, Ginger was never a bright child and we feared for the results. Show her the treat. Tail starts wagging. Cover the treat with the wash cloth. Ginger’s tail stops wagging and she looks puzzled. Release the dog. Ginger wanders around sniffing and finally hits on the wash cloth. Circles the wash cloth. Sniffs the wash cloth. Circles. Sniffs. Circles. Sniffs. Curls up on the wash cloth, sighs, and goes to sleep. Wow.

Nikita

We fear for the results knowing that she is incredibly intelligent and incredibly delinquent all at the same time. Show her the treat. Tail
starts wagging. Cover the treat with the wash cloth. Nikita starts wooing. Release the dog. Nikita races over and eats the wash cloth and the treat.

The Terrible Trio.

4 Comments

  1. Diana on December 9, 2015 at 10:44 am

    Saw a test on TV showing the difference between a dog and wolf. Two covered objects at the end on the room, only one has a treat. The dog looks at its owner and goes to the one the owner directs him too. The wolf cares less which one the human points to and will conduct its own independent investigation, thank you. So 50 percent of the time, it gets the right one first, 50 percent not. Got to try this on my Sibe. What will my Sibe do? He goes to the one I direct him too, turns over the cover, swallows the treat, then immediately goes to the other one and turns that one over too. Mr Free Thinker is not going to miss any opportunities!

  2. Kira The BeaWoootiful on April 6, 2010 at 9:37 am

    Wooos! I am with Nikita on this one! Mum is laughing fur some reason….

  3. brooke & darwin on February 9, 2010 at 2:08 am

    Darwin is just like Ginger! We tried this game on our own… I took a treat, hid it between Jason’s toes and sent her to find it… took a bit of time (her sense of smell is lacking) but she found it… did it a few times, and then decided to up the game by hiding the treat under a corner of a towel… she watched me put it under, and then went back to jason’s toes. Could not figure out at all that she had to move the towel to get the treat. hahaha.
    Darwin is like Natasha’s profile too… won’t listen to a command unless there’s a treat in my hand. These alpha females are quite entertaining!

  4. Wild Dingo on January 15, 2010 at 2:36 am

    i have to remember to try this! tho i have to say, both my dogs are too well-trained to actually try to get the food. I think they need to live with you guys to learn some real dog tricks. the kind that only DOGS know, not humans, if you catch my drift. then come back to me and test their IQ…

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