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Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
11–20 of 35 posts
Re: Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
#12Somewhere around object persistence and planning actions: I once saw a rodeo clown's dog in a comedy bit where the clown would remove something from a barrel and the dog would put it back in when he turned around.
Once, the dog missed dropping the object in the barrel--and then picked it up and did it again, this time getting it in the barrel. That dog knew he was performing a certain task, and not just an action. That's stuck with me as a pretty impressive feat of canine cognition.
Re: Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
#13> For decades now, dolphins and dogs have vied for the title of most intelligent animal. According to what source? What are chimpanzees, chopped liver?
If we are talking primates, Orangutans are considered the most intelligent after humans.
Re: Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
#14My friend's dog can open the door, walk in, and close it behind him. Let's see a dolphin do that!
Let's see if your friend's dog can kill a shark by punching it with his nose.
Re: Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
#15Comparing intelligence in animals is such a hard thing to do when we barely understand it in ourselves. As they say in the article, we frequently consider dolphins more intelligent because they are more sociable and exhibit similar characteristics to us.
An easy (although not necessarily correct) way to define intelligence could just be the ability to learn, although even this can be hard to define. Some animals can learn fast, while others have a larger space in their memory. As was pointed out, dogs are able to learn significantly more words and more complex phrasing than other animals, but at the same time they have been conditioned for a very very long time to understand human voices, dolphins much less so.
Dolphins are in a completely different environment, which results in completely different conditioning. Perhaps the reason they seem similar to us is because they are in a similar place in their environment. They're fairly independent species, not relying too heavily on other species, or being heavily preyed on by other animals. This could allow their brains to evolve in a similar way to ours, which aligns with our definition of intelligence.
Re: Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
#16> For decades now, dolphins and dogs have vied for the title of most intelligent animal. According to what source? What are chimpanzees, chopped liver?
Dogs have specifically been breeding to perform these tasks, while dolphins just can do it "out of the box". Also i suspect killer whales would out do dolphins in many tasks, especially those requiring social intelligence and language. Maybe elephants wouldn't do much worse either, but they were probably too difficult to study because of their size.
Dogs have been bred to perform these tasks, but they've also evolved to become dependent on humans. If humans had never entered the situation, who knows where the intelligence of other animals would be.
Re: Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
#17> For decades now, dolphins and dogs have vied for the title of most intelligent animal. According to what source? What are chimpanzees, chopped liver?
I assume that's removing primates from the running where there are probably a dozen species to mention.
Crows as well. One radio report I recall discussed how they not only recognize human faces but can inform others about individuals that threaten them. The researcher who was featured has to wear a mask when he is performing experiments or else he risks being attacked by other birds while walking around campus...
Re: Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
#18Is "cleverer" a word?
Re: Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
#19My friend's dog can open the door, walk in, and close it behind him. Let's see a dolphin do that!
A dolphin can catch a meal by blowing bubbles. Let's see a dog do that :)
Re: Are dolphins cleverer than dogs?
#20Comparing intelligence in animals is such a hard thing to do when we barely understand it in ourselves. As they say in the article, we frequently consider dolphins more intelligent because they are more sociable and exhibit similar characteristics to us. An easy (although not necessarily correct) way to define intelligence could just be the ability to learn, although even this can be hard to define. Some animals can…
Another problem in "dog intelligence" is that a lot of it is misconstrued with obedience. Sure, dog A and dog B both understood the command you issued; and the one that gets labelled as "intelligent" is the dog that chose to follow that direction versus the other dog who made up his own mind as to what to do.
Most scent hounds are perfect examples of this. They never have high representations at obedience competitions, but put an obstacle between them and what they are tracking, and you will see amazing problem solving skills.