# The Intelligence Of Cats & Dogs?



## jimmyd0g (Oct 22, 2009)

Genuine question & not a cats versus dogs debate, but are some cats more intelligent than other cats or some dogs more so than other dogs? I'm not talking here about the knowledge based on experience (e.g. that an older cat might be more aware of the danger of cars than a younger cat) but 'simple' intelligence along the lines of the human I.Q. Any thoughts anybody?


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

I certainly think that older dogs have gained a lot of knowledge through experience. Not sure if that equates to intelligence though.

My dog has gone through running away from other dogs, to 'having a go', diverting round them and now sprinting past at top speed barking.

He used to sit outside for ages patiently waiting for someone to open the door. Now he taps the glass or, if its the front door using the letter box to knock.


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## Jented (Jan 12, 2010)

Hi.
We have had cats,ALL very clever,one even used a loose trim on the back door to let us know it was there,pulling it out and letting it go so it 'knocked',another used to come with us on the last night walk with the dog. Dogs,NON of them where stupid,one Alsatian was a Close protection ace,as was a Border collie,Wilf the Wolf,both self taught,i like to think of it as a bred in instinct passed down over the ages with their associations with PERSON kind?. All of our dogs knew, when out in the vans ,when they were near a previous holiday spot,where the beach,river or stream was,at one farm,which cottage to go to when we arrived,also in friends houses,EXACTLY! which cupboard held the biscuit tins.
We are not breeders,but the reason our last three dogs have been b/collies is laziness, they train themselves,or is it the other way around ? NO prizes for the correct answer! There is not one dog or cat that i dislike,each one of us chooses their dog for their own reasons,walk on.
Jented.
PS. Some dogs don't like me,but thats their choice.


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## jimmyd0g (Oct 22, 2009)

Thanks for the couple of replies so far. To extend my original post are the following examples of instinct or intelligence:-

1) Jazzy, the cat, knows that if she is hungry in the middle of the night she can get fed by pushing her head under the duvet & nipping at my ankle to wake me up. Ignoring the fact that the action would irritate some people to death, is Jazzy intelligent or is her action instinctive based, perhaps, on nipping at her mother's teat to get fed?

2) I take Jimmy, the dog, for a walk in an area we use regularly. At a junction in the woods Jimmy waits for me. From maybe 20 yards distant he sees me point to the left & promptly runs to the left. As I assume that pointing is only part of human, not dog, body language, is Jimmy showing intelligence or is there a primeval instinct to follow the body of the pack leader?


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

Cats and dogs learn from experience. We have only ever owned working dogs which have been trained and worked.
Sadly most cats and dogs have stupid owners but most seem to do OK even with that handicap :wink:


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## Boff (May 10, 2005)

Hi,

when I was younger, one of our cats gave me the opportunity to watch her raise several litters. And there are certainly significant differences in character between individual kittens from the same litter. Differences that can be visible from the very beginning. Some examples:

The bold: Are the first to learn how to climb out of the nest.

The cowards: Are the first to learn how to climb back into the nest.

The strategists: Having emptied their bowl first, they devise strategies how to steal food from the bowls - or the complete bowl - of their siblings, or their mummy. Then they execute their strategy ...

The jumpers: Develop a very special defense against (playful) attacks of their siblings: When they see one running towards them, they wait to the very last moment, then jump vertically up into the air, so that the attacker, driven by inertia, passes under them in utter surprise.

And if there are differences in character, why shouldn't there be differences in intelligence? I have seen several cats who have learned (once they were heavy enough) to _operate lever-style door handles. _While others, though from the same litter and having the opportunity to watch their siblings doing it, just never get the knack.

Best Regards,
Gerhard


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## Jezport (Jun 19, 2008)

Can't comment on Dogs but I dont consider cats clever. I have seen Magpies lead cats away from their nest using their clever planning and working as a team. The cat had no idea that it was being led slowly away. Cats are mainly an instinctive animal that has been affected by 1000s of years of being domesticated. They kill and dont eat their prey, not clever in my view.

Ill get my tin hat on and wait for replies


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

Cats are instinctively clean animals. Mine learnt to pee down road drains.

After about two years we noticed other cats in the neighbourhood adopting the same technique!
I think the main difference between cats and dogs is dogs are spur-of-the-moment animals, cats tend to think about things and plan.


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## JLO (Sep 27, 2006)

I watched a programme recently about dogs which said that they are more intelligent than apes because a dog has learned what pointing at something means. They tried an experiment where they hid a treat and then pointed to where the treat was hidden, the chimp never cottoned on and looked inside all the boxes whereas the dog went straight to where the person was pointing. They also reasoned that dogs are intelligent because they have learned to adapt to live with/off humans thereby making dogs the most adaptable animals there is.

Years ago when we lived in Married Quarters on an RAF base in Suffolk if our cat wanted to come in during the night she used to flick next doors letterbox until they got fed up and let her in, she never did it to our letterbox because it was spring loaded and she couldn't open it, I am suprised our neighbours didn't wake us up in the middle of the night to let us know what the cat was up to I know I would have done.


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