Is Your Pooch Smart? British Scientists Develop Dog IQ Test to Find Out

Have you ever wondered how smart your pooch actually is? A team of British scientists who are working on the first dog IQ test might be able to help.

The team developed the current version of their test by putting 68 different working border collies through various obstacles in order to test their intelligence. They chose working border collies because they are specifically used for working on farms and are not accustomed to treats or games like other dogs.

The scientists found that dogs do in fact have IQs that can be measured, much like their human counterparts. Researchers believe that the test, while useful to understanding our dog companions better, can also help teach us a thing or two about our own health.

"So if, as our research suggests, dog intelligence is structured similarly to ours, studying a species that doesn't smoke, drink, use recreational drugs and does not have large differences in education and income, may help us understand this link between intelligence and health better," Dr. Rosalind Arden, who helped with the study, said.

Arden also believes studying dog's cognitive abilities could help with dementia research. "Dogs are one of the few animals that reproduce many of the key features of dementia. So understanding their cognitive abilities could be valuable in helping us to understand the causes of this disorder in humans and possibly test treatments for it," she said.

Some of the tests included placing two bowls of food down in order to see which dogs could determine which bowl contained more food, as well as a timed test in which the dogs had to get treats out from behind a see-through barrier.

The tests found that dogs who completed the tasks faster were often more accurate, as well. Interestingly, the results did not indicate that there is a difference in intelligence between male and female dogs.