The family Morkie ran away and it took their other dog, to find her!
One New Castle, PA family got a scare when their Morkie ran away from home. A friend was minding Coco, the Yorkie Maltese mix, when she took off.
Immediately, the whole family sprang into action, searching for the dog, posting flyers and circulating Coco’s picture on Facebook and other websites.
“Every time we’d see a white bag in a ditch, we’d think it was her,” they recalled. “It’s nothing but farmland out there and we couldn’t find any sign of her.”
Still, the family was encouraged by the number of people who helped search.
Yet, when Coco hadn’t been spotted by 4 p.m., they feared the worst for the small dog who never leaves the house unless she’s on a leash. That’s when they thought of including Molly in the search.
Enter Molly, a year old German Pointer, and the family’s other dog.
Although the dog wasn’t trained for any search and rescue operations or even hunting, Molly had been known to capture a possum or two on the family’s 10-acre property.
Molly was given a small piece of Coco’s dog blanket, telling her to “go find Coco.” She actually put her nose to the ground, and took off away from the trails used by four-wheelers toward the swamp.
“She started running in circles and there was Coco stuck in the mud, buried up to the top of her legs,” the family said. “I actually think Molly started digging her out because she was able to get out when she saw us.”
Checked out by her veterinarian, Coco suffered no injuries from her ordeal. And all of the burrs and mud were removed by her groomer.
“If it wasn’t for Molly, I don’t know what would have happened to Coco,” they agreed, adding that they may look into training for their “hero” to help her find other missing animals or people.
OK, just how smart ARE dogs??
They’re very, very smart, says Dr. Stanley Coren, an expert on animal intelligence, but smart in a different way than us.
In his book, The Intelligence of Dogs, Dr. Coren writes that dogs have three areas of intelligence:
- instinctive intelligence
- adaptive intelligence, and
- working and obedience intelligence.
Instinctive intelligence refers to a dog’s ability to perform the tasks it was bred for, such as herding, pointing, fetching, guarding, or supplying companionship.
Adaptive intelligence refers to a dog’s ability to solve problems on its own. In other words, the dog’s ability to independently problem solve and learn from previous experiences.
Working and obedience intelligence refers to a dog’s ability to learn from humans. How well does he do when taught by a human?
Purebred dogs have very different skills, depending on what they were bred to do.
Top 10 Smartest Breeds
Border Collie
Poodle
German Shepherd Dog
Golden Retriever
Doberman Pinscher
Shetland Sheepdog
Labrador Retriever
Papillon
Rottweiler
Australian Cattle Dog
Bottom 10 Smartest Breeds
Basset Hound
Mastiff
Beagle
Pekingese
Bloodhound
Borzoi
Chow Chow
Bulldog
Basenji
Afghan Hound
Are some breeds really “dumb”
If smart is defined as doing what the dog is taught, then a good argument can be made that the so-called super smart dogs, like German Shepherds, aren’t necessarily SMART, but they’re GOOD at doing what they’re told. “Dumb” may really be independence or stubbornness, even aloofness.
How smart are Morkies?
