Ever wonder, ‘how smart are dogs?’ And are Morkies and their parents among the smartest dog breeds? Most Morkie owners would tell you, when it comes to intelligence, my Morkie is Genius! but let’s find out.
Dogs are very smart, say experts. But each in their own way.
Canine Intelligence is measured on 3 dimensions
Instinctive intelligence
or a dog’s ability to perform the tasks it was bred for, such as herding, pointing, fetching, guarding, or supplying companionship. Yes, snuggling counts.
Adaptive intelligence
means a dog’s ability to solve problems on his 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? How much does he remember?
So just how smart are MORKIES?
A lot depends on how much Yorkie is in your Morkie, versus Maltese.
Yorkies originated in the terrier family. They tend to be more aggressive than many other dogs. They also tend to be smarter, more loyal and yes, louder! Terriers were bred to think and to work. It’s part of their heritage.
Yorkshire terriers may not be the Einsteins of the canine world, but they are intelligent. Very intelligent, actually, according to the Official Yorkie Guide. Tracy Barr and Peter F. Veling agree in “Yorkshire Terriers for Dummies,” saying that while they’re not up there with the smartest of the smart dogs like border collies and poodles, Yorkies’ intelligence is well above average.
— from The Nest: Pets
Maltese, on the other hand, are not terriers, and so don’t have that same strong, instinctive intelligence. They were bred as lapdogs, not to work. So intelligence – obeying commands, performing tasks – just wasn’t as important in developing the breed.
However…
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.
Here’s how dogs compare, breed by breed.
In his groundbreaking book, The Intelligence of Dogs, Dr. Stanley Coren, a professor of canine psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, helps us understand dog brainpower.
Through extensive testing based on the 3 dimensions of canine intelligence, he was able to rank 132 registered breeds on a smart scale.
Since his work, updated in 2006, other assessment methods have been developed. They are aligned to what Dr. Coren discovered.
The Border Collie is generally accepted as the smartest dog, across all 3 components of canine intelligence.
Yorkies rank quite high – #27 out of the 132 breeds tested. That puts him in the top 20%.
Maltese are just about midway, ranking 59th smartest dog.
Someone has to be last 🙁 That’s the beautiful Afghan Hound, ranked at #132.
Top 10 Smartest Breeds
Border Collie
Poodle
German Shepherd Dog
Golden Retriever
Doberman Pinscher
Shetland Sheepdog
Labrador Retriever
Papillon
Rottweiler
Australian Cattle Dog
10 Least Smart Breeds
Basset Hound
Mastiff
Beagle
Pekingese
Bloodhound
Borzoi
Chow Chow
Bulldog
Basenji
Afghan Hound
Want to test your Morkie’s smarts?
WikiHow shows you how to conduct some standard tests that help rate your dog’s IQ. Read more about dog intelligence testing here.
My Morkie..Which I really didn’t want at 1st has made herself part of the family..She had 1 or 2 bad habits and she trained herself with maybe me yelling to not do those things..She doesn’t beg and she picks up new tricks in the matter of minutes…This dog is smarter than given credit..There should be no separation anxiety because she gets dropped off with the other kids at gmas..Other than that she does think I birthed her..Great dog and alarm to have..P.s. I ended up Loving the heck out of Naunie