Dogs More Intelligent Than Cats?

[Analogue Boy]

You can run for president, or prime minister then

I don’t want to. I want to stay here in the warm place and prove my point I am superior to you all.

 

[Fluttermoth]

Dogs are definitely more intelligent than cats. That’s why the forces train them for various jobs.

Being trainable isn't necessarily a sign of intelligence; also, we've been specifically breeding dogs for certain jobs for thousands of years, whereas we've just used cats as vermin control, which they do naturally.

(I'd also add, for me anyway, intelligence is irrelevant to how much I love an animal; some of my favourites have been the thickos )

 

[Naughty_Felid]

Dogs are definitely more intelligent than cats. That’s why the forces train them for various jobs.

Yes with that logic we should have dolphin marines. How did that work out?

 

[PeteS]

(I'd also add, for me anyway, intelligence is irrelevant to how much I love an animal; some of my favourites have been the thickos )

Us too. What started as my little cat is not quite all there (vet says its due to lack of nutrition until I rescued her), but Ms Petes dotes on her and the feeling is mutual. Dumb as anything but adorable.

 

[PeteS]

Yes with that logic we should have dolphin marines. How did that work out?

Did not some military train dolphins to deliver high explosive to underwater targets or was that an urban myth? I absolutely deplore the practice of putting animals (dogs, horses or whatever) in harms way.

 

[catseye]

Being trainable isn't necessarily a sign of intelligence; also, we've been specifically breeding dogs for certain jobs for thousands of years, whereas we've just used cats as vermin control, which they do naturally.

(I'd also add, for me anyway, intelligence is irrelevant to how much I love an animal; some of my favourites have been the thickos )

Yes, look at horses. Very very trainable, most of them (watch an advanced dressage test, it's ballet for horses), but otherwise just great big bundles of instinct. There's the odd one or two that will learn how to unlatch doors or who are incredibly clever, but most, as a species, aren't that bright. Ponies, on the other hand, think for themselves and are (in my opinion) far more intelligent than horses.

 

[Nosmo King]

Stoat detection dogs are being deployed in Orkney.

"A trio of stoat-detection dogs have arrived in Orkney in the latest phase of an eradication project.

Stoats are common in parts of mainland Scotland, but only started appearing in Orkney in 2010.

The Orkney Native Wildlife Project was launched as the animals are said to pose a threat to important wildlife.

Sprocker spaniel Scout, labrador Spud and English springer spaniel Thorn have been specially trained to indicate the scent of stoats to their handlers."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-57144463

 

[Anonymous34905]

Yes, look at horses. Very very trainable, most of them (watch an advanced dressage test, it's ballet for horses), but otherwise just great big bundles of instinct. There's the odd one or two that will learn how to unlatch doors or who are incredibly clever, but most, as a species, aren't that bright. Ponies, on the other hand, think for themselves and are (in my opinion) far more intelligent than horses.

That's really interesting! I had no idea that ponies were generally more intelligent than horses.

 

[Trevp666]

Stoat detection

Pah - they're weasily recognised!

 

[Fluttermoth]

That's really interesting! I had no idea that ponies were generally more intelligent than horses.

Oh, catseye is 100% correct, it's a well known fact to horsey people. The Shetland pony is an evil genius, IMHE!

I knew one called Bubbles that used escape and go tearing around the village, trampling people's gardens and creating general mayhem on a regular basis. We could not understand how the little wretch was doing it, until someone caught him lying down and rolling under the bottom rail of the fence. We ran an electric fence around, and he bit through it

 

[catseye]

Oh, catseye is 100% correct, it's a well known fact to horsey people. The Shetland pony is an evil genius, IMHE!

I knew one called Bubbles that used escape and go tearing around the village, trampling people's gardens and creating general mayhem on a regular basis. We could not understand how the little wretch was doing it, until someone caught him lying down and rolling under the bottom rail of the fence. We ran an electric fence around, and he bit through it

I think people tend to think that horses are just big ponies. But horses tend to rely on their rider to do the thinking. Ponies do the thinking for the team... (I'm a pony person, you can tell, can't you?)

 

[Anonymous34905]

Oh, catseye is 100% correct, it's a well known fact to horsey people. The Shetland pony is an evil genius, IMHE!

I knew one called Bubbles that used escape and go tearing around the village, trampling people's gardens and creating general mayhem on a regular basis. We could not understand how the little wretch was doing it, until someone caught him lying down and rolling under the bottom rail of the fence. We ran an electric fence around, and he bit through it

OMG!! That's brilliant!! Lol!

 

[PeteS]

Oh, catseye is 100% correct, it's a well known fact to horsey people. The Shetland pony is an evil genius, IMHE!

I knew one called Bubbles that used escape and go tearing around the village, trampling people's gardens and creating general mayhem on a regular basis. We could not understand how the little wretch was doing it, until someone caught him lying down and rolling under the bottom rail of the fence. We ran an electric fence around, and he bit through it

One tough cookie that pony then.

 

[Fluttermoth]

I think people tend to think that horses are just big ponies. But horses tend to rely on their rider to do the thinking. Ponies do the thinking for the team... (I'm a pony person, you can tell, can't you?)

I can

I don't want to go too off-topic with pony tales, but the last pony I rode regularly was a Bodmin moor pony called Merry, who was marvellous, the perfect family pony. With an adult on, she was a cunning devil; she wouldn't get her feet wet EVER, and frequently had me off, jinking sideways at a gallop to avoid a minute puddle, while I sailed straight on, and she would NOT back up, unless you had a stick (you didn't have to hit her, you just had to pull one out of the hedge, and she would sigh and grudgingly behave).

But with kids she was wonderful; I saw one young lad slide off her at a walk, and she immediately came to a stop, but didn't put her hoof down until she'd checked where he was so she didn't step on him (I know horses do, generally avoid stepping on people, of course, but I've never seen one actually check!). She also knew the moor like no person, you could be in a white-out blizzard, drop the reins and she'd take you home

 

[Naughty_Felid]

Did not some military train dolphins to deliver high explosive to underwater targets or was that an urban myth? I absolutely deplore the practice of putting animals (dogs, horses or whatever) in harms way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_marine_mammal

Military dolphins have been trained to rescue lost naval swimmers or to swim head first into active deep sea mines...

 

[GNC]

Pah - they're weasily recognised!

You're thinking of something stoatally different.

 

[GNC]

I can

I don't want to go too off-topic with pony tales, but the last pony I rode regularly was a Bodmin moor pony called Merry, who was marvellous, the perfect family pony. With an adult on, she was a cunning devil; she wouldn't get her feet wet EVER, and frequently had me off, jinking sideways at a gallop to avoid a minute puddle, while I sailed straight on, and she would NOT back up, unless you had a stick (you didn't have to hit her, you just had to pull one out of the hedge, and she would sigh and grudgingly behave).

But with kids she was wonderful; I saw one young lad slide off her at a walk, and she immediately came to a stop, but didn't put her hoof down until she'd checked where he was so she didn't step on him (I know horses do, generally avoid stepping on people, of course, but I've never seen one actually check!). She also knew the moor like no person, you could be in a white-out blizzard, drop the reins and she'd take you home

When I went pony trekking (one of two times) we were told that the ponies basically had the intelligence of a forgetful three-year-old human, a fact I've never forgotten for some reason (or the pony's name - it was Cola). Never been on a horse, though.

 

[catseye]

I can

I don't want to go too off-topic with pony tales, but the last pony I rode regularly was a Bodmin moor pony called Merry, who was marvellous, the perfect family pony. With an adult on, she was a cunning devil; she wouldn't get her feet wet EVER, and frequently had me off, jinking sideways at a gallop to avoid a minute puddle, while I sailed straight on, and she would NOT back up, unless you had a stick (you didn't have to hit her, you just had to pull one out of the hedge, and she would sigh and grudgingly behave).

But with kids she was wonderful; I saw one young lad slide off her at a walk, and she immediately came to a stop, but didn't put her hoof down until she'd checked where he was so she didn't step on him (I know horses do, generally avoid stepping on people, of course, but I've never seen one actually check!). She also knew the moor like no person, you could be in a white-out blizzard, drop the reins and she'd take you home

Our pony Jack used to take me over cross country fences, hurtling around the moorland like a nutcase and would throw me off over fences if he thought I was getting cocky and not paying attention. But the children could do anything with him - my youngest daughter used to pull herself up to standing using his tail. He was like two different animals with me (who can ride) and the children when they were small and learning. Best pony EVER.

 

[Fluttermoth]

Our pony Jack used to take me over cross country fences, hurtling around the moorland like a nutcase and would throw me off over fences if he thought I was getting cocky and not paying attention. But the children could do anything with him - my youngest daughter used to pull herself up to standing using his tail. He was like two different animals with me (who can ride) and the children when they were small and learning. Best pony EVER.

Those are the best ponies; the ones that know who needs challenging and who needs nurturing, and when, and most ponies are fantastic workers when they have the right job, just look at the concentration on the face of a good gymkhana pony <3

 

[GNC]

Funnily enough, on my other pony trek there was a stretch of beach the other trekkers were encouraged to gallop along, which I really didn't want to do, being a feartie and all. So my pony came up with a solution: while everyone else zoomed off, he just trotted along at a measured pace and refused to join in. I was grateful to the creature, I can tell you - maybe it "knew"?

 

[His Extremely DeLux Self]

Anecdote time! Once upon a time, we lived on the fourth floor of a building--right above our friends Colin and Jose and their tomcat Nutmeg, right below someone else who also had a tomcat. This was one of those massive tomcats, built like a workbench, weighed 7 kilos easy, and a hardened, one-eared alley fighter to boot. Nutmeg, on the other hand, was a slender, willowy little fellow, and pampered. Every time that little bastard escaped from C&J's room, he went right up the stairs to the fifth floor, to start a fight with his (twice his size) rival. Every time, he got his skinny arse kicked. This went on for at least a year, when we moved out.

Now, if it had been two dogs involved, the loser would have learned his lesson after a bout or three, and ceased to initiate aggression with the big bad bruiser upstairs.

For a long time I thought that was a perfect example of dogs being smarter than cats--that a dog would learn fairly quickly that he couldn't take on a dog twice his size and win, and so avoid antagonizing that dog. Now I'm more open to the idea that Nutmeg just wasn't one of the smart animals.

 

[Trevp666]

I guess this phrase applies to cats as well then;
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog!"

 

[PeteS]

Anecdote time! Once upon a time, we lived on the fourth floor of a building--right above our friends Colin and Jose and their tomcat Nutmeg, right below someone else who also had a tomcat. This was one of those massive tomcats, built like a workbench, weighed 7 kilos easy, and a hardened, one-eared alley fighter to boot. Nutmeg, on the other hand, was a slender, willowy little fellow, and pampered. Every time that little bastard escaped from C&J's room, he went right up the stairs to the fifth floor, to start a fight with his (twice his size) rival. Every time, he got his skinny arse kicked. This went on for at least a year, when we moved out.

Now, if it had been two dogs involved, the loser would have learned his lesson after a bout or three, and ceased to initiate aggression with the big bad bruiser upstairs.

For a long time I thought that was a perfect example of dogs being smarter than cats--that a dog would learn fairly quickly that he couldn't take on a dog twice his size and win, and so avoid antagonizing that dog. Now I'm more open to the idea that Nutmeg just wasn't one of the smart animals.

Son's cat is a massive tomcat and has a bit of a gammy leg, but insists on roaming into rivals spaces. Common for him to come back having had a good scrap. He either never seems to learn or enjoys a good fist fight. Fortunately son works at a vets.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

Anecdote time! Once upon a time, we lived on the fourth floor of a building--right above our friends Colin and Jose and their tomcat Nutmeg, right below someone else who also had a tomcat. This was one of those massive tomcats, built like a workbench, weighed 7 kilos easy, and a hardened, one-eared alley fighter to boot. Nutmeg, on the other hand, was a slender, willowy little fellow, and pampered. Every time that little bastard escaped from C&J's room, he went right up the stairs to the fifth floor, to start a fight with his (twice his size) rival. Every time, he got his skinny arse kicked. This went on for at least a year, when we moved out.

Now, if it had been two dogs involved, the loser would have learned his lesson after a bout or three, and ceased to initiate aggression with the big bad bruiser upstairs.

For a long time I thought that was a perfect example of dogs being smarter than cats--that a dog would learn fairly quickly that he couldn't take on a dog twice his size and win, and so avoid antagonizing that dog. Now I'm more open to the idea that Nutmeg just wasn't one of the smart animals.

My old cat Jonah would do the same to the point that bigger, stronger cats would get freaked out because there was no give in him - he would take the wounds and I would patch him up with major vet bills, (which I had to work hours of overtime to cover- being a poor student ), he'd just go out again.

We moved and got other cats and the new neighbourhood never stood a chance when Jonah arrived. He placated the neighbourhood in a couple of months even making deals with a messed up old feral who was a scrapper.

He then ruled his territory like a Mob boss. He promoted Stormy to take over and do the physical work, (kicking the crap out of others), for about 8 years. Stormy was and still is huge as an ancient cat.

Even when he went crazy at the end. Stormy and our other cats would not cross him.

Stormy never beat him up when J was old and he could have done to make a point but Jonah was a genius and it showed the character of Stormy too - respect.

 

[Nosmo King]

My old cat Jonah would do the same to the point that bigger, stronger cats would get freaked out because there was no give in him - he would take the wounds and I would patch him up with major vet bills, (which I had to work hours of overtime to cover- being a poor student ), he'd just go out again.

We moved and got other cats and the new neighbourhood never stood a chance when Jonah arrived. He placated the neighbourhood in a couple of months even making deals with a messed up old feral who was a scraper.

He then ruled his territory like a Mob boss. He promoted Stormy to take over and do the physical work, (kicking the crap out of others), for about 8 years.

Even when he went crazy at the end. Stormy and our other cats would not cross him.

Stormy never beat him up when J was old and he could have done to make a point but Jonah was a genius and it showed the character of Stormy too - respect.

When i eas younger we had a small short haired ginger female, she was half pedigree persian, half farm cat, she never got any bigger than a one year old cat in size, but she ruled our estate, taking on any tom that came by, she used to hide beneath a small wall we had in our garden, wait for any intruding cat to get within a couple of feet, then pounce and tear the crap out of it, she attacked an alsatian, and chased off many other dogs, all my mates from school were scare shitless of her, she lived for 19 years, i still have scars on my arm from where she would sit on the kitchen counter, just inside the door, and swipe your arm, claws out, in the morning when she wanted feeding, but i loved her, had her from when i was 6 mnts old untill i left college.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

When i eas younger we had a small short haired ginger female, she was half pedigree persian, half farm cat, she never got any bigger than a one year old cat in size, but she ruled our estate, taking on any tom that came by, she used to hide beneath a small wall we had in our garden, wait for any intruding cat to get within a couple of feet, then pounce and tear the crap out of it, she attacked an alsatian, and chased off many other dogs, all my mates from school were scare shitless of her, she lived for 19 years, i still have scars on my arm from where she would sit on the kitchen counter, just inside the door, and swipe your arm, claws out, in the morning when she wanted feeding, but i loved her, had her from when i was 6 mnts old untill i left college.

good lad - you've survived a major beast attack!

I love evil cats. I just love them.

I love going to sleep and waking up with an insane kitty staring at you at 3 in the morning.

 

[Nosmo King]

good lad - you've survived a major beast attack!

I love evil cats. I just love them.

I love going to sleep and waking up with an insane kitty staring at you at 3 in the morning.

I had a dumbass cat later that used to sleep on my pillow above my head and nead it in the mornings, my daughter, when she was about 2 used to walk around with him under her arm, his front legs sticking out straight infront of him and his back legs dragging on the floor, he was also scared of heights, many a time i had to get a ladder and rescue him from the kitchen roof.

 

[His Extremely DeLux Self]

Us too. What started as my little cat is not quite all there (vet says its due to lack of nutrition until I rescued her), but Ms Petes dotes on her and the feeling is mutual. Dumb as anything but adorable.

Dumb as anything but adorable --that describes my friend Michael's dearly departed cat Pootie to a T. She was an absolute idiot, even as cats go, but her heart was full of love for all, and as far as she was concerned, everyone she ever met was just like her. Love and trust just defined that little animal. She would come into a room and pick a lap, any lap, to sit on, and go limp as a noodle, purrrring like a wee motorboat and looking up at you with such a friendly affectionate vibe it would either make you grin euphorically or break your heart. Pootie brought her human companion and many other people joy with her boundless good nature. She was also too dim to recognize that a new food dish was a food dish, its being full of cat food notwithstanding.

 

[Mouldy13]

 

[Cochise]

Being trainable isn't necessarily a sign of intelligence; also, we've been specifically breeding dogs for certain jobs for thousands of years, whereas we've just used cats as vermin control, which they do naturally.

(I'd also add, for me anyway, intelligence is irrelevant to how much I love an animal; some of my favourites have been the thickos )

1st sentence. I particularly appreciated the story of the Russian tank destroying dogs. Trained to run under tanks with some sort of self detonating bomb. Sadly they trained them using Russian tanks. Oops.

2nd sentence: Agreed, Was really fond of the dumb lurcher (named Santa after the Simpsons dog who he resembled in shape) . He took stupid to a loveable art form.