How Smart Are German Shepherds. Every Shepherd is a smart breed, but you’ve decided to take it a step further by asking yourself why this is the case.
Maybe you’ve heard various things about German Shepherds’ intelligence and now you’re interested in getting to the bottom of things once and for all.
What are some of the most popular theories out there regarding these dogs’ intelligence, and more importantly, how can one make his or her Shepherd smarter? That’s what we’re here to find out.
How Smart Are German Shepherds
German Shepherds are the third most intelligent dog breed, behind Border Collies and Poodles. They learn as quickly as human children of school age, thanks to their awesome memory retention skills. This helps them easily understand what you’re asking for in order to follow instructions perfect for training purposes.
Intelligence Leader of Their Class
German Shepherd dogs are 1/10 the size of a human’s brain. If you could put a German Shepherd Dog’s brain into a human, it would fit into an orange.
But just because their brain is smaller than ours doesn’t mean they aren’t smart in fact, researcher Stanley Coren suggests that dogs have the mental capability of falling somewhere between the average 5 year old human to the average 13 year old human.
This ability to learn is what makes them so great when it comes to specific tasks like picking up after someone with OCD who wants everything picked up and thrown away right then and there.
Breed And Brain
According to new scientific research, dogs bred for “cognitively complex and demanding” tasks like herding.
Guarding, military, and police work have larger prefrontal cortexes and because German Shepherds are such renowned herders, their brain structure may have contributed to why they are so intelligent.
German Shepherd Training And Intelligence
German Shepherds are smart, like foxes. Both German shepherds and foxes were bred in Germany to serve as livestock guardians.
One of the key differences between these two animals is that German shepherds tend to focus more on protecting people while foxes often protect property over people.
Because they started out as livestock guardians, German shepherds today are especially attuned to danger when it comes to their owners, family members, and anything else deemed valuable by the dog itself.
Mouthy Breed
It can be amusing to witness your German Shepherd mouth you or chew on something that appears small in comparison to their large jaws.
However, this is a severe issue for dog owners because the dog’s mouth might be used in other ways that are harmful.
Unfortunately, given the origins of these dogs, this growling and mouthing behavior is a natural tendency, but pet parents have come up with a variety of imaginative solutions to deal with it.
Why Are German Shepherds Such Bad Pets?
Canine hip dysplasia is a disabling and potentially lethal illness that affects German shepherds and other large breeds.
Good GSD rescuers will also be aware of the illnesses that their dogs are prone to, and will notify potential owners of any health issues that they may have had before joining the rescue or similar group.
Which Dog is Smarter Than German Shepherd?
The Belgian Malinois is a medium-sized herding dog breed. This breed of dog is cognizant and trustworthy. They are elegant, majestic, and have natural alertness to them.