Are Dogs as Smart as Two-Year-Olds?

This question doesn't actually seem so ridiculous to us. Many months ago when our son was a newborn we remarked to a friend that we were looking forward to the day when his intelligence surpassed the cats' (and, frankly, our cats aren't the sharpest tacks in the drawer). A canine expert has been looking at all kinds of dog IQ studies and recently delivered an overview at a meeting of the American Psychological Association. His verdict: the average dog has the mental abilities of a 2-year old child.

The article we read focused more on the intelligence of dogs and how this differed by breed, but it did offer several interesting tidbits comparing dogs and children:

• A language development test showed that the average dog and the average two-year-old can learn about 165 words including signals and gestures.

• Dogs were even more impressive in math and do better than most three and four-year-olds in basic arithmetic (and can count up to 4 or 5).

• In terms of social smarts, dogs come closer to teenagers and have complex social lives (though their emotional "toolbox" is closer to toddlers).

Does any of this surprise you?

(Photo: by Flickr member otakuchick licensed for use under Creative Commons)

Comments (7)

This wouldn't surprise me at all. My dog certainly seems to understand more (and listens far better!) than my just-turned-one year old. I could say the same for a lot of animals I've interacted with (horses, goats, cats, pigs, donkeys, etc.). Animals are smart in general, and they *definitely* have real social smarts.

posted by hyzen on August 14th 2009 at 12:31pm
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I remember there was a point about a year ago when my son (now almost 2) was pretty much exactly on the same level as our dog. Now my son is definitely smarter... so I'd say that a dog is definitely as smart as a 1-year old. Two year olds are definitely smarter than dogs... at least all the dogs I've known!

posted by lisamfb on August 14th 2009 at 12:46pm
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My sisters border collie has outsmarted me on several (embarrassing) occasions, so this is no surprise.

posted by Hollie on August 14th 2009 at 2:02pm
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I remember reading somewhere years ago that dogs (on average) had the intellect of a human 2 year old...for cats it was an 18 month old.

posted by julie_k. on August 14th 2009 at 7:09pm
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my cat is smarter than my sisters 2 year old.

posted by jen of the north on August 15th 2009 at 12:20am
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I just want to know where to get the sign...

posted by nordynono on August 16th 2009 at 3:22pm
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My dog is smarter than most adults I know.

posted by teacupcake on August 26th 2009 at 9:44pm
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