If you have a goal to strive toward, you'll be energized and motivated to achieve that goal. If you don't have a vision of the future -- if you don't know which wall to place your ladder of success against -- you'll be enervated and complacent. If you have your every need and whim taken care of, you'll exert no effort or exhibit no intellectual curiosity. Is that what's happening with dogs? Especially the ultra-pampered, selectively-bred show dogs in the top echelon of dogs?
A recent study at Stockholm University suggests that, indeed, dogs are dumbing down as a result of modern breeding practices. In as little as just several generations, traits and instincts that were crucial to the survival of the breed are sacrificed for looks and show jones -- style versus substance. These practices, according to Stockholm University ethothologist Kenth Svarbert "...are affecting the behaviour and mental abilities of pedigree breeds, as well as their physical features."
You can read more about this theory in an article from The Sunday Telegraph of January 25, 2009. Or maybe it's simply that the dogs are watching too much television? Did they watch this show on CBS? (Photo courtesy of CBS)
Check out your dog's intelligence, in this canine I.Q. test.
