Ahh you see? Here enters the gnawing question, "What is intelligence and can we measure it?"
*sighs* Ok, Tessa, I've said this in all my posts, but I'll say it again: Intelligence can not be defined into a single sentence or paragraph. It is a complex function of the mind. Nobody can measure how much intelligence a certain animal or human possesses. Therefore, when you say working Border Collies are more intelligent...Well, couldn't you just as easily rephrase that into "Border Collies are trained and bred to comply with their owner's commands." Does that mean that the working Border Collie is much more intelligent than, let's say, a Greyhound due to this reason? No. BCs have just been bred for the sole purpose to listen to humans and constantly interact with them, whereas Greyhounds were bred to think for themselves as a pack with little to no interaction with humans. Like you said, some breeds have to *think for themselves*. Indeed, some do, especially the Greyhound. So when you consider how much Greyhounds think for themselves, why do you think they're ranked among the lowest on "intelligence" lists? Because nobody can definitely say that A is intelligent and B is unintelligent. Because nobody can define intelligence.
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So, is what you are saying is that all breeds are equally intelligent? Is a cocker spaniel just as smart as a terrier or a border collie?
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In a sense, yes. Intelligence is currently defined as the capacity and ability to acquire knowledge. But how can you measure how much intelligence one breed possesses when you don't even know how much knowledge the breed can acquire? So until somebody can come up with a magic explanation or test to see who or what is really more intelligent, then, yes, all breeds are equally intelligent. Heck, I don't even agree that sentence, because intelligence is a case by case issue.
