Put your canine’s smarts to the test with IQ kit

I left the bag containing the Pooch IQ Test on the dining room table for more than a week before I had the courage to open it up.
After all, I didn't want to prove that one of my dogs was smarter than the other - or that neither was as smart as a fifth-grader, as they say on TV.

I knew that their breeds are often heralded for their intelligence: Chaco is an Australian shepherd, and Sam, mostly Australian cattle dog.

But what would happen if they proved to be poor representatives of their breeds? And if one was much smarter, would it ruin the other's self-esteem? Or, more likely, mine?

   Apparently, such questions never came into play when Stacy Stubblefield and Darren Berkovitz of Los Angeles tried to compare their beagles' smarts. They researched dog intelligence and found various exercises on how dogs interact with their world, then created their IQ test.

   I ended up on the receiving end of their idea. When I finally opened the IQ test bag, I found colorful cups, a cone-shaped rubber toy, a squeaky bone, a bouncy ball, a face mask (face mask?) and other doggie puzzles.

   The 15 exercises are supposed to test what scientists generally agree upon as being factors in a dog's level of intelligence: learning from experience, shortterm memory, persistence, ability to see similarities and differences, problem solving, reasoning, instinctive intelligence and - oh, dear - obedience.

   Then, there was a warning: If your pooch shows signs of frustration or aggression while being given the IQ test, stop immediately. "Learning your dog's IQ is not worth putting yourself in harm's way. We only recommend the test for well-mannered pooches."

   Oh, dear, again. While they aren't attack dogs, my canine companions definitely aren't Emily Post graduates.

   The instructions also include this advice: "Do your best not to give your pooch any hints during the test." I scoffed, "well of course not." But let's just say that during the test, I was tempted several times. The feeling is just like the one where you want to help the kids with their math homework.

   There also was this admonition: If, while doing an exercise, your pooch does something "so crazy" that it's not covered in the scoring, just choose the answer that most closely matches the actions. Does trying to eat the plastic cup count?

   One of the first exercises was to show the dog a treat and then hide it under a blue cup next to a yellow-and-white cup. Then you switch them around like one of those old shell games. The dogs had one minute to find the right treat. They found it in seconds. Then Sam ran off with the cup and tried to chew it up.

   With that victory under their collars, we went on to the other tests.

   One that really worried me involved the black face mask - the kind that bank robbers find fashionable. The idea is to leave the dogs in one room, then put on the face mask so only your eyes show. Walk back into the room and don't say anything. The dog gets 10 points if it barks and recognizes you, but only one point if it walks away or lies down. Sam immediately ran up to me, tail wagging: 5 points. Chaco looked at me worriedly and didn't move: 3 points.

   The test that involved the table was a no-brainer for the guys. You put the dog in another room, cover the table with a blanket, crawl under and then call to the dog. If it pushes through the blanket to get to you in less than a minute, that's a 10. If it ignores you, it scores only one point. Both my dogs excitedly pushed under the blanket in seconds. My back is still sore.

   On we went, through all the tests. I thought about telling everybody that both Sam and Chaco scored as "Absolute Geniuses."

   The truth is, they both ended up with the same score, 124, which put them in the "Smarty Pants" category. This means that they learn new tricks quickly and sometimes use this against you. Tell me about it! The real question is, does this test really reveal the truth about dogs' IQs? Test creator Stubblefield, of course, believes it does.

   "There's a certain amount of validity to the test. It's a good indicator. We picked exercises that showed how they interact with the world and that were most interesting."

   But, she added: "The No. 1 thing is to just have fun and bond."

   Jennie Willis Jamtgaard, an animal behaviorist at Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, had not seen the Pooch IQ Test. But she liked the idea that it promotes pet-owner bonding.

   "The many new enrichment toys on the market encourages people to interact with dogs and train them. It allows them to grow and become a good companion."

   And she said that different breeds perform tasks differently, as the test booklet mentioned. While the dogs have the same biological preparedness to learn, they have been selectively bred for particular tasks. That's why border collies herd sheep and beagles communicate in a group with their voices as they chase prey.

   One of the problems in measuring a dog's IQ, Jamtgaard says, is that we are measuring another species by comparing it with human intelligence. Still, researchers point out that humans have underestimated the intelligence and communication skills of many species.

   To find out if you have a little genius, you can get the test kit at poochIQ.com for $49.99. It might sound pricey, but, if nothing else, you get plenty of toys.