Correct understanding intelligence of Rottweilers allows individual dog to excel in different fields, fostering his/her productivity and engagement.
What exactly is intelligence?
It is said that we know the exact meaning of a word only when we can define it – to describe its exact definition.
So let’s first define intelligence first.
Definition of intelligence: the ability to learn, understand, and make judgments or have opinions that are based on reason (Cambridge Dictionary).
Theories about the existence of intelligence in animals have changed over time and depending on the applied method, species and sample. Hypotheses about the intelligence of animals therefore vary from the complete denial of cognitive abilities (insisting exclusively on instinct), through a compromise that attributes to animals the possibility of a simple learning process (“simply behaviour-reading)” to the view that animals have complex cognitive processes which allow them to attribute mental states to other individuals (“mind-reading”).
For Hause Kaligula team the topic “Rottweiler intelligence” was not formulated as a question “Does Rottweiler think?” ― but rather as a statement.
By evaluating 500+ family Rottweilers over fort decades of breeding, the team Hause Kaligula identified broad cognitive domains―problem-solving and learning ability―that interlink to form a canine general cognitive capacity. This cognitive capacity correlates with traits like exploratory behavior, novelty interest, and trainability.
The question is: how Rottweiler’s cognitive abilities work?
We can advance our understanding of canine cognition by drawing parallels with human intelligence. Human and Rottweiler cognition have much in common. Of course, in the two also differs in important respects. This is the topic summarized below.
ROTTWEILER VS HUMAN
Rottweiler intelligence can be followed as the development of cognitive abilities up to the level of the mental age of a three-year-old child.
Development means exactly quantitative developmental changes or increasing abilities and capacities. With the passage of time the dog, just like the child, is heavier and heavier, can walk faster and more dexterously, etc. A similar “growth” occurs in terms of psychological functions: the puppy knows an increasing amount of information about itself and the world around it, understands an increasing number of words, can remember more information, solves more and more tasks and an increasing number of problems encountered in everyday life, expresses an increasing number of emotions.
Let’s take a look at the similarities and differences in such development between a Rottweiler and a 3-year-old.
SIMILARITIES
- understand a large vocabulary (learns by listening to what family members say directly to him, but also in their mutual communication);
- they control their behavior on verbal demand, not only on physical demand (he stops his activity when told to stop, it is not necessary to stop him physically);
- respond to commands involving body parts (“Show your leg.”);
- execute two orders given at the same time (“Take the ball and bring it”);
- they wait for permission for certain actions and objects;
- they know what is his and he often refuses to share it with others;
- they’re looking for the toys he lost;
- understand time relationships (“wait”);
- remember – the ability to predict, based on experience, the sequence of events in their environment and the consequences that may follow (trait conditioned by remembered consequences);
- have the ability to understand the positive and negative feelings of others;
- the decision-making mechanism they use to make choices;
- attention and expectation.
DIFFERENCES
Rottweilers do not think in the same way as humans-they do not process information the same way we do.
- Concreteness-the adult Rottweiler is functioning at its highest level of intelligence a concrete, not an abstract one.
- Signal system- the child is preparing to understand abstract principles and recursive language; the dog is not. The adult Rottweiler understands language as a signal system, not a symbolic system.
Therefore, the basic difference is in the understanding of human language. A Rottweiler and a three-year-old child understand a large number of words, but children develop an abstract system of thinking, based on symbols, while dogs perceive communication with us concretely, in the form of signals.
Rottweilers should to be seen as goal seeking ”agents” that acquire, store, retrieve, and internally process information at many levels of cognitive complexity.
MENTAL AGE OF ROTTWEILER
Scientists in recent decades have claimed that a dog is at the mental level of a child between the ages of two and a half and three, and this is the key to understanding the mental abilities of Rottweilers.
What is mental age of Rottweiler?
Mental age is a basic indicator of intelligence development, and it is determined based on the number of solved tasks.
A 3-year-old whose achievement matches that of an average 3-year-old is said to have a 3-year-old mental age; a three-year-old child whose achievement corresponds to the average achievement of a four-year-old is said to have a mental age of 4, and is therefore above average. Thus, intelligence can be represented as the ratio between a child’s mental age and his actual or calendar age.
Rottweiler development takes place through the accumulation of acquired (learned) changes in behavior through a gradual, cumulative process whose capacities reach the mental age of a three-year-old. In other words, a dog has the mental age of a three-year-old child throughout its life, regardless of its calendar age (that’s why many owners tend to recognize four-legged children in their pets – even if they are mature and old dogs).
The parallel with the three-year-old is valid only when we look at the Rottweiler’s intelligence from the aspect according to which we determine the intelligence of our species. It is about social intelligence, characteristic of human society. However, the Rottweiler’s cognitive abilities also include traits specific to their breed.
Because of that, the Rottweilers should not to be seen as people with developmental disabilities-they have a powerful booster. Let‘s see what it’s all about.
ROTTWEILER INTELLIGENCE
The Rottweiler has working intelligence – that’s why it is considered a working dog.
Today’s blog aims to describe the nuanced and multifaceted nature of working intelligence, like a summation of adaptability (instinctive respons) and social competence.
Working intelligence = social intelligence + instinctive intelligence
Social intelligence-cognitive effects of domestication
This type of intelligence is characterized by two key features: cooperation and communication with people. This allowes Rottweilers to successfully live and work with humans.
During the centuries dogs have been selected to cooperate and communicate with humans during domestication and, thus, evolved genetic predispositions allowing them to develop skills shared with humans.
– Cooperation –
Cooperation is a fundamental aspect of human societies. In a unique way, domestication has equipped dogs with abilities necessary for cooperative problem solving, that enable them to adjust their behavior to that of their social partners-humans.
An early and at the same time the most obvious example of cooperation between man and dog was reflected in the use of dogs as guards and hunters.
– Communication –
That communication can be described the different nature of the signals which Rottweilers use in interactions with human. Dogs engage in visual communication by modifying different parts of their body; in tactile communication; and also in vocal communication, with different vocalizations.
Communication is also based on responses to human signals (conceptualization of communication). This includes vocalization, hand signals, body posture and touch.
Why the Rottweilers communicate and cooperate with us?
Because of attention!
The amount of attention which Rottweiler pays to human directly linked to the success in acquiring specific behaviors. Rottweilers have proven successful in tasks that are thought to require high attention toward humans, such as social learning social referencing, communication, responding to rewards and cooperation. The dogs follow human pointing and look at humans. Consequently, by means of positive evolutionary feedback processes, Rottweilers have developed increased social attentiveness and thus, can achieve more complex forms of dog-human communication and cooperation.
– Instinctive intelligence booster –
But is this social intelligence necessary for a dog outside of human society? Does he even need him within his species and in relation to other no-humans?
– No! For this purpose, dogs use instinctive intelligence.
In order to come to this conclusion, it is not even necessary to go into the distant past and connect today’s dog with its wild ancestors. It is enough to consider the behavior of free-ranging dogs. These dogs live more or less independently from humans, in conspecific groups in which their survival is greatly determined by successful communication and social maneuvering in intraspecific contexts. Obviously, living with or close to humans has certainly imposed important adaptational demands on the evolution of dog behavior. However, living in conspecific groups and interacting with other dogs has also always been part of the life of domestic dogs.
Therefore, it is clear that dogs have retained instinctive intelligence. Let’s see how it works.
Instinctive intelligence is effectiveness with which all organisms are greater or less extent congenitally endowed. This kind of intelligence contains a high degree of congenital flexibility-a vast number of alternative reactions. An organism can not know in every moment all the influences at his action and fore-know the resultant of these influences, it can not with certainty foretall the out-come of some its activity. Instinctive intelligence is inate guide trought these possibilities (you have heard the phrase “trust your instinct”). In this process is used senses and reflexs as an answer on environmental stimuli.
Rottweilers process information from eyes, ears, and other sensory organs to perceive the environment. Their perceptual processes is often similar to those in humans. But, here are interesting those perceptual processes that differ from, and go beyond those found in humans, such as prey drive. The Rottweiler, according to its species and innate characteristics, is a predator, which makes it a better hunter than any human.
Unlike social intelligence, which can be compared to the mental age of a three-year-old, here the Rottweiler has an advantage.
According that, instinctive intelligence is a booster of the social intelligence of the Rottweiler.
WORKING INTELLIGENCE
innate abilities + social skills
Working intelligence of Rottweiler has nuanced and multifaceted nature, like a summation of adaptability (instinctive respons) and social competence. Therefore, it is a measure of the Rottweiler’s cognitive abilities. It is measured by how well the dog learns and follows commands, and is tested through training and obedience tests.
Let’s go back to the “prey drive” example. Prey drive is the instinctive inclination of a carnivore to find, pursue, and capture prey. This instinct can be refined for industrial purposes such as herding livestock thanks to social intelligence.
Working intelligence contains two broad cognitive domains:
- Independent problem-solving, which includes tests of persistence, problem-solving, and memory,
- Learning ability, which encompasses associative learning and one-trial learning tests.
Working intelligence of Rottweiler is a comprehensive framework that encompasses a range of cognitive, emotional, and social skills essential for thriving in modern environments. At its core, working intelligence refers to navigating complex situations, making informed decisions, and collaborating effectively with human.
In practice, the Rottweiler’s working intelligence manifests itself as:
- the ability to adapt to conditions;
- the ability to predict, based on experience, the sequence of events in their environment and the consequences that may follow (trait conditioned by remembered consequences);
- ability to process information and solve problems;
- initiative;
- skills in collaboration, defending, obedience, searching;
- responses to signals (conceptualization of communication);
- learning performance, exploration, neophilia, activity/excitability;
- attention, learning ability and memory.
HOW TO ENCOURAGE ROTTWEILER COGNITIVE DEVELOPEMENT
Rottweilers are born with a certain potential for developing intelligence, which develops from the first day of life. A stimulating environment is very important to develop all potentials, but also continuous stimulation throughout life, so that the brain is in “shape”.
√ Movement from the first months of life
Thanks to movement, synapses in the brain connect, which further influences the development of intellectual capacities. Free and intense movement develops motor skills in puppies through the development of neural connections. In addition, the little Rottweiler learns about spatial relationships and gains experience.
√ Sounds
Rottweiler puppies should not be kept in silence, as they develop intellectually faster when they are exposed to different sounds. Allow your puppy to listen to the conversations you have with family members – this way he will understand more words and connect them with your actions and emotions.
√ Toys
A Rottweiler puppy should not be overloaded with toys, but rather be shown a few, and when he gets to know them, give him new ones and put away the old ones and replace them later in the game. This encourages natural curiosity and prevents boredom.
STRICTLY FORBIDDEN !
Factors that badly affect the cognitive developement of Rottweiler:
X Neglect
Neglect is the failure of the owner, i.e. another person who has assumed the responsibility or obligation to care for the Rottweiler, even for a short time (e.g. a trainer), to ensure the development of the dog in all areas: health, emotional development, nutrition, housing and safe living conditions, which causes or may cause, with a high probability, impair the Rottweiler’s health, or its physical or mental health. This includes failure to properly supervise and protect the dog from injury to the extent practicable.
X Emotional abuse
Emotional abuse includes the failure to provide a developmentally appropriate, supportive environment, including the availability of an attachment figure, so that the Rottweiler can develop stable emotional and social skills that match its potential.
Emotional abuse also includes actions that restrict the Rottweiler’s movement (chaining, prolonged confinement in a crate), or other forms of non-physical or rejecting treatment (exclusion from family members, lack of communication).
X Physical Abuse
Taking actions that cause physical pain to a Rottweiler or lead to actual or potential injury, through an act or omission.
Even if they are taken once, they are considered abuse and should be completely avoided.
WHAT IS NEXT
- As Hause Kaligula team recognizes the critical role of working intelligence of Rottweilers, the focus is on cultivating and enhancing these skills across all levels. Improving working intelligence is not just about individual development of the dog; it is about creating an environment that fosters growth, encourages emotional and social skill development and leverages technology to support continuous learning.
That is why our next topic will be: How Rottweilers learn
- If you think that this text can help to better understand the Rottweiler, please be kind and share it.