How to Breed the Smartest Dog in the World!
Courtesy: Guild of Shepherds and Collies
In a previous blog post, we looked at “How to Measure a Dog’s Intelligence.” In today’s blog, we’ll take a closer look at “How to Breed the Smartest Dog in the World!”
The K9 Einsteins
When experts test the intelligence of dogs, they consistently find that Border Collies emerge as the Einsteins of the dog world. But how did they get that way? A quick review of the breed’s history gives credit to a Northumberland herding dog named Old Hemp.
Old Hemp: A Brief Biography
Old Hemp was born in 1893. He was a medium-sized, tri-colored dog with a small bit of white fur on his trim. Old Hemp’s herding style differed from that of other herding dogs. He was mild-mannered and tended to move sheep quietly, in contrast with louder sheepdogs. But he wasn’t nonchalant – he worked so intensely that he sometimes trembled. Within a few generations, his style had been adopted by other dog owners and trainers. It became the standard, most desirable Border Collie herding technique.
Old Hemp is considered the foundation sire of the modern Border Collie. When the International Sheepdog society began its stud book in 1915, Old Hemp was the ninth entry. His stud services were widely sought-after; estimates place his offspring at more than 200. Between 1906 and 1951, each of the 29 collies that won the International Farmers Championship for sheepdogs was a descendant of Old Hemp.
How To Create a Dog as Smart as a Human
Border Collies are Estimated to be 40% More Intelligent than the Average Dog
By some estimates, a Border Collie’s intelligence level is about that of a three-year-old human, which is some 40 percent greater than that of the average dog. On the human IQ scale, with 100 as average, a smart dog like Old Hemp scores about 35.
But let’s suppose we want to create an even brighter dog, say, one as intelligent as the average human. We would start with the DNA of a super-clever dog – a modern-day Old Hemp, in other words – and follow the easy five-step recipe below:
Develop a rigorous, standardized, broadly agreed-upon test of dog intelligence. This does not currently exist.
Raise a female Border Collie to about six years of age, and use the test to determine the dog’s intelligence.
Breed the female with a male that achieves a high score on the doggie brainpower exam.
Assume a litter of about ten pups. When they reach about two months, give them the intelligence test and select the highest scorers.
Go through this process with nine male genetic lines and nine separate female genetic lines. Breed the smartest animals from separate lines, but do not allow siblings to mate, which would accelerate the emergence of genetic problems. However, as long as no sibling interbreeding occurs, you can overlook occasional genetic anomalies. Presuming these genetic propensities are not actively selected for in subsequent generations, they will wash out over time.
To construct a dog with the IQ of an average person, prepare to engage your heirs in the effort. By one estimate, the underlying artificial selection process will take about 600 years. In evolutionary terms, this is all but instantaneous, since dog intelligence hasn’t changed much over the animals’ lengthy co-evolution with humans. On the other hand, it would have to be considered the ultimate long-term experiment.
Philosophical Issues
Would Engineering K9 Intelligence be Ethical?
Beyond the logistical challenges of engineering dogs for human-level intelligence, this kind of genetic mind experiment raises moral questions. Let’s suppose that, many generations from now, we have pets (or working dogs, at least) as brainy as we are. Would that achievement be ethical, given the comparatively short lifespans of canines? Would their intelligence bring self-awareness, with the realization that their time on earth was merely a fraction of that enjoyed by their human companions (and intellectual peers)? Or would we be obligated to take our population of super-smart dogs and begin to breed them selectively for longevity? And how long would it take to develop a canine with an average lifespan of, say, 60 years?
Do We Owe It to Them?
Dogs Have Helped Humans for over 1,000 Years
Our canine companions have benefitted us in innumerable ways over the millennia. They have provided sustenance, saved lives and given us love and companionship for much of the time modern humans have existed. Do we owe it to our dogs to use what we know about genetics to develop their ability to more fully self-actualize, to give them the capacity to experience the more engaging universe within which we humans exist? Or are they better off as simpler (albeit still complex) beings, with only limited capacity for the rumination and intellectual torture to which we members of homo sapiens subject ourselves?
Maybe a really smart dog could answer that question.