El Habanero es único en muchos sentidos. Por ejemplo, son la única raza que viene de Cuba. A pesar de sus inusuales orígenes, son amigables, juguetones y un poco cómicos. Pero los perros Habaneros son inteligentes? Qué tan inteligente es un perro Habanero?
Los perros Habaneros son considerados “inteligente promedio” para la obediencia y la inteligencia de trabajo. De hecho, están clasificados como El 79 perro más raza inteligente según Stanley Coren. Sin embargo, sobresalen en otras áreas del coeficiente intelectual de los perros, a saber, la inteligencia adaptativa.
Para entender cuán inteligentes son los Habaneros, examinemos cómo medimos la inteligencia canina. Además, mira las verdaderas razones por las que estos perros son más inteligentes de lo que crees.
RECOMENDADO: Las 100 razas de perros más inteligentes
Medir la inteligencia de un havanés
Los estudios que tenemos actualmente sobre la inteligencia de los perros no son completamente perfectos en la medición del verdadero CI. Sin embargo, dada la dificultad de medir la inteligencia objetivamente, esto es lo mejor que tenemos.
Nuestra lista de las razas de perros más inteligentes fue desarrollada por el psicólogo e investigador canino, Stanley Coren.
Los criterios de inteligencia de Coren Dog
Con la ayuda de 199 jueces de juicio por obediencia de Norteamérica, Coren les pidió que evaluaran y clasificaran tantas razas de perro como fuera posible en base a su criterio. Su criterio fue el siguiente:
- The number of repetitions needed for a dog to learn a new command. Dogs that needed fewer repetitions ranked higher for intelligence.
- The success rate in which a dog will obey a known command on the first attempt. Dogs that obeyed with a higher success rate were considered more intelligent.
Not all dog breeds qualified or participated in Coren’s research on dog intelligence. Only breeds recognized by the AKC and CKC participated. Fortunately, the Havanese is recognized by both.
Only dog breeds that had at least 100 evaluations qualified for Coren’s final list of smartest dogs. Given that Havanese dogs are consistently in the top 30 for most popular dogs of America, they easily qualified.
How the Havanese Performed
The Havanese didn’t do too bad. They didn’t do great either. In fact, they were just “average,” and that’s perfectly okay. Still, they’re the 79th smartest dog breed out of 138 qualifying breeds. Impressive.
Being in the average intelligent category, Havanese dogs are able to learn a new command with just 25 to 40 repetitions. This means they can easily learn a new command in an afternoon.
As for obedience, the Havanese will obey a known command on the first try with a 50% or better success rate. That’s a pretty obedient dog, in my opinion.
It’s okay to be an average intelligent dog. Some of the world’s most popular dog breeds are “average” too. For example, the Bichon Frise, Australian Shepherd, Siberian Husky, Greyhound, Dachshund and the Boston Terrier are in the same class.
Havanese vs. The Smartest Dogs
Havanese dogs are far from the world’s smartest dogs, at least for obedience & working intelligence. The smartest dog breeds are in a class of their own – they’re the the top 10.
For reference, these dogs are the German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Border Collie, Poodle, Rottweiler, Dobermann, Labrador among others.
The smartest dog breeds are able to learn a new command with fewer than 5 repetitions! This means they’re at least 5 times faster at learning commands than the Havanese.
What’s even more impressive is how obedient the smartest dogs are. They’re able to obey a known command on the first try with a 95% or higher success rate!
Owners: Is Your Havanese Smart?
A great way of understanding the true intelligence of a dog breed is by asking real owners. We surveyed the popular Havanese Subreddit and other forums to ask owners this very question. Here’s what they had to say about their dogs:
1. Ahhtasha says YES: “I also love that he seems to be fairly smart for a little dog and not neurotic! My parents have a Bichon Poodle mix. And while I absolutely love him, my Havanese seems a bit smarter and less fearful of everything.”
2. Grassjellyman says YES: “Never underestimate the intelligence of a Havanese. They may play dumb, but they’re probably just manipulating you…”
3. Gillyhappy1 says MIXED: “My Havanese gets tangled up every time he goes out on the chain. Every time! Sometimes he’s smart; most of the time not. But he’s so adorable!”
4. Stevensplaybk says YES: “For some reason, my Hav seems like he has a good understanding of…everything. There are words we never taught him, yet it seems like he knows exactly what were saying.”
5. Theforevermachine says YES: “I can’t get over how smart he is at such a young age… It blows my mind. He just inspects everything with his paws and by smell, he learns word associations faster than any dog I’ve ever met.”
6. Luvdogs2hav says YES: “Housetraining and basic obedience training was a BREEZE with Ollie, my Havanese. They’re definitely more intelligent than people give them credit for.”
7. Joshtsavo says YES: “Our first dog as adults was our Mollie, the Havanese. It’s absolutely amazing how smart they are and how quick you fall for them. She’s not at all like other dogs…you can see her thinking just about all the time.”
8. Rcjane says YES: “The Havanese is not a dog that will enjoy obedience training, at least all the time. But they are definitely smart enough to learn fairly quickly.”
9. Dengar96 says YES: “My Havanese is smart and stubborn! My guy knows his tricks and commands but sometimes he just decides he’s gonna look at you from across the room with a clueless face.
10. Lushandreas says YES: “I’ve raised a ton of toy small dog breeds in my life (Toy Poodle, Bichon, Lakeland, Dachshund, etc.) but the Havanese was the smartest!”
Other Reasons Why the Havanese is Smart
As mentioned, the Havanese isn’t “smart” in regards to obedience and working intelligence. But that doesn’t mean they’re not intelligent in other ways. Clearly, owners believe their Havanese dogs are smart.
There are three dimensions of canine intelligence. The other two are adaptive and instinctive intelligence. Both of which, are probably more important for determining true dog IQ.
But because obedience and working intelligence is the easiest to measure objectively, our smartest dogs list is based on just that component of IQ.
The Ultimate Companion Lap Dog
Instinctive intelligence refers to the innate ability or special skillset that a dog was bred for. When dogs were being developed, nearly all were bred for a specific purpose or job.
This can be retrieving, pointing, hunting, herding or even supplying owners with companionship.
For example, the German Shorthaired Pointer was bred to locate and track birds. The fact that these pointer dogs are able to naturally “point” towards birds without human training is their instinctive intelligence.
The Havanese dogs were bred to be companions and used by Spanish traders as gifts and offerings to Cuban women. They did so to maintain good trade relationships with Cuba.
Companionship is the Havanese dogs’ instinctive intelligence. For this reason, they’re some of the best family pets and know how to get along great with all people, children and other pets.
The Havanese’s Adaptive Intelligence
On the other hand, adaptive intelligence refers to how adaptable the dog is. Can the dog learn for itself and from previous experiences? Are they great at solving problems?
Though instinctive intelligence is roughly the same among all individual dogs within a breed, adaptive intelligence can vary quite a bit. Still, the Havanese dogs are known to generally have high adaptive intelligence.
One Havanese owner gives us insight into how emotionally intelligent her dog is:
I love how emotionally intelligent my boy is. He’s easily the sweetest dog I’ve ever met and his ability to read people’s emotions and give them exactly what they need makes me love him even more.
The ability to understand human emotions is a clear cut sign of high adaptive intelligence in dogs. This Havanese can not only read emotions but reacts accordingly, making him highly adaptable.
Another owner tells us about her Havanese, saying:
This Havanese of mine… she’s so unbelievably sharp. I put the food, treats and toys in different cabinets. Depending on which one I’m walking towards, she’ll head straight to her meal bowl, bed or the play pen.”
This Havanese was able to quickly learn that each cabinet meant a different thing for her. Because she was able to learn this for herself, this is an obvious sign of high adaptive intelligence.
Although these are just two stories, just ask any Havanese owner! You’ll likely hear many more anecdotes just like these.
Smart Toys for Smart Havaneses
Owning an intelligent dog, such as a Havanese, is not always a great thing. With more intelligence, comes more responsibilities for the owner.
Typically, more intelligent dogs require more mental stimulation. Without the required stimulation, you could be seeing some destructive behavior!
Mental stimulation can come in the form of obedience training, brain games or activities. But not every owner has enough time, every single day. The solution? Smart toys and dog puzzles.
Here are some of my dogs favorite puzzles and toys that’ll help mentally stimulate your Havanese dog!
The StarMark Bob-A-Lot is one of my favorites. It’s a bobble toy that releases food if your dog tilts it in a certain direction. Plus, it also comes with a large chamber that can fit a whole meal!
If you’re thinking about this, make sure to get a size small for your Havanese. I highly recommend checking it out at Amazon here.
A fantastic dog puzzle that my dogs absolutely love is the Nina Ottosson Dog Puzzle. It comes in three different variations, but I went with the Hide N’ Slide.
Hide your Havanese’s favorite treats and they’ll spend a great deal of time figuring out how to move the sliders to get to their treats. It’s perfect for the Havanese, as they always enjoy a fun game.
If you’re interested, I highly recommend checking it out at Amazon here.
These are the two that I can recommend because I’ve personally used them with my dog. In fact, there are a ton of great smart toys and dog puzzles on Amazon that your Havanese will love.
What’s more important is that you get them something to help with mental stimulation.
Is the Havanese For Me?
The Havanese is a great fit for nearly anyone looking for a small dog breed. They’re fun-loving and entertaining – meaning many hours to enjoy with these dogs.
When picking a dog breed, it’s important that you don’t pick one based on how “intelligent” they are. All dogs breeds, including the Havanese, are more than capable of learning all the basics.
Instead, pick a dog breed based on their personality and temperament. Does that dog match your personality and your situation?
And if you decide to go with the Havanese, you won’t regret it. They’re one of the most popular lap dogs for a reason.
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