Making the Cut: Intelligence Versus. Drive - a podcast by Ty Brown

Today I want to make a distinction between intelligence and drive. These are two very different concepts, but they are often confused with each other to a certain degree. People often have incorrect expectations for their dogs based on this misunderstanding.

About eight years ago I was invited to do a demonstration with my dog, Rocco. He was a great protection dog, and I was asked by a rescue dog event to come and show off his protection abilities. I had a client put on a big bite suit and let Rocco attack him. It was a lot of fun, and was witnessed by thousands of people. After the event, people came up to me and emailed me to say things like “I’d really like for my dog to be able to do that too.” Unfortunately I never worked with any of those dogs, because none of them were actually capable.

Time and time again, they also added that their dog was very intelligent. A man approached me after the event and said that he was sure his dog could do the same things that Rocco had. My question for him was, “Okay, so what about his drive and character makes you think that he could?” His response? That his dog was really intelligent.

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