Man’s Smartest Friend
Dogs are known for loyalty, love, compassion, and kindness. They are often referred to as man’s best friend because of these things they are known for. Dogs are there for us when things get hard when we have lost a loved one, are stressed out, or just need a cuddle buddy to brighten our day.
However being there in the good and the bad times for us human beings is no ordinary task for an animal, consider a cat or a hamster, when I have a bad day I never see Mr. Snuffles my cat come to comfort me. When I get home from school Oddy, my guinea pig never comes running to greet me at the door. What gives our dogs such intelligence to understand us better than even some of our friends? Some of the smartest dogs are the Border collie, Poodle, German Shepherd and of course my dog, the Golden retriever. These dogs are known for not only their intelligence but their cuddles, hard work and devotion to their master as well.
It is said that 90% of human communication is non-verbal, leaving that 10% out Dogs can read our body language like a book. Humans and dogs are very similar in many cases, we both are born into close-knit families or packs, and we look out for each other, are loyal to each other, and when one of us is having a hard time, the others will come to our comfort.


According to DogHealth.com, there are three main ways that dogs can identify how we are feeling, the first is our body language, they observe our posture, facial expressions and how our head is placed. The next is the sounds that we may make; dogs can pick up sounds and frequencies that we could never hear, such as footsteps, a car breaking and even keys jingling when getting out of the car.
These are some of the signs that they pick up when anticipating your arrival of getting home and seeing your furry friend waiting there with a smile always on their face. The third of these senses is a smell, similar to hearing dogs have a sense of smell far greater than that of a human’s. A dog’s sense of smell is known to be one million times stronger than a human’s. This strength that dogs have is what helps them discover a change in our metabolism, chemical changes in our system and even allows seizure-alert dogs to know when a person is about to have a seizure.
Dogs with the best sense of smell, sight, and hearing are the Coonhound making it an ideal dog for hunting. These dogs are believed to have adapted to their environments using their capabilities to pass the process of natural selection raising them to the top due to their gifts of smell, sight, and hearing. Although these are among some of the smartest dogs, what makes up the best dogs to have around the house for family, friends and young children? In this case, a commonly selected breed for the house is the golden retriever.
This dog is playful, good with children and is known for its tender loving care. I grew up with a golden retriever as the family dog. Her name was Liberty Patience and never once did she bite, scratch or even bark at me or my family members. However, whenever a stranger entered our house, Liberty was on her feet and barling if she felt any threat to our family. Dogs have not only been apart of homes, farms and just a man’s best friend but also have been apart of some very important events in history.
Among the most intelligent dogs is the German Shepherd, this dog has been known to be apart of search parties for escaped convicts, seeking out drugs, going into war with soldiers sniffing out bombs and possible enemies nearby. The German Shepherd is believed to be one of the smartest dogs and among one of the hardest workers in the animal kingdom. The U.S. Military trusts this breed of dogs to bring into the line of duty and take to the front lines of war to help protect our troops. These dogs are responsible for saving thousands of lives in enemy territory and even here in the states.


Intelligent Behavior Dogs
Having a dog with this level of intelligence does come with responsibility, these types of dogs do better with plenty of outside exercises, strict command and of course plenty of love and affection. When treated in the correct manner German Shepherds, Poodles, Border Collies and other breeds of intelligent dogs are known to progress far past other dogs of the same breed but without these vital parts of their daily schedule. To keep your dog healthy and to help increase their intelligence a strict schedule is encouraged.
Before heading to work a morning walk, healthy diet and some play time will help the dog’s mind active and grow. According to a scientific study, dogs are known to have the same knowledge as a two-year-old child. While a dog’s understanding of language is compared to that of a two-year-old child, a dog’s arithmetic skills far surpass that of a 3-4-year-old child. A test ran using treats two add up to two treats was used discovering that dogs have a vague understanding of how to add or subtract. As for socializing dogs are very good at communicating and not being shy but socializing freely with other dogs, this is recognized when two dogs are presented to each other at a young age while humans are known to be shy at first especially at a toddlers age.
Overall dogs are often underestimated to only being known for cuddling, love, chewing things up and playing fetch. We can no longer underestimate dogs but instead understand their intelligence and in return for their loyalty and love, give them a healthy diet, proper exercise schedule and understand the importance of being a good master to them. As a result of giving our furry friends these things, we can expect the most from them and have the best possible relationship with our most loyal pet companion.