September 20, 2010

The Intelligence of Greyhounds

It seems that there is a good deal of variation in the intelligence of greyhounds. On the high side, there is Darryl. At the other extreme is Tasha.
Darryl
Darryl has a good memory. He also learns from his mistakes and tries new things. I have noticed that all of the dogs are unable to understand that what they see through a window is what is happening outside. If it is raining outside, they can see the bad weather through the sliding glass door, but until they go outside they do not seem to understand that is is raining. Recently, Darryl has learned that what he sees outside is real. Now, when it is raining out, Darryl only has to look outside to know that he really does not want to go out and get wet.
Tasha
Tasha is an example of the other extreme. Every morning when she wakes up she is just as happy to see me as when I return home. The other day I called the dogs into the kitchen to give each one a dog biscuit. When I gave one to Tasha she did not grab it firmly enough and it slipped out of her mouth and remained in my hand. To my surprise, Tasha trotted off to the bedroom to eat her "air cookie". She did come back for seconds.