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Mastiffs are enormous and loyal companions. They are not very fast or active, but they are undoubtedly powerful and brave.
Because of their massive size and slow nature, some people believe that mastiffs are not very smart dogs. Is there any truth to it?
In this post, you’ll find the answer.
It’s a bit complicated. Some mastiff breeds such as English Mastiffs, are slow learners and can be stubborn at times, but are they stupid? No, they are not.
Even though they do take time to understand commands, they have a tendency to please their owners and have strong food desires. So training and making an English mastiff more intelligent is very much possible.
While there are some mastiffs who have gifted intelligence, like Cane Corso or Dogo Argentino.
These mastiff breeds catch commands faster and training them is much easier compared to English mastiffs or Neapolitan mastiffs.
Yes, you can increase a mastiff’s intelligence by training him with simple exercises. Let’s look at some of the most effective exercises to improve your mastiff’s intelligence.
Teaching a mastiff, especially, an English mastiff could be a headache for some as English mastiffs are very stubborn, however, with the help of some treats, you can teach your mastiff a new trick.
Start with the “Sit” command. It is the simplest trick you can teach your dog. Starting with something easier is always the right thing to do.
The sit command can serve as the basis of many other simple tricks like “shake” and “stay.”
To teach your mastiff how to sit when you say “Sit”, you have to keep your foot on your mastiff’s leash. Show him a treat and hold that treat above his head so that he moves into the sit position naturally.
Because you have kept your foot on your mastiff’s leash, he won’t be able to jump up; however, there will have little room to move.
Now, all you need to do is say “Sit”. Give your mastiff a treat, and say sit again, and then give him another treat. Repeat this process until your mastiff understands the sit command.
New places present new scents and challenges. It can increase your dog’s sensory intelligence like vision, hearing, taste, touch, and proprioception. Also, allow your dog to sniff and check new places so that he gets comfortable with the new place.
Take your dog to new places every week. Don’t do it daily, in fact, take him to the same place two or three times before moving on to another place.
Purchase a dog board game or a canine puzzle and then challenge your mastiff. According to Cesar Millan (Dog Expert), You can engage your dog in a game of Dog Dominos or Dog Memory.
Give your mastiff a toy that allows you to hide treats and objects inside and engage your dog to figure out how to work them out.
You’ll notice that your mastiff is doing his best to find out the hidden treat or toy. Engaging your mastiff in these games can boost his intelligence.
Most dogs are capable of completing tasks such as hunting and herding. If you don’t keep your mastiff active, he might not learn anything new and become super lazy and obese. He might also become destructive.
You can use a frisbee or tennis ball to keep your mastiff active and healthy.
You can also take him for a walk or jog. If your Mastiff is comfortable swimming, you can take him to a pool as well. The aim is to keep your mastiff active!
Also, remember that mastiffs do not need a lot of exercises. Their joints and body aren’t capable of excessive exercise.
Their body can heat up and joints can get hurt. A good 40 to 45 minutes of walking or playtime is enough for them.
If your friend has a dog, introduce your dog to your friend’s dog, or if you can go to a dog park, you must go as going there will present your dog with new sights, sounds, and butts to sniff.
He will become more social, and keeping your mastiff social and non-aggressive is very important as they are huge dogs and can hurt someone badly very easily.
To test your Mastiff’s problem-solving ability, you have to take present a challenge to him.
You’ll need a towel for this.
Cover your dog’s head with a towel and start a stopwatch, see how long it takes to remove that tower from his head.
If he gets it off before 30 seconds, it indicates that he is pretty good at solving problems.
If he takes more than that, it indicates that he is decent at it, but if he takes more than 120 seconds or did not even try. It means that he needs more training, he isn’t really good at solving problems.
You can always make him better with proper training.
Yes, the better he eats, the more intelligent he gets. Food is directly linked with intelligence and behavior.
Adult Mastiffs need a purely meat-based diet. Avoid giving them foods that are rich in sugar. It can make them slow, obese, and even give diabetes.
There is an estimate that an adult mastiff’s mental abilities are close to a human child aged 2 to 2.5 years. However, it depends from dog to dog.
So if your mastiff isn’t learning something faster, don’t force him. Be patient with them and remember that he only has a mental ability of a child aged 2 years. Keep training him and the result will follow. Even if you don’t get any results, he is still a very good guard and will protect you at any cost!
I hope you liked this post.
Thanks for reading!
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