[ELI5] What dictates a domestic animal’s ability to follow commands or cues by their owner?
In: Biology
Some dogs are smarter than others, like humans. Some pick it up a lot easier than others. Some have been bred for cuteness not smarts while others have been bred for smarts. There will be a variation in genetics which leads to variation in brain function so some dog breeds are just smarter than others thanks to selective breeding. So our malamute is mega smart and learns commands almost instantly, my Pomeranian is dumb af and takes forever to connect the dots between trick and treat.
Being acclimated with humans at an early age, spending lots of time interacting with the same person, and training.
As far as innate qualities, I couldn’t say.
Their intelligence, their training, their temperament and how closely the command matches their natural instincts.
Teaching a dog to fetch is easy because they are smart, they are pack animals, and they naturally want to chase things. Teaching a squirrel to fetch would be more difficult on all three counts.
The amount of human interaction the dog has had in its life and how much the dog has had with THAT human. Just like humans, dogs are better at social interaction if they have a lot of it. My dogs are amazing, I used to walk them without a leash.
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