The best way to test your dog’s intelligence, according to science
If you’ve spent any time on TikTok lately, you’ve probably seen the smart dog wall test. Someone picks up their dog (or cat!), carries it face down toward a wall, and the Internet decides whether the animal is intelligent or not based on whether it sticks out its paw.
A five-second intelligence test you can take in your living room sounds cool. The problem, according to researchers who study animal cognition, is that it doesn’t measure intelligence at all.
It’s a reflex, not a sign of intelligence
Dr. Murat Sırrı Akosman, professor of veterinary medicine at Afyon Kocatepe University in Türkiye, recently published a letter in The Small Animal Practice Journal calling the TikTok trend creating confusion.
Will your dog pass the wall test? See how the other pups did.
Experts agree: don’t follow this viral TikTok trend. Video: Will your dog pass the wall test? See how the other pups did. @USAToday
“As veterinary professionals, it is our duty to clarify that this maneuver is not a measure of canine cognition but is in fact a fundamental neurological assessment known as the visual and tactile placement test,” Akosman writes.
When your dog reaches toward the wall, it’s an automatic reflex, like when a doctor taps your knee and your leg jerks forward. Veterinarians use it to check whether a dog’s nervous system is working properly, he explains.
If your dog “fails” the test, it may be a warning sign of serious nervous system problems, says Akosman, and you’d be wise to book a vet visit. (But don’t panic: if they react on the second or third try, it’s likely that they were distracted at first, or that you moved too quickly and it disrupted their sense of balance.)
“The wall test is not a valid measure of a cat or dog’s intelligence,” agrees Dr. Gitanjali (Gita) Gnanadesikan, a postdoctoral researcher in the Social Cognition and Primate Behavior Lab at Emory University.
And while some pet owners consider wall testing a fun trend, pets may not feel the same way. “It should be noted that most cats and dogs do not like to be held like this! » Gnanadesikan notes.
“I think the wall test is a very unwise and potentially dangerous way to treat an animal,” says Dr Juliane Kaminski, director of the Dog Cognition Center at the University of Portsmouth. “I would never encourage dog owners (or any pet owners) to do this to their pets.”
Tuxedo Cat Fails Intelligence Test || Viral pork
Don’t do the wall test on your cats either. Video: Tuxedo Cat Fails Intelligence Test, @ViralHog
“It is not possible to encrypt intelligence in a unique way”
According to experts, the idea that we can assess an animal’s intelligence using a single test is wrong.
“The term intelligence is very broad,” explains Dr. Shany Dror, a postdoctoral researcher at the Clever Dog Lab at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. What scientists find more useful is examining specific cognitive abilities (i.e. thinking), such as physical problem solving, spatial navigation, and social awareness, using different tests.
Animals that excel at solving physical problems, like knowing how to open a door, have very good physical cognition, Dror says.
Others have very good spatial cognition, meaning they know how to orient themselves in space very well and can, for example, always know how to get home.
And “some animals have exceptionally good social cognition and can easily interpret social interactions and respond accordingly,” says Dror.
Gnanadesikan’s own research shows just how nuanced pet intelligence really is. “Dogs that have good memories are not necessarily those that have good problem-solving skills,” she says.
“Instead of having genius dogs that do well in all areas, we find that some dogs do better at some things and others at others. Which also means that it’s not possible to put a single number on intelligence.”
What to try instead
If you really want to learn something about how your dog thinks, there are much better options than the wall test.
Kaminski suggests that a simple cutting game “that’s actually fun for dogs and at the same time can potentially tell you something about your dog’s thought process” works.
Try this simple cup game: Place two identical, non-transparent cups in front of your dog, then hide a treat under one of them while your dog isn’t looking. Once the cups are placed, use a pointed finger or a deliberate look to signal which cup hides the food, then let your dog choose. Getting it right depends entirely on reading them, which is what makes it such a revealing test of social cognition. This also strengthens impulse control, since they have to hold back and wait for your signal before moving.
Another test you can try at home is to place an unequal number of treats on two identical plates and see how close the quantities have to get before your dog stops reliably picking up the larger pile. “Usually dogs are pretty good as long as the maximum number of pieces on a board doesn’t exceed 15. From there it gets difficult,” notes Kaminski.
If your dog seems disengaged, resist the urge to jump to conclusions: He might simply lack motivation. “Just like us, they have to be motivated to learn something,” warns Dror. “If you’re trying to teach your dog something new and he’s not interested in what you have to offer, it’s not him who’s failing the test, it’s you.”
And the cats?
Compared to dogs, researchers know much less about cats’ thinking abilities, “because cats are much harder to study, which I’m sure surprises absolutely no one,” Gnanadesikan jokes.
But the same principle applies: Cat intelligence is much more nuanced than a number on a scale, she says.
I can personally attest to this. One of my cats doesn’t pick up social cues very well, but he is an expert at opening doors, including kitchen cabinets: low social cognition, high physical cognition.
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