ROUND THE BEND - 5 minutes How good is your dog at solving problems?
This is both a problem-solving test and a detour test. First your dog has to work out a route to the reward, and then it has to walk away from the treat in order to get it.
What do I need?
Two dining or kitchen chairs
A pet treat or toy
The walkthrough below describes the stages of the test:
Step 1: Arrange the two chairs so that they face each other. Lay them on their sides, so that their bases make a V-shaped barrier with a gap in the middle that is too small for your dog to fit through.
Step 2: Place your dog outside the V-barrier next to the gap.
Step 3: Stand outside the barrier, with your dog, and drop the treat onto the floor the other side of the barrier so that your dog can see it through the gap. Step 4: How does your dog react?
Results:
A - Dog walks immediately around the barrier to retrieve treat
B - After some time, dog walks around the barrier to retrieve treat
C - Dog ignores the test or simply tries to get at the treat through the gap
If option A - Your dog cracked this puzzle remarkably quickly. This may be because it has come across a similar situation before, or it may be very good at looking at physical problems and coming up with solutions. This takes a fair deal of brain power.
If option B - Your dog took a little time to crack this puzzle. It may be that it spent a few moments trying to get at the treat before deciding on a less direct action, or it could have simply stumbled upon the solution by mistake as it walked away. If you repeated the test, it may do it more quickly now it knows what to do.
If option C - Your dog wasn't able to crack this puzzle. It may seem obvious to you, but to do this successfully, your dog must have a good understanding of its physical world, and be prepared to walk away from a treat in order to get at it. This is no mean feat.
