I really do agree that a well trained dog always, consistently, blows my face off. Yeah it hurts.

Let's say you see this sort of ugly fella, about 6ft tall, walking down the street with A)border collie, or B)Malinois and lets assume they are trained so well they respond telepathically. Which one would you be more impressed with? Wowed, if you will.

LoL humor me, I'm terribly bored at my station!

 Quote: tammy moore

The only dogs I have worked with that truly get the "WOW"

GREAT DANES/ MASTIFFS... Now you can change your thread topic!

I wasn't going to say anything in order to keep this thread on topic, but since Tammy went and said it: I have never seen a dog get more attention than my big boned, Daney-looking Ridgeback. Mastiffs and Danes will always get attention on account of their size, but RRs still have a lot of novelty and people love stopping us to compliment the dog and ask about his breed - Honest to goodness, on multiple occasions people have braked their cars in the middle of the street just to yell "Handsome dog!!" out the window while we're walking! I'd call that "WOW" appeal for sure (and I know it's all his looks because he's certainly not blowing people's faces off with his telepathic level of training - if anything I'm probably pulling his face out of the bushes because he's gone after someone's discarded bagel!!)

I think wow factor is honestly entirely subjective. The type of dog I find insanely beautiful and covet worthy will be based on personal ideals, goals, the color of the rugs in my house, etc.... not general consensus. For example, I love a highly trained dog as much as the next guy, but I also ADORE a big, houndy, well-balanced/athletic appearance, so I got a dog that melts my heart every time I look at him, but isn't the best candidate for high level obedience... this was a trade-off I knew and accepted, with no regrets.

All that said, I like Betty's quick assessment of first impressions.

~Natalya

I'm really impressed by trained cats. And fish.

Border Collies Outclass them All

Nowadays dog owners send their beloved pets to agility training, where they balance on ramps and crawl through tubes. Some dogs attend "dog dancing" sessions, and puppy training has become all the rage. "Dog education has changed," says Range.

With this change comes clear evidence of cognitive differences. The breeds that were used for hunting or as herding dogs only a few dog generations ago have proven to be especially clever. Border collies like Rico and Guinness would probably be happiest watching over their own herds of sheep. "They simply want to work," says Range. American dog researcher Stanley Coren is convinced that the border collie is the most intelligent of the roughly 400 breeds of dog.

Judging by the numbers of volunteers who show up at Range's dog behavior laboratory, many owners are convinced that their dogs are exceptionally gifted. Range gets two to three inquiries a week from dog owners wanting to test their dogs for intelligence. The Leipzig researchers already have about 1,000 potential test dogs in their database.

"There is a village near Exeter where I now know every dog," says British researcher Osthaus. This is surprising, because her experiments are usually frustrating for dog lovers. "It's almost embarrassing to me, but with my experiments I tend to run up against the limits of dog intelligence."

Osthaus recently placed a trellis in her laboratory. The test dog was placed on one side of the trellis and the owner on the other. The animal was able to see its owner through the gaps in the trellis, and an opening was easily visible at one end of the trellis, which was several meters long.