Are Huskies Smart? (All You Need to Know) - Unlock Your Dog's Full Potential with MastersDogClub

I’m sure you know that the Siberian Husky is one of the most popular dog breeds in the world, and if you are planning to bring one home, you might want to ask the question, "Are Huskies smart?"

 

This is a very good question to ask, although you should keep in mind that this dog breed is one of the most popular dog breeds for good reasons.

 

The short answer to the question "Are Huskies smart?" is yes, Huskies are smart. They are considered to possess average intelligence.

 

However, they are also very intelligent, cunning, and, obviously, very smart. 

This is a fact that is supported by most people about this dog breed.

 

Their stubborn and tenacious attitude oftentimes fools people into thinking that they are not very smart, which is untrue.

 

How Smart Are Huskies?

 

With the question "Are Huskies smart?" being answered, it will be right to ask the next important question, which is "How smart are Huskies?"

 

As said above, Huskies are extremely intelligent dog breeds. 

They are also independent. This dog breed is known for its extreme intelligence.

However, they might be a little bit difficult to train, thanks to the fact that they were originally bred to be working dogs.

 

The fact that they are not easy to train doesn’t mean that they are not intelligent; it is just due to the fact that they can be quite headstrong.

 

When it comes to aspects of personality and intelligence, the Siberian Husky breed can be considered to be a more complex dog breed.

 

Are Huskies Truly That Difficult to Train? 

The short answer to this question is yes. Huskies are difficult to train.

 

There are quite a number of Huskies that will frustrate either a dog owner, breeder, or lover with their independent nature.

 

There are also some other factors that make this dog breed, the Siberian Husky, difficult to train. 

Other factors include their prey drive and lack of interest in training.

 

However, this does not affect the fact that the Siberian Husky is an excellent choice of dog.

 

All this dog breed needs to become an excellent companion dog is for you to be able to provide it with enough space to play, run, and exercise.

 

Providing your Husky with all that it needs will make it happy and healthy. 

However, I strongly suggest you don’t go for this dog breed if what you want is a dog that you want to teach a lot of tricks and also do dexterity with.

 

There have been complaints of struggles many Husky owners have had throughout their pooch’s life, particularly when it comes to teaching this dog breed.

 

They even struggle to teach their dog basic obedience skills, such as not jumping up or pulling on the leash.

 

I will suggest you don’t expect perfect obedience from your Husky as there’s a great chance you won’t get it. 

This is due to the fact that they were bred to be extremely independent and difficult to train.

 

Stanley Coren’s Dog Intelligence Test

 

This is done to measure how intelligent and well-trained a dog is. However, Coren made use of three criteria.

These are:

• The first item on the list is the number of times that the judge has seen the same dog carry out an exercise perfectly.
• The second criterion is how many times the dog is seen by the judge to fail to carry out an exercise.
• And lastly, which is the third criterion, has to do with the judge’s opinion on whether he or she thinks the dog would have the ability to repeat the exercise without any further training.

 

Furthermore, based on this information, Coren gave two scores:

 

• Obedience Score 
• Working Ability Score

Stanley Coren’s dog intelligence test outlines three different types of intelligence:

 

The first type is instinctive intelligence, followed by adaptive intelligence, and then, lastly, working and obedience intelligence.

 

• Instinctive Intelligence 

 

This has to do with the ability of the dog to perform the exercises it was bred for originally, such as hunting, guarding, preying, and perhaps providing company.

 

• Adaptive Intelligence 

 

This is the second type of intelligence on my list, and it has to do with the ability of the dog to do instinctive exercises.

 

Instinctive exercises such as recognizing basic problems and then finding a way around them

 

However, you need to make sure that the exercises are easy for both physical and mental measures. Complex exercises would require training.

 

• Working and Obedience Intelligence

Lastly, working and obedience intelligence is the third of the three different types of intelligence.

 

So, to talk about this category, it has to do with the ability of the dog to follow human commands.

 

The interpretation of this goes around the concept of the dog obeying and learning what it is being taught.

 

Amongst the three types of intelligence, this type is considered to be the most important of them all, which in turn gives precedence to the creation of a ranking. 

 

The good news about this is that the Siberian Husky ranked 77 out of 138 in the category of working and obedience intelligence.

 

How Smart Are Siberian Huskies? 

The truth is that the Siberian Huskies are more intelligent compared to the ranking that they have obtained under Stanley Coren’s Intelligence Test.

Fundamentally, the personality of the Huskies has more to it compared to just working and obedience intelligence.

The fact is that, compared to many other dog breeds, the Huskies are extraordinarily better in terms of instinctive and adaptive intelligence.

 

They become extremely instinctive thanks to their evolutionary intuition. 

Higher IQ is not all you need to look for, even though it does improve fast learning.

 

The Siberian Huskies are extremely vocal dogs, which in turn means they are also great communicators.

 

However, in general, they lack the ability to bark. The uniqueness of these traits is that they are rare among dog breeds.

 

This is because it requires a fair amount of natural intelligence from the dog’s side to comprehend your commands and respond in a sensible way.

 

Final Thoughts

In the world, the Huskies are the best working dog breed, which is also a great addition.

This is because, originally, they were bred to be sled dogs in the colder regions and made to travel long distances.

 

They can naturally pull sleds with little or no human training. 

This also complements the special category of instinctive intelligence they have.

 

The bottom line here is that the Huskies are extremely smart, but not in the sense of being willing to learn or easy to train.

 

With all that being said and the question "Are Huskies smart?" being answered, this will in turn lead to the wrapping up of this guide.