Is there such a thing as retarded dogs?

[Ksec]

I was just wondering.

[xultar]

1. Yes. I had a German Shepard that sufferd oxygen loss @ birth and

she was very slow.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. LOL, my dad had a German Shepard

that was the stupidest dog we every met.

The dog kept running away but unfortunately people kept bringing him back.

[dubeskin]

2. I guess there could be

I've never seen one, but I guess if a dog's IQ is low enough, it could be classified as retarded, but it probably isn't as obvious as a human's retardation.

[babylonsister]

3. Welcome to DU, dubeskin!

:hi:

[Ksec]

12. Welcome to DU

I wonder how one could tell? Some dogs just seem bullheaded and slow to learn..but you can tell in people by certain physical characteristics in lots of cases. Wouldnt that be in the dog world too?

[lvx35]

4. There sure are brilliant ones...

I know this mentally retarded guy with a black lab that is brilliant. She understands a great deal of spoken words, and understands really abstract references to taking her for a walk that don't even use the word "walk" or her name, and gets excited. She can also follow a huge set of verbal commands.

[Karenca]

6. My Golden Retreiver understands

abstract references.
People get really freaked around her.

[lvx35]

19. It shame most of these dogs are neutered/spayed.

These really are the ones we should be breeding, they are fantastic!

[Pirate Smile]

5. You should read Marley and Me, if you are a dog person.

I think the answer to your question is Yes.

Great book.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0060817089.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060817089/002-0507694-2465648?v=glance&n=283155

[Ksec]

7. I love dogs

I have two, a Yellow Lab (looks like Marley) and a Border Collie. My Border is scary smart. Ive owned dogs all my life and he outsmarts all the others put together.

My Lab is average and lovable as they can get. I once owned a dog who I think may have been retarded, a beagle by the name of Sam.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I may look that book up.

[Pirate Smile]

20. It is a good book. It was a big bestseller, a bit of a surprise but it

hit a nerve with dog-lovers.

It is a true story and they are making it into a move but books are always better.

I'm sure you'd enjoy it.

[driver8]

24. We had a Border Collie named Cody who was very, very smart.

Unfortunately, he is no longer with us. He understood so much and usually picked up things the first time you taught him.

I really miss him.



Our sweet boy, Cody

[Ksec]

33. Coincidence.....my lab is named Cody.

My Border is named Tug. I talk to him like I would talk to any normal person and he understands most of what Im saying. Ive taken him to parks and people were amazed at how smart this dog is. Im not bragging but this dog is a freak of nature, Dogs should not be this intelligent. When I talk to him he looks me in the eyes and he knows what Im saying. He does things I ask him to do. Its comical to see a dog able to understand humans like this one can.

[driver8]

36. "Tug" -- what a great name! There used to be a show on the BBC

called "A Man and His Dog" that showed herding competitions between farmers (shepards) in Wales, England, and Scotland and their Border Collies. I used to get up at 7am to watch it and was always amazed at what these dogs can do. Some of the trials featured two dogs working together and the farmer would have a different series of "whistles" for each dog. When the farmer was directing one dog, the other Border Collie would ignore the directions because he knew they were not for him.

The best part was at the end of the trial when they interviewed the winner...I never understood about 3/4's of the interview because these guys had such heavy accents and talked so fast.

A friend of mine lives in Ireland and has a Border Collie for a pet. Her Border is not a working dog and the locals cannot believe that anyone would have a Border Collie that doesn't work.

[Ksec]

34. Cody looks beautiful

I can imagine how much you miss him.

[driver8]

23. What a great book! You have to love Marley...quite a dog! n/t

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. I love a good dog tale!

Thanks for the recommendation!

I enjoyed reading Louis de Bernières' "Red Dog" recently.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375421556/qid=1147499022/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-9225702-7303352?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

[Dirty Hippie]

32. Thanks

I just ordered the book-on-tape for my son.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

8. Any Animal With Some Level Of Brain Function Can Be Retarded.

[serryjw]

14. Agreed

I almost adopted a cat with neurological problems that he didn't walk well, constantantly lost his balance.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. We had a retarded cat...

poor thing was just slow. :( So I guess dogs could be too.

[zanne]

31. My brother had a wonderful dog who was slow...

She was a beautiful white, fluffy Samoyed and she was dumb as a post. If you threw a ball her way so she could catch it in her mouth, it would bounce off her face. She was very affectionate, loyal and playful, but really, really dumb. We all loved her, though, and she just died at the age of 13. We miss her.

[IChing]

11. The neo-cons have a retarded pet chimp

as their leader.

[Ilsa]

13. -> spew, LOL, *snarf* Love it.

[gumby]

15. Ouch

:rofl:

[rucky]

16. If you look at development as a spectrum

then "retarded" is a pretty arbitrary label. it's a necessary to create a threshold for a few good reasons(like to determine "special needs"), but it's still artificially created. For humans the threshold is IQ below 70, I believe, but what would be the measure for dogs?

I bet there's some sort of doggy IQ test somewhere on the 'net.

[KingFlorez]

17. Why do you ask?

Did you meet a dog that supports Bush?

[Ksec]

18. No. Most dogs are much too smart for that..

:)

[riona]

30. Maybe all the retarded dogs

got together and voted for W

[BikeWriter]

21. Indubitably. I've seen several.

[Nikia]

22. My friend atttribute his dogs retardation to an overdose of pot

They brought him as a puppy from the pet store, weighing under 2 pounds. He managed to eat 1/4 ounce of pot and sat still with a stupid look on his face for over twelve hours.

[chookie]

25. I knew a dog with low EQ

He had no clue about how to interact with other dogs; a total spaz. Come to think of it -- he didn't interact with people very well either. Not sure what caused it.

Not that he was aggressive. He merely had only a tenuous familiarity with reality. Not an It Getter.

Both dogs and people would both get annoyed at how clueless he was. He was always getting into trouble.

Dogs recognized that he didn't speak dog language, and tried to drive him away from the pack.

I felt sorry for him

[clyrc]

27. Yes. My great grandmother had a very, very slow Doberman

He was sweet, though. I had a pug who was dumb as a brick, but also sweet. I also had a mixed dog, Cupcake, who was incredibly smart. She had a temper, though, and you had to look out for her. She liked to run away quite a bit, but she always came back. One time she came back limping, with a sticker in her foot, and she noticed the sympathy she got. After that, she always came back limping, hoping she wouldn't get the beating my mom always gave her for running away.

[China_cat]

28. Don't know about dogs

but I had a cat with the feline equivalent of Down syndrome.

[qnr]

29. Yes. I used to wonder about one of my dogs and jokingly

call him names, however, it turns out that he was in the process of slowly losing his sight and hearing.

[LeftyMom]

35. Yeah.

They suffer from birth accidents, brain damage, traumatic injury, malnutrition, poor socialization, inbreeding etc the same as people can.

A family of hoarders I knew grouwing up had a whole shitload of retarded inbred cats. It was very sad.

[fleabert]

37. I have known a mentally challenged dog, and a cat with developmental

problems.

the cat would run sideways, fall face first into its foodbowl, and swat at things that weren't there- totally hilarious and wonderful! He lived (despite the vet's assertion that he wouldn't make it past kittenhood) to the ripe old age of 17.

and the dog could only make right turns. He fell on his head three times in one year. Once four feet off a porch, once out of a moving car, and once down some stairs. cutest pug ever, and despite how it sounds, a wonderful watchful parent has to deal with all this. He also has icky skin allergies.