LITMIR.BIZ

       Foreword

      A rough diamond is better than a perfect pebble.

      Everyone has beauty but not everyone sees it.

      Chinese proverbs contain the essence of philosophy in so few yet such wise words, which always captivate me. It’s like life lessons in an instant. These are two of my favourites, and for me, they sum up the question of canine intelligence. Every dog is unequivocally, unashamedly itself, and has its own unique IQ, and. The question is, are we as simple humans smart enough to recognise it?

      When a little stray dog followed me as I ran a 155-mile race across the Gobi Desert in the vast, arid region of Northern China, I could have questioned her intelligence.

      The Gobi Desert is know for its sand dunes, mountains and lack of human habitation, so what on earth was this tiny dog thinking running in the heat of the desert alongside me, in the most extreme conditions, without any water or food, but also without a care in the world? Of course I could have asked myself the same questions.

      It turns out that Gobi, as I would later name her, was pretty smart indeed – she chose the right person to follow and now lives a completely different life nearly 5000 miles away at my home in Edinburgh, Scotland. Why did Gobi choose me? What was she doing in the desert? What was she surviving on? Only Gobi knows the answers to these questions, but her survival is a testament to her incredible intelligence, good judgment, adaptability, resilience and inbuilt canine survival skills.

      Gobi’s unbelievable achievement of running 77 miles in the race across the desert is undoubtedly her biggest trick. Gobi doesn’t know how to sit, roll over or fetch, but she can most definitely run! Intelligence, just like in any human, is different in every dog. Learning your dog’s capabilities and limitations is not only a fun exercise to complete, but can enhance your relationship with your pooch.

      Whether your pup is the next Einstein or not isn’t really the point. After all, humans play a big role in developing a dog’s IQ, and we aren’t always the smartest… Our canine companions are every bit as intelligent as we know them to be in our hearts, and just as intelligent as they need to be.

      Dion Leonard

      Author of Finding Gobi