Research Shows Dogs Have Measurable IQ In Quest To Understand Health, Intelligence Links With Humans

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- British scientists have determined that dogs have a measurable IQ, and found some similarities with humans.

They ultimately hope it will improve our understanding between intelligence and health.

The researchers measured the dogs' IQ by administering several tests. They wanted to see if the dogs that performed well on one test also did well on the others.

Research Associate at the London School of Economics and Political Science Rosalind Arden is the study's co-author. She says recent research in humans has been showing a link between childhood IQ scores and better health.

"We found for example that brighter people tend to have a small tendency to live longer, and we want to know why that relationship exists, even if it's small" Arden said.

So if dog intelligence is structured similarly to ours, studying a species that doesn't smoke, drink, or do drugs could help us better understand the link between intelligence and health.