In the absence of natural selection, negative mutations accumulate more readily. (It turns out they accumulate anyway under natural selection, which is fighting a sort of rear guard action against their inevitable accumulation.) We see a similar phenomena in domestic cats versus wild felines in studies of neuron development.
I don’t care. I love my dog. If I want smart, I have my phone.
No surprise there. Domesticated dogs don’t have to fight for survival.
Is Your Dog a Degenerate Mutant?
http://creation.com/is-your-dog-some-kind-of-degenerate-mutant
Quite the opposite.
We have definitely changed their intelligence in various ways depending on breeds but I have no doubt that some breeds are far more intelligent than they would be as wild dogs.
My pup resents that and if he wasn’t comfortably sleeping at my side, he’d respond.
Back in Ireland, one of the problems even with domesticated dogs was their getting out of their houses at night and killing livestock. Farmers always shot these packs of dogs on sight. So the instinct is still there.
If I sat on the couch all day and somebody else took care of all my needs, I would become stupid, too.
And I am not talking about dogs.
Why should they break into the food box when they can ask us to do it for them?
I saw a special on this. The domestic dogs would quickly go to their owner and stare at them for help. On the other hand dogs were the only species to understand pointing. Wolves did not understand it, and even primates did not.
I have noticed that working dogs tend to be smarter but that is probably because one of the traits which make them good workers is intelligence.
Can a wolf sit on command? Or shake hands? Racist test.
Can a wolf sit on command? Or shake hands? Racist test.
Lab rats have smaller brains, too, than wild peers.
Domestication makes most animals stupid.
I had a wolf hybrid. She was by far the smartest canine I have ever had.
I read this article to my three dogs.
The Girl put down the crossword puzzle she was working on and said,
“How many words does a wolf understand? None. You say ‘Good evening’ to a wolf, and he stands there with a stupid look on his face wondering if he should scratch at one of the millions of fleas he has on his mangy hide.”
The Youngest Brother and the Little Dog were playing chess.
The Youngest Brother said,
“And never send them to a store. They can’t add up the change, and they try to go through the 12 item checkout with 42 items.”
The Little Dog said,
“Wolves are problem solvers? What problems are they solving out there in the woods? ‘Should I pee on this pine tree or the next one?’ There’s a problem solver for you.”
In some cases, absolutely! Does Paris Hilton or Kim Assistans little purse dogs serve a purposes?
Working dogs on the other hand can be extremely smart. How they measure up against their lupine brethren , I don’t honestly know.
But considering the lupine branch of the klan are out their in the real world, on their own, they probably have the edge.
"It's Bob All Right ... But Look at Those Vacuous Eyes and Stupid Grin on His Face ---He's Been Domesticated, I Tell You!"