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All else aside, I do feel the need to put in a good word for the intelligence of herding dogs. I've been a dog lover all my life, and the smartest dogs I've ever encountered have been from the herding breeds. I once had a Cardigan Welsh Corgi (they are the BIG Corgi's with a tail, not the little tailess Pembrook ones that most people are more familiar with). Cardigans were originally used to herd cattle and they are smart as whips. Mine knew many words, including the one for "ball." He loved having a ball thrown for him and retrieving it back, and the mere mention of the word by a complete stranger would throw him into a frenzy of anticipation. We had to spell out the word B-A-L-L around him if we wanted to keep him calm.
By the way, if you ever saw the movie "The Accidental Tourist," the dog who played the part of the pet in need of obedience training was skillfully portrayed by a Cardigan Corgi who should have won an Oscar for its role. In real life, I have found the Cardigan to be one of the easiest dogs to train that I have ever encountered. They are very smart and aim to please.
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