Although it is best known for its loyal and loving nature, pigs are often perceived as unintelligent. This may be due to their smaller size and having a less developed neocortex than dogs, but the reality is that a number of studies in recent years suggest that this perception may simply be based on people’s cultural ideas about what brains should look like and Pigs are known to be very intelligent animals.
In this article I am going to look at the intelligence of pigs and whether or not they are smarter than dogs.
Are Pigs Smarter than Dogs?
In short, yes! Pigs are known to be smarter than dogs. This may be surprising to many people as pigs are not generally known for their intelligence, often portrayed as dirty and stupid. But the reality is that pigs are actually much smarter than many people think.
Pigs are very smart in fact some research suggests that pigs are smarter than 3-year-old children! They are known to be able to remember previous events and use this information in a meaningful way.
For example, researchers have studied pigs over time and found that pigs quickly learn the exact placement of food within their home pen (which is denoted as their territory). This shows that pigs are able to use spatial memory and remember from previous experience where food is located.
How Smart are Pigs?
The truth is that pigs are very intelligent. If we look at their IQ in comparison to other animals, pigs actually rank higher than dogs. In fact, pigs are ranked as the 5th intelligent animal in the world (after humans, chimps, dolphins, and elephants)!
So in short, yes pigs are smarter than dogs. Pigs have the ability to do certain tasks with precision if well trained, like object-location memory. They can also recognize very familiar people and funny but true, pigs can play video games if you let them. They are very smart animals and have excellent object-location memory.
Pigs are known to learn new skills fast and well. They have been known to be trained to walk on treadmills, use levers to turn on lights, open gates, and even play video games.
Pigs also perform very well in maze tests where they are required to remember complex mazes and always find the shortest route through the maze. Therefore pigs can survive in complex environments and learn very fast.
Pigs have an excellent sense of smell and can follow scents as you would see in a dog. Where dogs often follow the scent to find their owner. in fact, pigs don’t have great eyesight so they rely more on their sense of smell and their memory of things to find their way.
Although pigs may not have the best eye-sight they do have great spatial awareness. They can place objects in their home pen and remember where they were last placed by remembering where they initially were placed.
This shows that pigs are able to use spatial memory or place things in a familiar but still unknown location. Pigs also like to play games with other pigs, this shows that pigs enjoy challenges and challenge them mentally.
What Animals are more Intelligent than pigs?
Pigs are one of the most intelligent animals, however, they still have a long way to go as other animals such as crows, dolphins, and apes are all smarter than pigs. Pigs are considered to be very intelligent and have a well-developed neocortex. Although they did not evolve to perform complex tasks humans in many ways, this would not stop them from performing complex tasks to survive in the wild,
Conclusion
A pig’s ability to learn is often underestimated by people. Pigs are very smart and can remember things like humans, but just don’t have the language skills to communicate what they know.
Pigs can be trained to do certain things and if not good at it straight away they will try harder until they achieve that goal. Pigs can learn new skills very fast and remember how to do those things again at a later date.
Pigs are known to be without a doubt smarter than dogs and even other animals like chimps. This can be seen in their ability to perform certain tasks with precision and to use their memory of where things are located.
Pigs have an excellent sense of smell, which allows them to survive in the wild. They rely mostly on this sense as well as their spatial memory, which is much more advanced than humans.
Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.