[trgv]

> Dogs got closer to humans thousands of years ago. Their role was to protect. In the process, they became less intelligent than their ancestors: The wolf.

I don't think it's fair to say wolves are smarter than dogs. They specialize at different things, that's for sure.

In general I disagree with your post.

If you imagine a dog living in a stone age village versus a dog living in a town today, it doesn't seem to follow that the latter is going to be smarter because human technology is more advanced. A stone age dog might recognize a knock on the hut of a door and the modern dog might recognize an alarm going off. Seems like the same thing to me.

If you want smart dogs the answer is eugenics. Breed the smartest ones. This is tried and true and it's how breeds like border collies or german shepherds got so smart: they were bred for obedience, intelligence, and ability to perform their jobs. More pets and fewer working dogs (which is definitely the trend) is going to result in friendlier, cuter, but less intelligent dogs (compared to working breeds anyway).