Sure, dogs can lead the blind and drag children from burning homes, but are they REALLY smarter than cats?
 
Some researchers claim to have the answer.  In a highly publicized experiment at Canterbury Christ Church University, Dr. Birtta Osthaus observed cats that were given treats attached to strings. When confronted with two strings — one bearing a treat, the other not — the cats were far less successful than dogs who’d been through the same trial.
 
The same type of results are often found in household experiments where cats and dogs are taught to act on commands such as “sit,” “come here” or “lay down.” It’s generally observed that cats are highly resistant to training.  Dog lovers attribute this to superior intelligence; cat lovers maintain that felines are simply too smug and conceited to find enjoyment in pointless exercises.
 
The truth is that everyone’s wrong.  Dogs and cats are highly complex creatures that can’t be pigeonholed into neat learning categories by standardized tests.  To begin with, cats and dogs are wired differently.  They don’t learn from their surroundings in the same way.
 
Dogs are pack animals and cats are solitary creatures who hunt alone.  Wild cats sometimes form groups, but the motive is sharing and protecting a specific territory, not hunting.  Dogs see their human counterparts as pack members, while cats see us as co-inhabitants of a specific territory. Thus, the instinct to mimic and obey is less prominent in cats.
 
Another key difference between cats and dogs is the way they respond to punishment.   Dogs often become more loving and obedient when they sense that their owners are angry or upset.  Their primary motive is to please.  The same is true in the wild. Wolf cubs learn what behaviors to avoid by growls and physical aggression from dominant peers.  Wild cats aren’t reared within the same type of environment.  As expert climbers and agile escape artists, they are much more likely to flee at the first sign of aggression.  They don’t learn from punishment because they’re wired to avoid the source.