…as definied by Stanley Coren in The Intelligence of Dogs.

Instinctive intelligence refers to a dog’s ability to perform the tasks it was bred for, such as herding, pointing, fetching, guarding, or supplying companionship.

Instinctive intelligence primarily applies to what the breed is “born to do”. Retrievers fetch. Pointers hunt and point. Herders round up animals and keep them going the right direction. Guard dogs keep an eye out for threats and hound dogs pursue.

These skills dogs are born with. Humans only need to help manage these skills and very often the dog will do these tasks with no help at all.