First thing to show Augie is smart. In middle school Augie has to focus on getting good grades with everyone staring at him. One example of this is when Jack will copied off Augies paper. One example of white fang being smart is when he fell into a river and had to swim for the first time. And he was only a pup. Another example for white fang being smart is he had to learn how to kill other dogs. He had to fight other dogs to survive.
The last reason Augie is smart, was when he and Jack will got caught cheating,