Dog intelligence is the ability of a dog to learn, think, and solve problems. Dog trainers, owners, and researchers have as much difficulty agreeing on a method for testing canine intelligence as they do for human intelligence .... by Stanley Coren
Stanley Coren
Stanley Coren is a psychology professor and researcher who has become best known for a series of books regarding the intelligence of dogs. Through television shows and media coverage that has been broadcast in Canada and the United States as well as overseas, he has become popular with dog owners, while continuing research and instruction in... , a professor of psychology
Psychology
Psychology is an academic and applied science discipline involving the science study of human mental functions and behavior. Occasionally it also relies on symbolic hermeneutics and critical theory, although these traditions are less pronounced than in other social sciences such as sociology.... at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a Canada Public university research university with campuses in Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia.... in Vancouver. Published in 1994, the book explains Coren's theories about the differences in intelligence between different breeds of dogs.
Methodology The author used "understanding of new commands" and "obey first command" as his standards of intelligence. He surveyed dog trainer
Dog trainer
A dog trainer is a person involved in the coaching and mental growth of the canine species.Professional "dog trainers" train the dogs to understand and comply with voice commands or hand signals.... s and compiled this list of dog intelligence.
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Dog intelligence is the ability of a dog to learn, think, and solve problems. Dog trainers, owners, and researchers have as much difficulty agreeing on a method for testing canine intelligence as they do for human intelligence .... by Stanley Coren
Stanley Coren
Stanley Coren is a psychology professor and researcher who has become best known for a series of books regarding the intelligence of dogs. Through television shows and media coverage that has been broadcast in Canada and the United States as well as overseas, he has become popular with dog owners, while continuing research and instruction in... , a professor of psychology
Psychology
Psychology is an academic and applied science discipline involving the science study of human mental functions and behavior. Occasionally it also relies on symbolic hermeneutics and critical theory, although these traditions are less pronounced than in other social sciences such as sociology.... at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a Canada Public university research university with campuses in Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia.... in Vancouver. Published in 1994, the book explains Coren's theories about the differences in intelligence between different breeds of dogs.
Methodology
The author used "understanding of new commands" and "obey first command" as his standards of intelligence. He surveyed dog trainer
Dog trainer
A dog trainer is a person involved in the coaching and mental growth of the canine species.Professional "dog trainers" train the dogs to understand and comply with voice commands or hand signals.... s and compiled this list of dog intelligence. While this method of ordering dog intelligence is acceptable for training and working with dogs, it does not apply to the genetic intelligence which can be measured by ingenuity and understanding of common situations. Some dog breeds may be lower on the list due to their stubborn or independent nature, but this nature does not make them unintelligent or impossible to train.
1-10 Brightest Dogs
11-26 Excellent Working Dogs
27-39 Above Average Working Dogs
40-54 Average Working/Obedience Intelligence
55-69 Fair Working/Obedience Intelligence
70-79 Lowest Degree of Working/Obedience Intelligence
Ranking of dogs by breed
Brightest Dogs
Understanding of New Commands: Fewer than 5 repetitions.
The Border Collie is a Dog breed of herding dog that originated along the borders of England, Wales and Scotland. They are widely regarded as the most intelligent dog breed....
The Golden Retriever is a dog breed of dog, historically developed as a gundog to retriever shot waterfowl and upland game during hunting. As such they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and an instinctive love of water....
The Shetland Sheepdog, often known as the Sheltie, has been intentionally bred small. Shelties are ideally suited for the terrain of the Shetland Islands in Scotland....
The Labrador Retriever is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. The Labrador is the most popular dog breed of dog in the world, and is by a large margin the most popular breed by registration in the United States ,...
The Papillon ['p?p i ,j?n] is a small, friendly, elegant Dog breed of dog of the Spaniel Dog type, distinguished from other breeds by its large butterfly-like ears....
The Rottweiler, or Rottweil Metzgerhund , is a "medium to large size, stalwart dog" breed originating in Germany as a herding dog. It is a hardy and very intelligent breed....
The Australian Cattle Dog, also known as the Queensland Heeler, Blue Heeler and Red Heeler is a dog breed of herding dog developed in Australia for Drover cattle....
Excellent Working Dogs
Understanding of New Commands: 5 to 15 repetitions.
The Pembroke Welsh Corgi is a herding dog dog breed originating in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is one of two breeds known as Welsh Corgis: the other is the Cardigan Welsh Corgi....
The Miniature Schnauzer is a dog breed of small dog of the Schnauzer type that originated in Germany in the mid-to-late 19th century. Miniature Schnauzers developed from crosses between the Standard Schnauzer and one or more smaller breeds such as the Poodle or Affenpinscher....
A Schipperke is a small Belgium dog breed of dog that originated in the early 16th century. There has been a long informal debate over whether this type of dog is a spitz or miniature sheepdog....
The Belgian Shepherd Dog is the most popular variety of the Belgian Shepherd Dog dog breed. The Groenendael is recognized by all major kennel clubs....
Scotch Collie is the name originally given to the two types now often divided into Rough Collie and Smooth Collie. They were derived originally from herding dogs from Scotland and northern England, with mixture from other breeds, particular the Borzoi....
The German Shorthaired Pointer is a dog breed of dog developed in the 1800s in Germany for hunting.The breed is streamlined yet powerful with strong hindquarters that make it able to move rapidly and turn quickly....
The Flat-Coated Retriever is a gundog dog breed from the United Kingdom. It was developed as a retriever on both land and in the water. Flat-coats make exceptional family companions, bonding very closely with all members of the family....
The English Cocker Spaniel is a breed of gun dog. There are two varieties of English Cocker Spaniels, the "field" or "working" cocker and "show" cocker....
The Standard Schnauzer is the original dog breed of the three breeds of Schnauzer, and despite its wiry coat and general appearance, is not related to the British terriers....
he brittany is a dog breed of gun dog primarily bred for bird hunting.Although brittany is often referred to as a spaniel the breed's working charecteristics are more akin to a pointer or setter.Brittanies were developed in the brittany province of france in the 1800s....
The American Cocker Spaniel is a medium size dog breed of dog. It is one of the Spaniel dog type breeds, similar to the English Cocker Spaniel, and was originally bred as a gun dog....
The Weimaraner is typically a silver-gray dog that was originally dog breed for hunting in the early 19th century. Early Weimaraners were used by royalty for hunting large game, such as boar, bears, deer, and foxes....
The Belgian Shepherd Dog is a list of dog breeds of dog, sometimes classified as a variety of the Belgian Shepherd Dog rather than as a separate breed....
The Berner Sennenhund, called in English the Bernese Mountain Dog, is a large dog breed of dog, one of the four breeds of Sennenhund-dog type dogs from the Swiss Alps....
The American Bulldog is a breed of domestic dog . Though larger in size, they are the closest surviving relative of the Old English Bulldog, because they were not altered to as great an extent while in America as their European cousins....
The Pomeranian is a dog breed of dog of the Spitz type, named for the Pomerania region in Central Europe and classed as a toy dog breed because of its small size....
The Cardigan Welsh Corgi is one of two separate dog breeds known as Welsh Corgis that originated in Wales, the other being the Pembroke Welsh Corgi....
Above Average Working Dogs
Understanding of New Commands: 15 to 25 repetitions.
The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is a dog breed of dog belonging to the Retriever, Gundog, and Sporting Breed Groups . Members of the breed may also be referred to as a Chessie, CBR, or Chesapeake....
The Puli is a medium-small dog breed of Hungarian herding and livestock guarding dog known for its long, cording coat. The tight curls of the coat, similar to dreadlocks, make it virtually waterproof....
Yorkshire Terrier is a Dog breed of dog in the terrier category. The long-haired terrier is known for its playful demeanor and distinctive blue and tan coat....
The Giant Schnauzer is a large, powerful,and compact dog breed of dog. It is one of the three Schnauzer breeds. Like most large breeds, the Giant Schnauzer needs a fair amount of exercise....
The Airedale Terrier is a dog breed of the terrier dog type, originating in Airedale, a geographic area in Yorkshire, England. It traditionally was called the "King of Terriers" because before the creation of the Black Russian Terrier by the KGB in Russia, the Airedale was largest of the terrier breeds....
The Bouvier des Flandres is a herding dog dog breed originating in Flanders. They were originally used for general farm work including cattle droving, sheepdog, and dogcart , and nowadays as guard dogs and police dogs, as well as being kept as pets....
A Border Terrier is a small, rough-coated dog breed of dog of the terrier group. Originally bred as fox and vermin hunters, Border Terriers share ancestry with Dandie Dinmont Terriers and Bedlington Terriers....
The Briard is a large dog breed of dog, one of many herding dogs. The Briard has been known for some centuries. Charlemagne, Napoleon, Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette all owned Briards....
The Samoyed dog takes its name from the Samoyedic peoples of Siberia. An alternate name for the breed, especially in Europe, is Bjelkier. These nomadic reindeer herding bred the fluffy, white, smiling dogs to help with the herding, to pull sleds when they moved, and to keep their owners warm at night by sleeping on top of them....
The Newfoundland is a large, usually black, dog breed of dog originally used as a working dog in Newfoundland . They are known for their sweet dispositions, loyalty, and natural water rescue tendencies....
The Australian Terrier is a small sized dog breed of dog of the terrier dog type. The breed was developed in Australia, although the ancestral types of dogs from which the breed descends were from Great Britain....
The American Staffordshire terrier is a dog breed of dog. The breed is a second cousin of the American Pit Bull Terrier. Early bulldog?terrier crosses were brought to the US by British and Irish settlers, especially after the American Civil War, where they were mainly used as fighting dogs, but also as hunting dogs, farm dogs, and guard dogs....
A Gordon Setter is a large dog breed of dog, a member of the setter family that also includes both the better-known Irish Setter and the English Setter....
The Bearded Collie or Beardie is a herding dog dog breed of dog, once used primarily by Scotland shepherds, but now mostly a popular family companion....
The Cairn Terrier is one of the oldest terrier List of dog breeds, originating in the Scotland Scottish Highlands and recognized as one of Scotland's earliest working dogs, used for hunting burrowing prey among the cairns....
The Kerry Blue Terrier is a dog breed of dog mistakenly thought to be of County Kerry in South West Ireland; it is actually from Tipperary. In its motherland it is often called the Irish Blue Terrier....
The Irish Setter , also known as the Red Setter, is a dog breed of Gun dog and family dog. The term Irish Setter is commonly used to encompass the Show-bred dog recognized by the AKC as well as the field-bred Red Setter recognized by the Field Dog Stud Book....
The Norwegian Elkhound is one of the ancient Northern Spitz-type dog breed of dog and is the National Dog of Norway. The Elkhound has served as a hunter, guardian, herder, and defender....
The Miniature Pinscher is a small Dog breed of dog of the Pinscher Dog type, developed in Germany. Miniature Pinschers were first bred to hunt vermin, especially rats....
The English Setter is a dog breed of dog. It is part of the Setter family, which includes red Irish Setters, Irish Red and White Setters, and black-and-tan Gordon Setters....
The Pharaoh Hound is a dog breed of dog, a hound which has at times been classified as a member of the sighthound group, yet its fieldwork description clearly determines it as a hound....
The Dalmatian is a dog breed originating from Dalmatia, a historical region of Croatia. It is noted for its white coat with either black or liver spots....
Average Working/Obedience Intelligence
Understanding of New Commands: 25 to 40 repetitions.
The Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier is a breed of dog originating in Ireland. There are four coat varieties: Traditional Irish, Heavy Irish, English, and American....
The Smooth Fox Terrier is a dog breed of dog, one of many terrier breeds. It was the first breed in the fox terrier family to be given official recognition by The Kennel Club ....
The Curly Coated Retriever is a dog breed of dog originally bred in England for upland bird and waterfowl hunting. It is the tallest of the retrievers and is easily distinguishable by the mass of tight curls covering its body....
The Irish Wolfhound is a dog breed of domestic dog , specifically a sighthound. The name originates from its purpose rather than from its appearance....
The Kuvasz is a dog List of dog breeds of ancient Hungary origin. Mention of the breed can be found in old Hungarian texts. It has historically been used to livestock guardian dog, but has been increasingly found in homes as a pet over the last seventy years....
The Australian Shepherd is a dog breed of herding dog that was developed on ranches in the Western United States. Despite its name, the breed, commonly known as an Aussie, did not in fact originate in Australia....
The Saluki, originally known as the Persian Greyhound, is perhaps the oldest known breed of domestic dog. As a purebred type, its history can be traced back thousands of years....
A Finnish Spitz is a dog breed of dog originating in Finland. The breed is thought to be an old one, bred as a hunting dog. It is a "bark pointer", indicating the position of game by barking to attract the hunter's attention....
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a small dog breed of dog of Spaniel Dog type, usually considered one of the toy dog breeds. It is a small spaniel with a substantial silky coat of moderate length, often with a mild wave, and long ears....
The German Wirehaired Pointer is a griffon type dog breed of dog developed in the 1800s in Germany for hunting. It became a leading gun dog in Germany in the later part of the 20th Century....
The Black and Tan Coonhound is a dog breed of dog used principally for trailing and treeing raccoon. It's a cross between the Bloodhound, and the Black And Tan Virginia Foxhound....
The Siberian Husky is a medium-size, dense-coat Working dog dog breed that originated in eastern Siberia. The breed belongs to the Spitz genetic family....
The Tibetan Spaniel is a Dog breed of assertive, small, intelligent dogs originating in the Himalaya of Tibet. They share ancestry with the Pekingese, Japanese Chin, Shih Tzu, Lhasa Apso, and Pug....
The Greyhound is a dog breed of hunting dog that has been primarily bred for coursing game and Greyhound racing, but with a recent resurgence of popularity increasingly as a pedigree show dog and family pet....
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon is a gundog developed by Eduard Karel Korthals in 1873. It is Netherlands in origin, but is regarded as a France breed because a major portion of the breed's development took place in France....
West Highland White Terriers, commonly known as Westies, are a dog breed of dog known for their distinctive white coat. This breed is commonly recognised through its use as a mascot for Black & White , and on the packaging of Cesar brand dog food....
Developed in Germany, the Boxer is a dog breed of stocky, medium-sized, short-haired dog. The coat is smooth and fawn or brindled, with or without white markings....
The Great Dane, Danish Hound, Deutsche Dogge, Boarhound, or German Mastiff is a dog breed of domestic dog known for its giant size and gentle personality....
The dachshund is a short-legged, elongated dog breed of the hound family. Variations of the pronunciation include d?ks'hoont, -h?nt, -h?nd, -?nd, d?ks-, d?ks-, d??-), the breed's name is German language and literally means "badger dog", from [der] Dachs, "badger", and [der] Hund, "dog"....
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a medium-sized, short-coated, old-time dog breed of dog, originally bred for bull baiting. In the early part of the twentieth century, the breed gained respectability, and it was accepted by the The Kennel Club of the United Kingdom as the Staffordshire bull terrier....
The Alaskan Malamute is a large dog breed of domestic dog originally bred for use as an Alaskan sled dog and is often mistaken for a Siberian Husky....
The Whippet is a dog breed of dog, specifically a member of the sighthound family. They are active and playful and are physically similar to a small greyhound....
The Shar Pei or Chinese Shar-Pei is a dog breed of dog known for its distinctive features of deep wrinkles and a blue-black tongue. The breed derives from China....
The Rhodesian Ridgeback is a dog breed indigenous to Southern Africa. Its European forebears can be traced to the early pioneers of the Cape Colony of southern Africa, who crossed their dogs with the semi-domesticated, ridged hunting dogs of the Khoikhoi people ....
The Ibizan Hound, pronounced "I-bee-zan", is an agile, deer-like dog of the hound family. There are two hair types of the dog breeds: smooth and wire....
The Irish Terrier is a dog breed from Ireland, one of many breeds of Terrier.The Irish Terrier is an active, compactly sized dog that is suited for life in both rural and city environments....
The is a breed of large dog originating in Japan, named for Akita Prefecture, where it is thought to have originated. It is sometimes called the Akita-ken based on the Sino-Japanese vocabulary of the same kanji....
Fair Working/Obedience Intelligence
Understanding of New Commands: 40 to 80 repetitions.
The Norfolk Terrier is the smallest of the working Terriers. Prior to 1960, when it gained recognition as an independent breed, it was a variety of the Norwich Terrier, distinguished from the Norwich by its "drop", or folded ears....
The Pug is a small dog breed of dog with a wrinkly, short muzzled face . The word "pug" may have come from the Old English pugg or "puge", which were affectionate terms for a playful little devil or monkey....
The French Bulldog is a small companion Dog breed of dog. The name indicates that France is the country of origin, but the Americans and British may have played a larger part in development of the breed....
The Chinese Crested Dog is a smaller Hairless dog dog breed of dog. Like most hairless dog breeds, the Chinese Crested comes in two varieties, both with and without fur, which are born in the same litter; the Hairless and the Powderpuff....
Disambiguation: "Dandie Dinmont" is also a character in Guy Mannering, a novel by Walter Scott A Dandie Dinmont Terrier is a small dog breed of dog in the terrier family....
The Petit Basset Griffon Vend?en , or "PBGV," is a dog breed of dog of the scent hound type, bred to trail hares in bramble filled terrain of the Vend?e district of France....
The Tibetan Terrier is not a member of the terrier group, the name being given to it by European travelers to Tibet who were reminded of terriers from back home when they first encountered the breed....
The Japanese Chin , also known as the Japanese Spaniel) is the dog of Japanese royalty. A lap dog and companion dog, this toy dog dog breed has a distinctive heritage....
The Lakeland Terrier is a list of dog breeds, one of many Terrier breeds, that originated in the Lake District of England as a descendant of the old English Black and Tan and Fell Terrier for the purpose of hunting vermin....
The Old English Sheepdog is a large dog breed of dog which was developed in England from very old herding dog dog type of dog. The Old English Sheepdog has very long coat covering the face and eyes....
The St. Bernard Dog is a very large dog breed of dog, a working dog from the Swiss Alps, originally bred for Search and rescue dog. The breed has become famous through tales of alpine rescues, as well as for its enormous size....
The Bull Terrier or English Bull Terrier is a dog breed of dog in the terrier family. Although bred as a companion animal, due to its breed heritage and appearance it is often lumped in as a Pit Bull and is subject in some jurisdictions to Breed Specific Legislation....
The Lhasa Apso is a non-sporting dog breed originating in Tibet. It was bred as an interior sentinel in the Buddhist monasteries, who alerted the monks to any intruders who entered....
The Bullmastiff is a powerful dog, which was originally a cross between the English Mastiff and the Olde English Bulldogge. Originally bred to find and immobilize poachers, the breed has proven popular as a family pet....
Lowest Degree of Working/Obedience Intelligence
Understanding of New Commands: 80 to 100 repetitions or more.
The Shih Tzu , , is a dog breed which originated in China. The name is both singular and plural. The spelling "Shih Tzu", most commonly used for the breed, is according to the Wade-Giles system of romanization; the Chinese pronunciation is very close to SHIRR-dzi....
The Basset Hound is a short-legged dog breed of dog of the hound family. They are scent hounds, bred to hunt rabbits by scent. Their sense of smell for tracking is second only to that of the Bloodhound....
The Beagle is a dog breed of small to medium-sized dog. A member of the Hound Group, it is similar in appearance to the Foxhound but smaller, with shorter legs and longer, softer ears....
The Afghan Hound is a very old sighthound dog dog breed. Distinguished by its thick, fine, silky coat and its tail with a ring curl at the end, the breed acquired its unique features in the cold mountains of Afghanistan, where it was originally used to hunt hares, and gazelles by coursing them....
A bloodhound is a large dog breed of dog bred for the specific purpose of tracking human beings. Consequently, it is often used by authorities to track escaped prisoners or missing persons....
The Borzoi is a dog breed of domestic dog also called the Russian Wolfhound.They have medium-length and slightly curly hair and are similar in shape to Greyhounds....
Chow Chow, or Chow, is a dog breed of dog that was first developed in Mongolia about 4,000 years ago and was later introduced into China, where it is referred to as Songshi Quan , which literally means "Foo Dog."...
The Basenji is a dog breed of hunting dog that originated in central Africa. Only in North America is the breed considered to be of the sighthound dog type....
The Pekingese or Peke is an ancient dog breed of toy dog, originating in China. They were the favored pet of the Chinese sovereign court, and the name relates to the city of Beijing where the Forbidden City resides....
Dog intelligence is the ability of a dog to learn, think, and solve problems. Dog trainers, owners, and researchers have as much difficulty agreeing on a method for testing canine intelligence as they do for human intelligence ....
A working dog refers to a canine working animal, i.e. a Dog type of dog that is not merely a pet but learns and performs tasks to assist and/or entertain its human companions, or a breed of such origin....
Dogs have been selectively bred for thousands of years, sometimes by inbreeding dogs from the same ancestral lines, sometimes by mixing dogs from very different lines....
