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Recently we were having a family conversation about which dog breeds were most intelligent. I recalled watching a documentary a few years ago in which dogs were tested using a very simple deductive reasoning test - a large towel was placed over the dog’s head, and the number of seconds it took for the dog to remove the towel was tracked. Some dogs were awfully slow, taking well over a minute to complete the task. Other dogs completed the task in mere seconds. If I recall, the clear “winners” were Border Collies and Poodles (not sure about the order).

Since it has been many years since I saw that documentary, I decided to do a bit of research to see what researchers have been up to since then. Here’s the current obedience/working rankings of some popular dog breeds. The criteria - how long it takes to learn a new command. The top obedience and working dogs learn new commands in fewer than 5 repetitions and get it right the very first time over 95% of the time, while the lowest ranked dogs take 80-100 repetitions and get it right the first time less than 25% of the time. (Keep in mind that this does not measure the absolute intelligence of a dog breed, but rather how easily they can be trained).

1. Border Collie
2. Poodle
3. German Shepherd
4. Golden Retriever
5. Doberman Pinscher
6. Shetland Sheepdog
7. Labrador Retriever
8. Papillon
9. Rottweiler
10. Australian Cattle Dog
11. Pembroke Welsh Corgi
12. Miniature Schnauzer
13. English Springer Spaniel
14. Belgian Tervuren
15. Schipperke, Belgian Sheepdog
16. Collie, Keeshond
17. German Shorthaired Pointer
18. Flat-Coated Retriever, English Cocker Spaniel, Standard Schnauzer
19. Brittany
20. Cocker Spaniel
21. Weimaraner
22. Belgian Malinois, Bernese Mountain Dog
23. Pomeranian
24. Irish Water Spaniel
25. Vizsla
26. Cardigan Welsh Corgi
27. Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Puli, Yorkshire Terrier
28. Giant Schnauzer
29. Airedale Terrier, Bouvier Des Flandres,
30. Border Terrier, Briard
31. Welsh Springer Spaniel
32. Manchester Terrier
33. Samoyed
34. Field Spaniel, Newfoundland, Australian Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Gordon Setter, Bearded Collie
35. Cairn Terrier, Kerry Blue Terrier, Irish Setter
36. Norwegian Elkhound
37. Affenpincher, Silky Terrier, Miniature Pinscher, English Setter, Pharaoh Hound, Clumber Spaniel
38. Norwich Terrier
39. Dalmatian
40. Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier, Bedlington Terrier, Smooth Fox Terrier
41. Curly-Coated Retriever, Irish Wolfhound
42. Kuvasz, Australian Shepherd
43. Saluki, Finnish Spitz, Pointer
44. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, German Wirehaired Pointer, Black & Tan Coonhound, American Water Spaniel
45. Siberian Husky, Bichon Frise
46. English Toy Spaniel
47. Tibetan Spaniel, English Foxhound, Otterhound, American Foxhound, Greyhound, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
48. West Highland White Terrier, Scottish Deerhound
49. Boxer, Great Dane
50. Dachshund, Stafforshire Bull Terrier
51. Alaskan Malamute
52. Whippet, Chinese Shar-pei, Wire Fox Terrier
53. Rhodesian Ridgeback
54. Ibizan Hound, Welsh Terrier, Irish Terrier
55. Boston Terrier, Akita
56. Skye Terrier
57. Norfolk Terrier, Sealyham Terrier
58. Pug
59. French Bulldog
60. Brussels Griffon, Maltese
61. Italian Greyhound
62. Chinese Crested
63. Dandie Dinmont Terrier, Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, Tibetan Terrier, Japanese Chin, Lakeland Terrier
64. Old English Sheepdog
65. Great Pyrenees
66. Scottish Terrier, Saint Bernard
67. Bull Terrier
68. Chihuahua
69. Lhasa Apso
70. Bullmastiff
71. Shih Tzu
72. Basset Hound
73. Mastiff, Beagle
74. Pekingese
75. Bloodhound
76. Borzoi
77. Chow Chow
78. Bulldog
79. Basenji
80. Afghan Hound

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