List of 100 Smartest Dog Breeds

All dog breeds are capable of learning all the basic obedience commands quite easily, but some will learn them faster than others. And the ability to learn new things fast and easy is important to evaluate dogs intelligence, at least, according to dog canine psychologist Stanley Coren, the author of famous book The Intelligence of Dogs.

He ranked dog breeds registered by the AKC by their intelligence and i will show you his 100 most intelligent dog breeds in a moment.

But first, lets say, what where his criterias for dog intelligence. First, he meassured the number of repetitions a dog needed to learn a new command or trick. The fewer repetitions were needed, the more points the dog breed got.

The second most important criteria was how succesfully was the dog obeying the command on the first attempt. For example, if your dog would obeys a learned trick 9 out of 10 times on the first try, he would get more points than a dog that would obey it only 7 out of 10 times.

You could argue, and you wouldn't be alone, that these are not the only aspects of intelligence. Some dog breeds, such as Siberian Husky, are without questions excellent problem solvers and very intelligent dogs, but when it comes to classic obedience training, they dont do so well, especially because of their independent mind. It is because many working breeds, either hunting, sledding or livestock protecting breeds have high instinctive intelligence, which is a reason why they are amazing at their job, but they might not be so easily trainable, which is why they will rank lower in Stanley Corens list.

There is also a so called adaptive intelligence. It is basically how a dog can naturally adapt to his envirnoment and if he could survive in it. This is again not reflected in this list, because this list is made by the dogs ability to positively respond to human to dog training and it does not reflect what a dog can teach itself to survive. The best adaptive intelligence could be found in semi-wild dogs, such as, for example Indian Pariah Dog or New Guinea Singing Dog.

In conclusion, no list that is ranking dogs intelligence will be perfect, because there are many ways how to meassure the intelligence, but this list definitely have some value as it is showing you which dog breed using its intelligence in classic obedience training the most and which one is best at it.

100 (tie): Ibizan Hound
100 (tie): Welsh Terrier
100 (tie): Irish Terrier
100 (tie): Boston Terrier
99: Rhodesian Ridgeback
98: Wire Fox Terrier
97: Chinese Shar Pei
96: Whippet
95: Alaskan Malamute
94: Staffordshire Bull Terrier
93: Shiba Inu
92: Dachshund
91: Great Dane
90: Boxer
89: Scottish Deerhound
88: West Highland White Terrier
87: Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
86: Greyhound
85: American Foxhound
84: Jack Russell Terrier
83: Otterhound
82: English Foxhound
81: Tibetan Spaniel
80: English Toy Spaniel
79: Havanese
78: Bichon Frise
77: Siberian Husky
76: American Water Spaniel
75: Black and Tan Coonhound
74: German Wirehaired Pointer
73: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
72: Pointer
71: Finnish Spitz
70: Saluki
69: Miniature American Shepherd
68: Kuvasz
67: Irish Wolfhound
66: Curly Coated Retriever
65: Smooth Fox Terrier
64: Bedlington Terrier
63: Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier
62: Dalmatian
61: Norwich Terrier
60: Clumber Spaniel
59: Pharaoh Hound
58: English Setter
57: Miniature Pinscher
56: Australian Silky Terrier
55: Affenpinscher
54: Norwegian Elkhound
53: Irish Setter
52: Kerry Blue Terrier
51: Cairn Terrier
50: Bearded Collie
49: Gordon Setter
48: American Staffordshire Terrier
47: Australian Terrier
46: Newfoundland
45: Field Spaniel
44: Samoyed
43: Manchester Terrier
42: Australian Shepherd
41: Welsh Springer Spaniel
40: Briard
39: Border Terrier
38: Bouvier des Flandres
37: Airedale Terrier
36: Portuguese Water Dog
35: Giant Schnauzer
34: Yorkshire Terrier
33: Puli
32: Chesapeake Bay Retriever
31: Cardigan Welsh Corgi
30: Vizsla
29: Irish Water Spaniel
28: Pomeranian
27: Bernese Mountain Dog
26: Belgian Malinois
25: Weimaraner
24: American Cocker Spaniel
23: Brittany
22: Standard Schnauzer
21: English Cocker Spaniel
20: Flat Coated Retriever
19: German Shorthaired Pointer
18: Keeshond
17: Collie
16: Belgian Sheepdog
15: Schipperke
14: Belgian Tervuren
13: English Springer Spaniel
12: Miniature Schnauzer
11: Pembroke Welsh Corgi
10: Australian Cattle Dog
9: Rottweiler
8: Papillon
7: Labrador Retriever
6: Shetland Sheepdog
5: Doberman Pinscher
4: Golden Retriever
3: German Shepherd
2: Poodle
1: Border Collie
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Here you have it! List of 100 smartest dogs in the world. And do not forget, the intelligence is not the main and only characteristic to consider when getting a dog! I would say there are much more important characteristics, such as exercise needs, size, grooming and maintenance needs, temperamental traits such as protectivness, playfulness, alertness and friendliness.. There are much more to a dog, than the intelligence and as i mentioned in the beginning of the video, all the dog breeds are capable of learning all the basic obedience commands quite easily!