Dogs are like humans in that they vary in intelligence. We have some really clever dogs brought in here and others that are not so quick on the uptake. You can get exceptionally clever dogs in every shape or size but which dog generally is the most brainy?
It has to be the border collie – renowned for quick thinking and ability to figure things out. It sometimes makes it hard for us to keep up with them. Sometimes a ‘difficult’ dog (that’s from our point of view) is the one with most intelligence.
There’s a list of smartest dog breeds in Dr. Stanley Coren’s book ‘The Intelligence of Dogs’ and the standard poodle is next – big and beautiful and with good reasoning powers. The German Shepherd comes in at third and we’d agree with that.
The Golden Retriever is fourth, the Doberman fifth and the Shetland sheepdog is sixth. The happy food loving Labrador is seventh, and the Papillon is eighth – well they know how to get round us and get their own way so they must be smart.
Rottweilers and Australian Sheepdogs bring up the list a nine and ten. Where are the Whippets and Jack Russells though? Ours are as quick as collies when it comes to stealing a sandwich without anyone seeing!