What breed of dog tends to be the most intelligent?

Question

I've always heard poodles are really smart. Have there been any studies to determine which kind of dog is the most intelligent?

Answer 1

German Shepherd Dogs but labs are great too

Answer 2

labs

Answer 3

Are you kidding?

Labradors are in general an intelligent breed. I have bred and shown Labs for over 20 years and have had some very stupid and very intelligent dogs.

Labradors are used for so many professions because of their high intelligence and desire to please their owner.

Some Lab jobs:

1. Guide Dogs.

2. Customs and Quarantine.

3. Drug sniffing.

4. Bomb sniffing.

5. Cancer sniffing.

6. Carer animals (I saw a Lab who would help a disabled woman get in and out of bed by letting her lean on him)

7. So many others!!!

I've also heard Poodles are the most intelligent. I'm not sure which breed is the most intelligent, I just wanted to reply because i object to your statement about Black labs. By the way, the colour of a dog rarely determines intelligence. The suggestion by one poster that chocolate labs are less intelligent is false, chocolate labs have only been recently bred intensely and have been done so by focusing on colour genetics rather than other genetics. This is perhaps why you dont see as many chocolate labs working.

Colour does not determine intelligence, and breed does not guarantee intelligence.  

Answer 4

All dogs can be and are intelligent.  Some just don't choose to use it or apply it to training.  While others have a quicker learning span.  Labs are very smart dogs, but get distracted easily.  Border collies are very quick to learn, but need to be kept busy constantly.  Do some research, go to the pound you can also find lots of smart dogs there!

Answer 5

Collies. Being intelligent is one of the reasons they used them to do all the lassie films as they are quick learners.

Answer 6

Labs are one of the most intelligent breeds.

They are used as guide dogs for the blind for they must be at the top of the list of the most intelligent.

Although the chocolate ones are not quite as clever as the other two colours, I speak from experience,

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< my Milly!

Have you ever seen a chocolate Lab guide dog?

Answer 7

border collies

Answer 8

a border collie is the smartest breed.and i don't even like them lol

Answer 9

Labradors are very intelligent because they are so friendly and loving they will do anything for there owner! Collies are very eager to please so you can teach them allot. Poodles are very smart and can be taught very difficult tricks! Any mixes of those breeds are normally very smart too !

although... my opinion is all dogs are smart and can learn (some quicker then others)they just need the right owner and care  

Answer 10

I believe that Shelties are the smartest breed of dog.  I believe there is scientific proof to back that up, but if there isn't, they are the smartes breed because I said so.  lolololol

Answer 11

Lots of dogs are very intelligent. I don't know all of them, but here is some:

Labs( these dogs are very smart. This is why hunters choose them for hunting skills.)

Yorkies(yorkies are very smart too.)

German Shepard's ( and these dogs are highly intelligent too.)

Like I said, this isn't all the dogs, but these are some that I know for sure.

Answer 12

Border Collies rank first every year and German Shepherds are not far behind them either.

Answer 13

Border Collie, hands down.  Perhaps followed by an Aussie or Heeler.  

Wit the Lab comment, I think the thing with labs is the tend to be very positive, and trainable.  If you made a Border Collie a guide dog for the blind, it's smart enough that in around 20 seconds it would have figured out how to unbuckle itself from its harness, and would be busy trying to herd you down the road, lol.

Answer 14

i have a maltese/poodle mix....and i can tell you they are extremely smart

Answer 15

Border collies are the most intelligent dogs.They are sheep dogs. Labs are family dogs.

Answer 16

I think that any breed that does what you don't want them to do is fairly intelligent, the ones that don't listen to you, at least in my experience are the ones that learned slower but were smarter when they weren't actually being taught it. I'm not doing this answer justice. I think that dogs that do what you want them to do are easier to train but aren't necessarily intelligent.  

Answer 17

To me, it is the American Pit Bull Terrier

They are high in trainability and catch on very quickly to what you want from them.

It has took me half the time to train my pit bull then it did to train my dad's lab.

Answer 18

A book by Stanley Coren "The Intelligence of Dogs" lists the top 10 dogs as 1 Border Collie 2 Poodle 3 German Shepherd 4 Golden Retriever 5 Doberman Pinscher 6 Shetland Sheepdog 7 Shetland Sheepdog Labrador Retriever 8 Papillon 9 Rottweiler10 Australian Cattle Dog.

Answer 19

The border collie.

They determine the smartest dogs by how trainable the breed is for one...

Herding breeds tend to learn more quickly, and work closely with a person while working, and have to think for themselves.

Hounds tend to rank lower on the list, as they work more independently. They were bred to find a scent, and stick to it, ignoring everything else. This tends to make training them more difficult.

Here is a link that ranks dogs in order of intelligence: http://www.petvr.com/index.php/pages/top...

Answer 20

labras and german Shepard

Answer 21

Generally, herding breeds like Border Collies and Australian Shepherds are considered highly intelligent. In turn this means - they need lots of stimulus and activity or else they get very bored and neurotic.