Many potential dog owners want to find out how smart a dog breed is before selecting a puppy. Even existing dog parents can be curious to discover how their pooch compares to other breeds. Looking over a “smartest dog breeds list” can give you a good idea of various canines’ intelligence levels.
Before we go on, it is important to understand how “smart” is defined when ranking a dog. Just because a dog has a lower intelligence rank doesn’t necessarily mean it is dumb.
Three types of intelligence are considered when evaluating how smart a dog breed is.
Obedience intelligence
How quickly can the dog be trained by humans to perform a specific task?
Adaptive intelligence
How quickly can the dog solve a problem on its own based on previous experience?
Instinctive intelligence
How well does the dog perform tasks it was bred specifically to perform like hunting or herding?
Regardless of their intelligence rank, any dog can be toilet trained and trained to follow all basic commands within a short period.
When selecting a puppy, it is more important to choose based on your personality type and living situation rather than the dog’s smartness.
Every dog has a unique personality and is the ideal companion for somebody somewhere.
Now let us dive right in and look at the top 117 smartest dog breeds ranked in order of intelligence.
Smartest Dog Breeds List
Rank 117 to 100
List of Dogs By Intelligence
Ranking 99 to 68
Most Intelligent Dogs
Ranked 67 to 21
World’s Smartest Dogs
Rank 20 to 1
