Out of hundreds of recognized dog breeds, the Belgian Malinois has been named the smartest in the world by a new scientific study.
Belgian Malinois, which are often used as police dogs, scored 35 out of 39 on a variety of cognitive and behavioral tasks in the study.
Of course, the new study, conducted at the University of Helsinki in Finland, has raised the question: Which dog breed is the dumbest?
According to Professor Stanley Coren, a canine expert at the University of British Columbia in Canada, the Afghan Hound is the least intelligent dog breed when it comes to understanding and following commands.
The Afghan Hound was named as the least intelligent, followed by the Basenji, the Bulldog and the Chow Chow
The least intelligent dog breeds
The following were ranked lowest by Professor Stanley Coren in his book The Intelligence of Dogs. They had the lowest obedience intelligence, an ability to learn from humans. Mastiff and Beagle shared 8th place.
11. Shih Tzu
10. Basset Hound
8. Great Dane
8. Beagle
7. Pekingese
6. Bloodhound
5. Borzoi
4. Chow Chow
3. Bulldog
2. Basenji
1. Afghan Hound
Professor Coren is the author of a book called The Intelligence of Dogs, published in 1994.
In his seminal work, he ranked 130 races into five distinct categories, from smartest to dumbest.
The rankings for the book were based on surveys of more than 200 dog obedience judges in the United States and Canada.
Here are the official top 10 dumbest pooches, according to his findings.
AFGHAN DOG
Afghan hounds are famous for their elegant beauty, with a thick, silky, flowing coat and a hairstyle Paris Hilton would be jealous of.
But just like Hilton, the breed isn’t known for its intelligence; Experts from the American Kennel Club (AKC) call it “a special breed for special people.”
The Afghan Hound has a particularly low “obedience intelligence,” a term that refers to the ability to learn from humans.
According to Professor Coren, the breed needed more than 80 repetitions from a trainer to understand a new command.
The breed also obeyed the first command less than 25 percent of the time.
The Afghan hound is primarily a type of hunting dog called a sighthound, meaning it was bred to hunt with adept speed and eyesight.
The Afghan Hound (pictured) has been described by the American Kennel Club as “a special breed for special people.”
Dog tails play no role in running and are used for “communication”
Studies have shown that dogs use their tails for agile movements like running and jumping.
However, a study by experts from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart shows that this is not the case.
They found that dog tails are used for communication — most commonly, a positive tail wag is used as a social sign of friendliness and to ward off pests like flies.
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So maybe the ability to learn commands was never part of his genetic or evolutionary endowment.
BASENJI
Another breed of hunting dog called the Basenji took second place, meaning they are also not as adept at correctly responding to human commands.
Basenji is not known for his obedience and would rather burn off energy and wreak havoc by chewing furniture if left to his own devices.
The “feline” Basenji has high energy levels, dislikes being left alone and can often be very destructive.
However, this breed is often described as intelligent in other ways, e.g. B. in their ability to make decisions that serve their own interests, e.g. B. the production of food.
According to the AKC, the Basenji is fastidious and grooms like a cat
But Basenji is possibly best known for not being able to bark; instead, it makes an odd sound somewhere between a yodel and a chuckle.
This breed also has a high prey drive, meaning they will hunt cats, squirrels, and other smaller animals without warning.
The “feline” Basenji has high energy levels, dislikes being left alone and can often be very destructive
BULLDOG
The Bulldog has long been a symbol of the British national spirit, but its intelligence is on par with its attractiveness – both of which are fairly low.
Professor Coren ranked the breed third from the bottom in terms of their ability to obey the first command or understand new commands.
In general, Bulldogs can be stubborn and learn few commands, so owners are advised to choose carefully when attempting to train them.
Veterinarians have previously warned that the Bulldog is riddled with painful diseases and deformities, largely the result of centuries of inbreeding.
Also known as the British Bulldog or English Bulldog, the Bulldog has become a symbol of British strength and tenacity
It was originally developed as a muscular and athletic dog but has now been bred to be a companion animal with a short skull and prominent jaw.
The Bulldog has a reputation for being lazy, but the breed enjoys and benefits from regular exercise.
CHOW CHOW
The Chow Chow’s distinctive features include a lion’s mane-like ruff around the head and shoulders and a wispy, bushy fur coat.
The chow chow originally hails from China, where it was historically bred for its meat and fur, according to Professor Coren.
The chow chow (pictured) is known for its “bear-like” appearance thanks to its thick fur coat
But it’s gained a reputation for being a bit basic; Professor Coren said: “There’s probably furniture out there that’s more trainable than chows”.
According to a 2003 Guardian report, a chow chow was seriously injured when he jumped from a second floor window in Lancashire after being startled by an airplane.
BORSOI
Next is the borzoi, which the American Kennel Club describes as “independent and sometimes stubborn,” meaning training will again be a challenge.
However, they are known for their gentle and graceful nature, earning the nickname “aristocrat of dogs”.
AKC says, “In their quiet, feline way, they can be stubborn, and training is best done with patience, consistency, and good humor.”
According to the American Kennel Club, the aristocratic borzoi (pictured) is prized for its calm, pleasant temperament
BLOODHOund
The sixth most intelligent breed in the list, the Bloodhound has a long, wrinkled face with loose skin and flapping ears.
The “docile” breed is also relentless and stubborn when it comes to following scents, which it will do over miles of rugged terrain.
It’s possible that this trait makes it particularly prone to getting distracted by obedience tasks.
Other dogs at the bottom of Professor Coren’s list include Shih Tzu, Basset Hound, Mastiff, Beagle and Pekingese.
Bloodhound (pictured), who has a long, wrinkled face with loose skin and flapping ears, follows a trail for miles
Meanwhile, he ranked the Border Collie as the brightest, followed by the Poodle and the German Shepherd.
Interestingly, the new Finnish study that calls the Belgian Malinois the smartest dog breed looked at just 13 breeds in total.
In Professor Coren’s book, he ranked the Belgian Malinois 22nd, level with the Bernese Mountain Dog.
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Who is a smart boy! Belgian Malinois Named Smartest Dog Alive…So YOURS Makes the List?
The Belgian Malinois was found to be the smartest dog in a study of 13 different breeds.
Scientists in Finland evaluated 1,000 dogs by giving them seven cognitive and three behavioral tasks.
Tests included their ability to read human gestures and whether the animals could make a detour over a transparent V-shaped fence to access a food reward they could see.
The researchers also looked at how independent a dog was and how quickly it would come to a human for help by giving it an impossible task — trying to get food in a sealed box.
The Belgian Malinois has been found to be the smartest dog out of 13 different breeds
The Malinois, who are often used as police dogs or guard dogs, took first place with 35 out of 39 points.
Second was the Border Collie with 26 points, the Hovawart – a German breed – third with 25 points.
dr Katriina Tiira, from the University of Helsinki in Finland, told The Sunday Telegraph: “Belgian Malinois excelled on many of the cognitive tasks and scored very well on most tests.”
Saara Junttila, study co-author and PhD researcher in the field of canine cognition at the University of Helsinki, added: “Most breeds had their own strengths and weaknesses.
“The Labrador Retriever, for example, was very good at reading human gestures but not so good at solving spatial problems. Some breeds, like the Shetland Sheepdog, scored fairly evenly on almost all tests.’
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