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One of the most debated topics in the canine world is which breeds are the most intelligent. Traditionally, there are a number of dogs that are considered particularly smart: While the Border Collie was previously considered the most intelligent dog breed, according to a new study, the Belgian Malinois – which is usually trained as a police dog – is in first place. This is a somewhat surprising result, as this has not previously been a breed that has typically been at the top of these classifications.
Measuring a dog's intelligence is always complicated because some of the factors assessed, such as relationship with humans, depend on two important variables: the dog's own personality – which depends specifically on the parents more than the breed itself – and the Function This is what they were bred for in the past, as breeds were maintained by selecting desired personality traits. For example, it is understandable that German Shepherds like the Sheltie have always shown a greater tendency to wait for human instructions. They were bred for exactly this purpose.
Several of the participating breeds showed quite different results depending on the type of test: Golden Retrievers proved to be exceptionally good at interacting with people and reading their gestures, but almost half gave up on logical solutions. ; Other breeds, such as the previously mentioned Shelties, showed little initiative when not receiving gestural instructions from humans. In the words of Saara Junttila, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in canine cognition, “most breeds had their own strengths and weaknesses.”
A STUDY WITH MORE THAN A THOUSAND DOGS
The study, published in the journal Nature, was conducted on 1,002 dogs of 12 different breeds: Border Collie, English Cocker Spaniel, Golden Retriever, Hovawart, Australian Kelpie, Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, Australian Shepherd, Spanish Water Dog, Finnish Lapphund and Sheltie; plus a thirteenth group consisting of mixed-breed dogs.
It is important to emphasize that the researchers did not directly select which breeds would take part in the study: according to Saara Junttila, anyone could voluntarily participate with their dog, but only breeds with at least 40 individuals were selected for the tests. The results were statistically relevant .
The dogs in the study passed a series of tests that assessed various behavioral traits: attitude toward an unfamiliar person, exploration of the environment, solving logical problems and the time they spent solving them, initiative when not given instructions a person received, trust in their own memory and persistence in solving assigned tasks.
According to science, the most intelligent dog breed of all time
The final classification was made from the average of the results of all tests, which resulted in a total of 39 possible points. The Belgian Malinois was ahead in most of the tests and scored 35 points in the final standings. Until now, it hasn't typically appeared on lists of smartest breeds, but that could be because they've tended to be popular dogs rather than pets, while the Malinois is primarily a working breed, used primarily by police and… Other security forces were often not taken into account in studies.
The border collie, which has always topped the list of the most intelligent dogs, took second place with 26 points. Above all, this breed is characterized by an exceptional memory: they can recognize more than 1,000 words and learn instructions in less than five repetitions.
The Hovawart and the Spanish Water Dog took third and fourth place with 25 and 24 points, respectively. The latter did not particularly stand out in any particular area. On the other hand, the Hovawart trusted his own memory more than people's gestures and could tell when they were “tricking” him by telling him that the prize was in the wrong place.
Taken from National Geographic
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