The Intelligence of Dogs is a book on dog intelligence by Stanley Coren, a professor of canine psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Published in 1994, the book explains Coren's theories about the differences in intelligence between different breeds of dogs. Coren published a second edition in 2006.
Coren defines three aspects of dog intelligence in the book: instinctive intelligence, adaptive intelligence, and working and obedience intelligence. Instinctive intelligence refers to a dog's ability to perform the tasks it was bred for, such as herding, pointing, fetching, guarding, or supplying companionship. Adaptive intelligence refers to a dog's ability to solve problems on its own. Working and obedience intelligence refers to a dog's ability to learn from humans.
Methods
The book's ranking focuses on working and obedience intelligence. Coren sent evaluation requests to American Kennel Club and Canadian Kennel Club obedience trial judges, asking them to rank breeds by performance, and received 199 responses, representing about 50 percent of obedience judges then working in North America. Assessments were limited to breeds receiving at least 100 judge responses. This methodology aimed to eliminate the excessive weight that might result from a simple tabulation of obedience degrees by breed. Its use of expert opinion followed precedent.
Coren found substantial agreement in the judges' rankings of working and obedience intelligence, with Border collies consistently named in the top ten and Afghan Hounds consistently named in the lowest. The highest ranked dogs in this category were Border collies, Poodles, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, and Doberman Pinschers.
Dogs that are not breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club or Canadian Kennel Club (such as the Jack Russell Terrier) were not included in Coren's rankings.
Evaluation
When Coren's list of breed intelligence first came out there was much media attention and commentary both pro and con. However over the years the ranking of breeds and the methodology used have come to be accepted as a valid description of the differences among dog breeds in terms of the trainability aspect of dog intelligence. In addition, measurements of canine intelligence using other methods have confirmed the general pattern of these rankings including a new study using owner ratings to rank dog trainability and intelligence. 79 ranks are given (plus 52 ties), a total of 131 breeds ranked:
Brightest Dogs
- Understanding of New Commands: Fewer than 5 repetitions.
- Obey First Command: 95% of the time or better.
- Border Collie
- Standard Poodle
- German Shepherd
- Golden Retriever
- Doberman Pinscher
- Shetland Sheepdog
- Labrador Retriever
- Papillon
- Rottweiler
- Australian Cattle Dog
Excellent Working Dogs
- Understanding of New Commands: 5 to 15 repetitions.
- Obey First Command: 85% of the time or better.
- Pembroke Welsh Corgi
- Miniature Schnauzer
- English Springer Spaniel
- Belgian Shepherd Dog (Tervuren)
- Schipperke
Belgian Sheepdog - Collie
Keeshond - German Shorthaired Pointer
- Flat-Coated Retriever
English Cocker Spaniel
Standard Schnauzer - Brittany
- Cocker Spaniel
- Weimaraner
- Belgian Malinois
Bernese Mountain Dog - Pomeranian
- Irish Water Spaniel
- Vizsla
- Cardigan Welsh Corgi
Above Average Working Dogs
- Understanding of New Commands: 15 to 25 repetitions.
- Obey First Command: 70% of the time or better.
- Chesapeake Bay Retriever
Puli
Yorkshire Terrier - Giant Schnauzer
Portuguese Water Dog - Airedale Terrier
Bouvier des Flandres - Border Terrier
Briard - Welsh Springer Spaniel
- Manchester Terrier
- Samoyed
- Field Spaniel
Newfoundland
Australian Terrier
American Staffordshire Terrier
Gordon Setter
Bearded Collie - Cairn Terrier
Kerry Blue Terrier
Irish Setter - Norwegian Elkhound
- Affenpinscher
Australian Silky Terrier
Miniature Pinscher
English Setter
Pharaoh Hound
Clumber Spaniel - Norwich Terrier
- Dalmatian
Average Working/Obedience Intelligence
- Understanding of New Commands: 25 to 40 repetitions.
- Obey First Command: 50% of the time or better.
- Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier
Bedlington Terrier
Fox Terrier (Smooth) - Curly Coated Retriever
Irish Wolfhound - Kuvasz
Australian Shepherd - Saluki
Finnish Spitz
Pointer - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
German Wirehaired Pointer
Black and Tan Coonhound
American Water Spaniel - Siberian Husky
Bichon Frise
Havanese
King Charles Spaniel - Tibetan Spaniel
English Foxhound
Otterhound
Jack Russell terrier
American Foxhound
Greyhound
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon - West Highland White Terrier
Scottish Deerhound - Boxer
Great Dane - Dachshund
Shiba Inu
Staffordshire Bull Terrier - Alaskan Malamute
- Whippet
Chinese Shar Pei
Wire Fox Terrier - Rhodesian Ridgeback
- Ibizan Hound
Welsh Terrier
Irish Terrier - Boston Terrier
Akita
Fair Working/Obedience Intelligence
- Understanding of New Commands: 40 to 80 repetitions.
- Obey First Command: 30% of the time or better.
- Skye Terrier
- Norfolk Terrier
Sealyham Terrier - Pug
- French Bulldog
- Griffon Bruxellois
Maltese - Italian Greyhound
Coton de Tulear - Chinese Crested
- Dandie Dinmont Terrier
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen
Tibetan Terrier
Japanese Chin
Lakeland Terrier - Old English Sheepdog
- Great Pyrenees
- Scottish Terrier
Saint Bernard - Bull Terrier
- Chihuahua
- Lhasa Apso
- Bullmastiff
Lowest Degree of Working/Obedience Intelligence
- Understanding of New Commands: 80 to 100 repetitions or more.
- Obey First Command: 25% of the time or worse.
- Shih Tzu
- Basset Hound
- Mastiff
Beagle - Pekingese
- Bloodhound
- Borzoi
- Chow Chow
- Bulldog
- Basenji
- Afghan Hound
See also
- Dog intelligence
- Stanley Coren
- Working dog
- List of dog breeds
References
