Is Your Dog Among the Smartest Dog Breeds?

Mine is (that's not him in the photo).

While training my dog recently (and because he has been picking things up so quickly), I was curious if dogs were ranked based on smartness. Sure enough, I came across PetMD and some other sites that listed the 10 smartest dog breeds in the world (all sites were in consensus). I was pretty proud when I found that my pup's breed ranked #3 on the smartness scale (because the same level of smarts cannot always be attributed to his owner). Is your dog's breed on the list?

The 10 Smartest Dog Breeds in the World

10. Australian Cattle Dog

9. Rottweiler

8. Papillion

7. Labrador Retriever

6. Shetland Sheepdog

5. Doberman Pinscher

4. Golden Retriever

3. German Shepherd

2. Poodle

And the Smartest Dog Breed in the World...

1. Border Collie

Keep in mind the list is not based on individual dogs, it's based on the generic breed standards. It is possible for say a dog ranked #3 to "know more" or be "better trained" than a dog breed that ranks #1 (hypothetically speaking of course). The PetMD report doesn't share exactly how the dog breeds' intelligence was tested, but I believe it has to do with how quickly a dog can learn a new task. If you want to know more about each breed, check out their findings.

(Photo - Flickr:keepwaddling1)