How Do I Know If My Dog Is Smart?

Some equate a dog's intelligence with its learning speed, but trainability and intelligence may not be the same thing. Reddogs/Shutterstock

Have you ever wondered just how smart your dog is? Does your four-legged companion seem to get themselves into all kinds of trouble, or do they seem intelligent enough to avoid catastrophe to begin with?

In this guide, we’re going to look at the whole topic of dog intelligence, and if you’ve ever thought that you might own one of the world’s dumbest dogs, you might be surprised by the results!

Stanley Coran’s Intelligence of Dogs

Stanley Coran carried out what is probably the best-known piece of research into dog intelligence. He surveyed over 200 dog obedience judges to determine which types of dogs they classified as the most intelligent. The judges assessed this by considering how quickly each of the 120 breeds could learn a new behavior.