Smartest Dog Breeds: What It Means to Adopt One

Where does the smartest dog breeds ranking come from?

Almost every smartest-breeds list traces back to Stanley Coren, a psychologist and author of The Intelligence of Dogs. He explains his method in a Psychology Today article. Obedience trial records were no use on their own, because popular breeds win more titles simply by having more dogs entered. So he sent a long questionnaire to every obedience judge registered with the American Kennel Club and the Canadian Kennel Club, and asked them to rank breeds by how well they learn and work.

199 judges answered, which Coren says was about half of all obedience judges in North America, and he only ranked breeds that at least 100 judges had assessed. Agreement was high: 190 of the 199 judges put the Border Collie in their top ten.

What it measured, and what it did not

In a later article Coren separates three kinds of dog intelligence:

• Working and obedience intelligence: learning from people and performing on command. This is what the judges ranked, and what obedience trials test.
• Adaptive intelligence: solving problems on its own.
• Instinctive intelligence: doing the job the breed was developed for, such as herding, retrieving or guarding.

So the list is best read as a trainability ranking. It tells you which breeds tend to pick up cues quickly and want to work with a person. It does not tell you which dog is wisest, calmest or easiest to live with, and Coren acknowledges that some researchers read his measure as trainability rather than general intelligence.

What are the 10 smartest dog breeds?

These are Coren's top ten for working and obedience intelligence, in his order. The middle column is what each breed's Dogs Australia standard says about temperament or character, checked 10 November 2026.

Ranking from Stanley Coren's survey of obedience judges, as published in his Psychology Today article. A breed standard describes the ideal dog of a breed, not a promise about any one dog.

Look at what the top ten were bred for. Four are herding breeds (the Border Collie, German Shepherd Dog, Shetland Sheepdog and Australian Cattle Dog), two are retrievers and two (the Dobermann and the Rottweiler) are guarding breeds; the Poodle and the Papillon are the exceptions. Breeds selected to take direction from a shepherd, hunter or handler all day are exactly the breeds that score well when a judge asks them to follow commands.

What about the Kelpie and other Australian working dogs?

The Kelpie is not in Coren's top ten, which came from North American judges. Its own Dogs Australia standard describes a dog that is “extremely alert, eager and highly intelligent” with “an almost inexhaustible energy”. The Australian Shepherd standard (an American breed, despite the name) describes “an intelligent working dog of strong herding and guarding instincts” with “the stamina to work all day”. Whatever their rank, Kelpies, Koolies and Australian Shepherds belong in the same group as the Border Collie for anyone deciding whether they can keep a clever dog busy.

Are the breeds at the bottom of the list dumb?

No. Coren's bottom ten included the Afghan Hound, Basenji, Bulldog, Chow Chow, Borzoi, Bloodhound, Pekingese, Beagle, Mastiff and Basset Hound. Several are hounds bred to hunt by sight or scent, often well away from a handler. Coren himself notes that the Afghan Hound was bred to spot, pursue and pull down antelope, which takes a different kind of brain from heeling in an obedience ring.

The Basenji standard puts it neatly: “an intelligent, independent, but affectionate and alert breed”. Independent is the key word. A Beagle or Basset Hound following its nose instead of your recall cue is not failing to understand you; it is doing what it was bred to do. For many households a breed that is a little less eager to work is easier to live with, which is why several of these breeds turn up in our calm dog breeds guide.

What does owning a very smart dog mean day to day?

Coren's own warning is the best summary: a smart dog “will learn everything that you want the dog to know”, and “it will also learn everything that it can get away with”. A dog that learns fast learns the wrong lessons fast too: how to open the side gate, that barking at the window brings you running, that a shoe is the quickest way to start a game.

The working breeds add drive to brains. The Working Kelpie Council says a Kelpie “needs to use his natural energies both mental and physical” and that it is no use expecting a dog bred to work to sit outside “without anything to do or to think about”. Left that way, it says, the dog will find an occupation, such as chasing cars, and a dog alone all day is likely to develop excessive barking through boredom and running the fences.

The RSPCA says the same about dogs in general. Its Knowledgebase describes cognitive enrichment, such as training, problem-solving tasks and memory tasks, and says it can help dogs feel calmer and less stressed and can improve behaviour. RSPCA Victoria says enough exercise and enrichment helps prevent unwanted behaviours such as barking, digging or chewing, and that “mental stimulation is just as powerful as physical exercise”.

What a clever working dog needs most days

• Physical exercise that suits the breed and the dog's age; the Border Collie adolescence guide sets out a starting point for a young collie.
• Training sessions that are short and reward-based. The RSPCA recommends early socialisation and reward-based training.
• A job: obedience, agility, herding, scent work, trick training or food puzzles. Australian Working Dog Rescue's own listings say a working dog needs a job to do, such as obedience, agility, working stock or frisbee.
• Company. These breeds were bred to work beside a person. Long days alone in a yard are the setting the Kelpie council warns about.
• A way to switch off. Teaching a settle on a mat matters as much as teaching tricks, so the dog learns that quiet time is part of the day.

Who suits a smart dog breed, and who does not?

The top ten split into two quite different groups, and it helps to know which one you are looking at.

Children change the picture. Dogs Victoria's children and dogs fact sheet says that for families with young children, or with elderly or frail members, a high-energy herding breed or a large guardian breed may not be the right match, and asks owners to be honest about whether they have time to socialise, exercise and train a dog.

New to dogs? Our best dogs for first-time owners guide covers the beginner-friendly breeds. If you are still working out what fits your life, the what dog breed am I quiz, the adoption readiness check and the dog cost calculator each take a few minutes. Still choosing between species? Try dog or cat.

Why clever working dogs end up in rescue

Border Collie, Kelpie and Cattle Dog crosses turn up in rescue listings across Australia all year, and there is a rescue dedicated to working breeds, Australian Working Dog Rescue, with dogs in several states. A common story is a clever puppy chosen for its looks or reputation that grows into a busy adolescent with more drive than the household has time for.

The Working Kelpie Council describes how that goes wrong. A bored Kelpie may go looking for company and interest, and the council notes wryly that the local school is one of the best places to meet the dog catcher who will take him to the pound. A dog left alone during working hours, it says, can become the dog that barks all day and draws complaints from the neighbours.

None of this makes these dogs a bad choice. It makes them a choice to plan for. And it means that a rescue is often the best place to find one, because the right adult dog has already been through the hard puppy and adolescent stage in someone else's care.

Adopting a smart dog: what the rescue versions look like

Most clever dogs in rescue are crosses rather than purebreds: collie crosses, Kelpie and Cattle Dog mixes, shepherd crosses, and Poodle crosses such as Cavoodles, Spoodles, Groodles and Labradoodles. A cross can take after either parent, so a breed ranking tells you even less about a mixed-breed dog than about a purebred one. The useful information is in the listing and in the foster carer's head.

Questions to ask about a clever rescue dog

• How much exercise and mental work does the dog need before it settles in the evening?
• What does it already know (sit, drop, recall, walking on a lead), and how quickly does it learn?
• What does it do when it is bored or left alone: bark, dig, chew, escape?
• Does it chase or herd children, bikes, cars or other pets?
• Has it done any dog sport or stock work, and did it enjoy it?

An adult working-breed dog whose carer can answer those questions is a far safer bet than a puppy chosen from a ranking. The RSPCA Knowledgebase recommends starting your search with shelters and rescues. If you want a purebred puppy for stock work or dog sport, our breed guides cover when a registered breeder makes sense and the health tests to ask for: Border Collie, Kelpie, Poodle and German Shepherd.

For Sydney readers, the local guides on Kelpies in suburban life, jobs for Cattle Dogs and Australian Shepherd exercise go into the daily detail.

Find a smart dog near you

• Sydney: Border Collies, Kelpies, Poodles, German Shepherds and mixed-breed dogs for adoption
• Melbourne: Border Collies, Kelpies, Poodles, German Shepherds and mixed-breed dogs for adoption
• Brisbane: Border Collies, Kelpies, Poodles, German Shepherds and mixed-breed dogs for adoption
• Perth: Border Collies, Kelpies, Poodles, German Shepherds and mixed-breed dogs for adoption
• Adelaide: Border Collies, Kelpies, Poodles, German Shepherds and mixed-breed dogs for adoption

Each listing comes from the rescue or pound that has the dog. Apply through the rescue, and ask the questions above about energy, training and time alone before you commit.