According to a study published in the specialist journal Nature Scientific Reports, dating from December, certain dog breeds are less intelligent than others.
While some dog breeds are considered intelligent, others have more difficulty understanding commands, obeying and being well educated. Researchers from the University of Helsinki in Finland have also carried out a ranking of dog breeds ranging from the smartest to the stupidest. A study, published at the end of December, in the specialized journal Nature Scientific Reports, thus classifies dog breeds according to their intelligence. To establish this classification, the experts therefore relied on 1,002 dogs from 13 different breeds, aged between one and eight years.
For seven years, these four-legged animals were then subjected to ten cognitive and behavioral tests between March 2016 and February 2022. They were notably tested on their ability to read human gestures, memorize information in the short term, or solve problems. The dogs selected for this study also had to successfully find a way to access food locked in a sealed box. Some therefore did not hesitate to call on humans for help to carry out this mission.
The rest after this ad
The Afghan hound considered the least intelligent
While some excelled in these tests, others had more difficulty. “Most races had their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Labrador retriever was very good at decoding human gestures, but not very good at solving spatial problems.”, explained Saara Junttila, co-author of the study and doctoral student in canine cognition at the University of Helsinki, as reported by the British daily The Telegraph.
“Some breeds, such as the Shetland Sheepdog, have obtained uniform scores in almost all tests. The Belgian Malinois Shepherd stood out in many cognitive tasks, achieving very good results in the majority of tests”, she added. For his part, Professor Stanley Coren, canine expert at the University of British Columbia, and author of the book The intelligence of dogs classified 130 dog breeds from the brightest to the stupidest.
Based on tests with more than 200 dog obedience judges in Canada and the United States, it is Afghan Hound which has been judged to be the least intelligent breed of all when you have to understand and obey your master’s orders. According to the specialist, You would have to repeat it to her more than 80 times for her to understand. “The breed also obeyed the first command less than 25% of the time”underlined the expert.
Pauline has been writing for the Auféminin site for many months now. She enjoys deciphering current events as much as telling the latest stories about your favorite people. When she’s not looking…