While the Border Collie has long been celebrated for its exceptional herding acumen and often tops lists of canine intelligence, researchers have identified another breed that demonstrates remarkable cognitive abilities. Belgian Malinois, based on tests conducted across more than a thousand dogs from thirteen breeds, have shown notable problem solving and social understanding that places them among the cleverest dogs studied to date.
Malinois dogs excel as scent trackers, guardians, and police canines. They are also recognized for their independence, quick reasoning, and responsiveness to human needs, with a talent for reading people and situations beyond simple commands. This blend of independence and social responsiveness helps explain their strong performance in a wide range of cognitive tasks.
Researchers from the University of Helsinki in Finland assembled the most comprehensive canine cognition dataset yet, examining a broad spectrum of breeds. The study involved a thousand dogs representing thirteen breeds and assessed them on ten tasks that spanned seven cognitive challenges and three behavior-oriented measures. The team used a test series known as the smartDOG battery to guide these evaluations.
According to study author Saara Junttila, a doctoral researcher in canine cognition, most breeds displayed their own mix of strengths and weaknesses. The tests aimed to map how breeds approach problems and interact with humans, rather than ranking them on a single dimension of intelligence. The findings were shared with The Telegraph in Britain as researchers discussed the diverse profiles revealed by the data.
In the discussion of breed-specific performance, the report highlighted that the Labrador Retriever tends to be especially adept at interpreting human gestures but can struggle with certain spatial challenges. Some breeds, such as the Shetland Sheepdog, displayed even distribution across a range of tasks, neither excelling nor faltering markedly in any single test.
Katriina Tiira, founder and chief executive of smartDOG, noted that the Belgian Malinois demonstrated strong results across most cognitive tasks, with particularly high marks on several measures. Border collies also performed well in many of the assessments, reinforcing their reputation for versatile problem solving. The researchers also identified a key insight: the most informative overall indicator of general intelligence came from a logical reasoning task. In this test, a dog was presented with two bowls of food, one of which concealed food; the question was whether the dog could infer that the food lay in the other bowl. The data showed no clear differences in this scenario across the breeds, underscoring the complexity of measuring general intelligence in dogs across tasks.
To delve into specific cognitive facets, the team examined three tasks designed to isolate components of canine cognition and to reveal how breeds differ in these areas. The experiments included a V-shaped fence task, where a dog circumnavigates a transparent barrier to reach a visible food reward, providing a window into problem solving. Another measure focused on social cognition by evaluating how dogs respond to human gestures such as various forms of pointing and gaze following. An additional metric explored independent problem solving by observing how dogs seek human help when confronted with an unsolvable problem, such as a difficult-to-open food container.
Understanding human gestures emerged as a clear marker of social cognition. Dogs that excelled at interpreting human signals tend to navigate everyday interactions with people more effectively. The study also noted that some breeds may lean toward seeking human guidance in challenging tasks, while others prefer to attempt the solution alone. Both strategies can be advantageous, depending on the situation and the handler’s goals.
Malinois as a standout
The data positioned the Belgian Malinois at the top in several categories, including responses to human gestures and the V-turn task. This breed also ranked highly for independence, appearing among the most self-reliant in the test set. In the aggregate general intelligence score, the Malinois achieved the highest possible rating in the study with a total of thirty-five points out of thirty-nine.
The border collies, famous for their working intelligence, earned a strong second place with a solid twenty-six points. Hovawarts took third with twenty-five points, narrowly edging the Spanish Water Dog by one point. The results reinforce the idea that intelligence is multi-dimensional and that different breeds excel in different cognitive domains rather than there being a single ultimate measure of intelligence.
Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers, often celebrated for their emotional sensitivity, showed strong performances on gesture-based tasks but scored lower on the other two cognitive measures, landing them in the middle of the overall rankings. The researchers emphasize that trait-specific and general intelligence rankings can be less informative than understanding which breeds excel at particular skills. This approach helps handlers and trainers tailor training strategies to the strengths of each breed.
The study references a body of work on canine cognition and is cited as a comprehensive contribution to the field. Readers seeking more detail can consult the Nature science article that outlines these experiments and findings. The researchers stress that practical applications of the results include guidance for working dogs, family pets, and service animals, with emphasis on how to leverage breed-specific cognitive strengths in everyday tasks and training regimes.
Overall, the findings suggest that intelligence in dogs is best understood as a spectrum of abilities rather than a single attribute. The Belgian Malinois demonstrates high performance across several cognitive tasks and social measures, while the Border Collie remains extraordinarily capable in problem solving and task responsiveness. These insights offer a clearer map of canine minds for owners, trainers, and researchers alike, helping to match dogs with roles and environments that suit their cognitive profiles.
In summary, the study presents a nuanced portrait of canine intelligence across breeds. It highlights how deep social reading, solution-oriented thinking, and adaptive independence combine to shape a breed’s performance in real-world tasks. The research team concludes that understanding the strengths of each breed enables better selection for work, companionship, and training, rather than relying on a single, all-encompassing measure of brainpower. This perspective aligns with practical experience in kennels and service dog programs and reinforces the value of breed-aware training approaches.
References: a comprehensive report on canine cognition assessing multiple breeds and tasks is available in Nature and is used here as a foundational source for the study cited. The study emphasizes that breed-specific profiles offer practical guidance for handlers and researchers alike and should inform training and selection decisions across North America and beyond.
Note on accessibility: the discussion centers on public knowledge about dog cognition, with the aim of informing owners and professionals about how dogs think and learn in a variety of settings. This summary consolidates the key findings into a readable overview for a broad audience.