Belgian Malinois, often known as Belgian Shephard, is the World’s smartest dog, according to Finnish researchers.
Over 1,000 dogs from 13 breeds participated in 10 tasks in the smartDOG battery of tests, the Telegraph reported.
Nature Scientific Reports published the study. Exploratory behavior, impulsivity, social cognition, spatial problem-solving, logical thinking, and short-term memory were analyzed.
According to Saara Junttila of the University of Helsinki, most breeds have their strengths and weaknesses. Ms. Junttila remarked, “Labrador Retrievers were good at reading human movements but not spatial problem-solving. Some breeds, like the Shetland Sheepdog, scored evenly in most tests, with neither high nor low results.”
Dr. Katriina Tiira, smartDOG’s owner and CEO, said the Belgian Shepherd Malinois excelled in numerous cognitive exercises.
Border Collies did well in numerous tests, said Ms. Tiira.
Tiira told Newsweek, “Breeds differed in most features, as expected. However, in smartDOG practice tests, breeds with normal cognitive profiles stood out.”
In the logical reasoning round, the dogs noticed one empty food bowl. The specialists wanted to see if the dogs could guess where the food was. The research showed no variation in dog breeds’ performance.
Human gesture reading was also measured. Finally, experts also studied a dog’s independence. The Belgian Shephard Malinois won both tasks. Fifth-most independent breed.
Border collies came in second with 26 points, while the Hovawart took bronze with 25, one point ahead of the Spanish Water Dog, The Telegraph reported.
