The Burrow
Nov 13, 2025
For many of us, dogs are an important part of our everyday lives. Whether they’re helping us at work or giving us a friendly, furry face to come home to, humans are arguably closer to dogs than any other species of animal – so it’s really no wonder they’re often nicknamed “man’s best friend”!
Of course, training your dog is essential to make sure it follows your commands, as well as keeping it house-trained and well-behaved. And while we all know how intelligent dogs can be, different breeds have their own personalities that can make it difficult to keep them in line.
The pet insurance experts at Compare the Market have decided to rank the smartest dog breeds in the world, based on behavioural studies, intelligence rankings, and obedience tests – that way, you’ll know which breeds are best-suited to first-time dog owners and won’t be a pain to train!
Take a look below to see what we discovered.
To inform our data, we took Australia’s 50 most popular breeds and ranked their intelligence based on expert analysis. We also took the American Kennel Club’s 5-point ratings on trainability and adaptability for each breed and compared them to these rankings to create an overall score out of 100.
Based on these factors, here are the highest-ranking breeds on our index:
Known for their herding ability and quick reflexes, the Border Collie is one of the most famous breeds of work dog around the world and ranks as the #1 breed in terms of intelligence.
They excel in problem-solving tests and are eager to learn new tricks and techniques. This gives them a perfect 5 out of 5 rating in both adaptability and trainability on our rankings, for an overall score of 81.6 out of 100.
Police forces and militaries worldwide are big fans of using German Shepherds, as their physical power combined with their attentiveness and fast reactions makes them great work dogs.
They rank as the third smartest breed (behind Poodles and Border Collies), but their perfect trainability and adaptability scores (again being 5 out of 5 each) give the German Shepherd an impressive second-place finish on our list, with 80.3 out of 100 overall.
One of the most popular family dog breeds worldwide, Golden Retrievers are beloved for their friendly nature and eagerness to please their owners, which makes them easy to train, and they’re often kept as guide dogs due to their cooperative behaviour and their ability to adapt to a wide range of environments.
Ranking as the fourth-most intelligent breed, and boasting perfect trainability and adaptability ratings, they score 79.6 overall in our index.
The Shetland Sheepdog is one of the easiest small breeds to train, with an obedient nature combined with great agility. They’re quick to respond to commands and rank as the sixth most intelligent breed in our data, making them especially strong problem solvers.
Like the rest of our top five, they score a perfect 5 out of 5 for trainability and adaptability for a final index score of 78.2.
For years, Labrador Retrievers have ranked as one of the most popular dog breeds in the world. Not only are Labradors affectionate and friendly, but they’re the seventh-most intelligent breed in our rankings. This is why they’re often trained as guide dogs and service dogs, too, for those who need assistance.
Their final score on our index is 77.5, beating competition from the Papillon and Miniature Schnauzer to secure a top five finish.
Standing in stark contrast to our top 5 breeds, if you want to avoid troubles training your new pooch, then you should probably avoid picking up one of these breeds as your first pet:
The lowest ranking breed in our data is the Bull Terrier. Ranked as the 66th most intelligent breed and scoring 3 out of 5 in both trainability and adaptability, Bull Terriers have an independent nature that makes them unlikely to follow orders or succeed with larger tasks. However, they’re energetic and loyal enough to remain a popular breed regardless.
They score 3.4 out of 100 in our data.
While they are known for their speed and agile nature, a 3 out of 5 score in both adaptability and trainability gives Whippets a low score on our list. They may struggle with problem-solving skills and following orders, ranking as the 51st most intelligent dog breed, but their physical prowess makes them excellent racers.
Their overall score of 8.2 puts them in penultimate position on our list.
Bulldogs tend to be slow learners, ranking as the 77th most intelligent breed of dog. With low-energy lifestyles that make them reliable family dogs, they score 3 out of 5 for adaptability and 4 out of 5 for trainability, meaning patience is needed when raising a Bulldog.
With a score of 8.8 out of 100, they are one of our lowest-ranking breeds.
The temperate nature of Beagles often makes them popular with families, and their superior scenting abilities have seen them used as sniffer dogs for security and hunting. Training them for these purposes can be challenging, however, as they rank as the 72nd most intelligent breed.
Beagles are assigned a 3 out of 5 trainability score, but score slightly higher on adaptability (4 out of 5) for an overall score of 9.5 out of 100.
Large, strong, and famously loyal, Bullmastiffs were originally bred as guard dogs, traits that remain central to their personality today. While they’re affectionate with their families, their independent and sometimes stubborn nature means they can be a challenge to train, especially for first time owners.
Ranking as the 69th most intelligent breed, Bullmastiffs score 4 out of 5 for trainability and 3 out of 5 for adaptability, giving them an overall score of 10.9 out of 100 in our index.
So, now that we know how different breeds rank, what can we learn about the intelligence of dogs? Here are some critical areas to consider when deciding on what breed you’d like to adopt:
Some of our highest-ranked breeds, such as the Border Collie and Shetland Sheepdog, excel at solving problems. This gives them the independence they need to thrive without human intervention, while remaining obedient enough to follow orders.
Many of the most intelligent breeds have been bred and trained specifically to carry out specific tasks. This is why German Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers, which are often used for work and assistance, rank so highly.
While structured intelligence tests can help show how smart a dog breed is, some of our lower-ranking breeds still have their own unique skills. Beagles, for example, have an exceptional sense of smell, while Whippets are incredible athletes.
This means that a dog breed can make up for their independent nature in other areas, and they can still provide an excellent service if trained effectively.
Executive General Manager of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor, notes the importance of pet insurance, regardless of dog breed.
“Giving your pet the best care possible is crucial for building a bond that will make them eager to learn,” Mr Taylor said.
“Since dogs are complex creatures with their own personality, there are plenty of other factors to consider past intelligence when it comes to choosing a breed.
“No matter what type of dog you get, pet insurance is an important part of pet ownership.
“When looking to take out pet insurance, it’s important to shop around to try and find a policy that suits the needs of you and your furry friends.”
This dataset ranks the 50 most popular dogs in Australia by their intelligence, which is based across three factors:
Each factors data was collected and normalised to give a score between 0 and 100. If data was missing a score of 0 was given. These scores were then combined to give each dog breed a total score out of 100. Breed Popularity found via Dogs Australia.
Data was collected for all dog breeds where possible, if a dog breed that was in the top 50 most popular didn’t have data, then it was removed from the index. All data is correct as of 12/10/2025.