10 Most Trainable Dogs that will Blow Your Mind, 4th One is the Best!!!

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The most trainable dogs! How can you tell if a dog breed is trainable? You’ll find an in-depth discussion of this in this article, so please read it carefully.

Your dog’s breed and what you want to teach it really matters. It’s easy to train a bloodhound to find a lost child by following a cold trail. But training him to herd sheep or jump through hoops can be tough. This same training will be easier if you want to give it to a Border Collie.

Dogs’ intelligence plays a big role in their ability to learn. Each breed has its own personality, instinctive drives, and genetic heritage, which will influence its trainability.
That’s why dog breeds were developed for different purposes, like working cooperatively with humans or independently.

There’s no denying that some breeds are easier to train than others. Dog researchers usually agree that dogs in the Sporting Group, Herding Group, and Working Group are more trainable, while hounds and terriers are usually lower on the list.

Most people are afraid that having a dog in the household will only add up to the chores that they have. I mean, dogs lived in the wild. So they are not necessarily used to living like a human.

We should understand the innate nature of dogs before deciding to share a household with them. Well, you will be spending every moment of your life from now on with your canine buddy. Of course, you need to know about it!

You must also assist your dog in adjusting to a human way of life, more specifically to your routine. But how are you going to make a dog adapt to human civilization?

A dog’s personality greatly depends on its breed. You need to do thorough research on your dog’s ability to adapt, trainability, and its ability to learn. If the dog refuses to learn and follow your commands, it poses a severe threat to household harmony.

Although some dogs are naturally more trainable than others, training a dog will require your undivided time, attention, and patience. It is like teaching your children to become better adults.

So without further ado, let’s have a look at the ten most easiest dog breeds to train.

What classifies a dog breed as the most trainable dog?

Nature made dogs as pack animals. They understand the hierarchy and social obligations.

An adult dog knows how to discipline its puppies. It will direct them about what they can do and what is forbidden. It also rewards the pups for acceptable behavior.

People have been training dogs long before they could read and write. Fighting, hunting, and cohabitating come naturally to dogs. Having said that, all dogs are smart in essence.

Therefore, the exact meaning of ‘dog intelligence’ is difficult to define. Like the different races of humans, each dog breed contributes to the world with its unique talents.

Having a trainable and intelligent dog may look like a blessing, but it can also be challenging and tiring. When you see them bored, you have to adjust the environment for success. Sometimes your dog may be more intelligent than you, which can be exhausting.

A dog’s intelligence is generally measured by its ability to think, understand, learn, and remember. If you see any of these traits in your dog, you are lucky.

It is important to note that some dogs may be socially smart, while others may have a strong memory. Specialized talents may vary in different breeds of dogs, so be careful how you judge their level of intelligence.

On that account, these are the traits your dog will demonstrate if it is truly intelligent.

It aces cognition tests

As much as you love to take care of your dog, sometimes you wish your dog would do the same for you. For example, when you’re sick, you want your dog to at least to be able to bring you some medicine from the drawer.

Some dogs can open and close the refrigerator door. It is one of the signs of intelligence. Getting something off the counter without knocking it off also confirms that your dog has problem-solving skills.

It is able to communicate

Animals are always communicating with us through their language. Your dog is doing the same. If you don’t realize that it is, that means you need to learn more about dog languages.

Being able to communicate needs is a sign of intelligence. Start paying attention to your dog’s reactions, and you will realize how intelligent it is.

Furthermore, smart dogs understand your moods, and it will comfort you when you’re sad. That’s high-level emotional intelligence even some humans lack.

On the other hand, when it needs attention, it also knows how to get it. Rubbing against you, bringing you a leash and lying down for some tummy rubs are signs that your dog knows how to get your attention.

It figures things out fast

Does your dog follow your commands quickly? Does it get you right away?

These are signs that your dog is highly intelligent. Sometimes it is not even related to specific breeds; some dogs can figure things out super fast.

Your dog may even mimic your actions, for instance, grabbing a tissue after you sneeze. When you sign, it sings with you. When you dance, it dances. Learning through observation is a talent, as well.

It has mastered the treat-dispensing toys

By using treat-dispensing toys, you’ll be able to tell how intelligent your dog is. Problem solvers don’t care what challenges lie ahead. They will eventually figure out how to get the treats, at whatever cost.

The quicker your dog gets the treat from the treat-dispensing toy, the smarter it is likely to be. The same can be achieved by hiding treats in different locations of the house and letting your dog find them.

But don’t assume that your dog is dumb if it is taking too long to grab the treat. Its talent lies elsewhere, that’s all.

Here are the top ten easiest dog breeds to train

1. Border Collie – Most Trainable Dog in the world

Border Collies are extremely smart and one of the most talented and hardworking dogs. You’ll be blown away by his intelligence and eagerness to please. That’s why it tops our list.

Talking about the Border Collie isn’t complete without talking about his intelligence. Border Collies are intelligent, hardworking, and workaholics.
Learning a ton of words and commands is no problem for them, and they love working every day.

The Border Collie was first developed in Scotland and thrived in the region on the Scottish-English border. The word “collie” is a Scotch word for the sheepdog.

A small household with no backyard is not the ideal environment for Border Collies.

A small house without a backyard isn’t ideal for Border Collies. It’s important for them to have a lot of space to play. They only need five repetitions to learn something, so you need to sharpen your skills.

No dog breed can beat the Border Collies in obedience, herding, and agility. A workaholic, this dog breed will devote all its time and energy to work, and of course, you.

The Border Collie may live for twelve to seventeen years. Its coat color may be chocolate, brindle, blue, white, sable, merle, red merle, gold, and red.

An adult male dog can have a weight of fourteen to twenty kilograms, and a female can weigh from twelve to nineteen kilograms. Furthermore, a male dog may reach a height of forty-eight to fifty-six centimeters, and a female may grow up to forty-six to fifty-three centimeters.

2. Poodle

The second breed on the list is the Poodle, which is energetic, loyal, and intelligent. A poodle is easy to train and gets along well with children. This breed could either be from France or Germany, but it is also believed to have descended from Asian herding dogs.

Active, alert, and intelligent, the Poodle needs obedience training, mental and physical workouts to focus its energy on productivity.

It was initially known to hunt waterfowl. It won the “Best Show” award in 1966 and 1982 at Crufts. It is a remarkable performer in circuses and sports. Eager to please and loving to work, you can teach the Poodle anything you want!

With an average life expectancy of twelve to fifteen years, the height of the Poodle can vary depending on the type. An adult toy Poodle may measure between twenty-four and twenty-eight centimeters, a miniature Poodle between twenty-eight and thirty-five centimeters, a standard Poodle between forty-five and sixty centimeters, and a medium Poodle between thirty-five and forty-five centimeters.

It may inherit any coat color, such as silver, blue, grey, black, white, cream, sable, apricot, red, and brown. Its average weight may range between forty-five to seventy pounds.

3. German Shepherd Dog

You can’t make a list of smart dogs without including the German Shepherd. This dog breed has been contributing in military and police work. It is known to be versatile, reliable, and intelligent.

The German Shepherd has keen eyes and performs tasks dutifully. Throughout history, it has played many roles – herding dog, war dog, explosives and narcotics-detection dog, guard dog, and search-and-rescue dog.

As the name goes, this breed originated in Germany. A quick learner, the German Shepherd, has a well-balanced body with sturdy hindquarter and forequarter. No wonder it is the second most popular dog breed in the world by registration.

The weight of an adult male German Shepherd is probably thirty to forty kilograms, and that of an adult female is twenty-two to thirty-two kilograms. The average height of a male German Shepherd is between sixty and sixty-five centimeters, and that of a female is fifty-five to sixty centimeters.

The dog breed may inherit coat colors of the following shades – black, silver, red, grey, tan, and sable. According to current data, it can live for as long as thirteen years.

4. Golden Retriever

The Golden Retriever is beautiful and amiable, but also eager to please and trainable. Not only is this breed trainable, but it is also suitable for people with special needs, such as visual and hearing impairments.

Being the fifth most popular dog breed in the world, the Golden Retriever is confident, reliable, and intelligent.

Its origin is in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is trained to be a search-and-rescue dog, detection dog, and a hunting dog.

The first three dogs to win the AKC Obedience Champion title were Golden Retrievers. The breed has always been performing at the top in obedience, agility rings, dock jumping, field trials, and fly ball.

A dog breed that comes in beautiful shades of gold and cream, the Golden Retriever can live for up to twelve years. An adult male can weigh from thirty to thirty-four kilograms, and an adult female weighs from twenty-five to thirty-two kilograms.

The males are taller than females. The males measure between fifty-six to sixty-one centimeters tall, and the females between fifty-one to fifty-six centimeters

5. Doberman Pinscher

The Doberman Pinscher is one of the strongest dogs on the list of the most trainable dogs. This dog breed is fearless, alert, confident, obedient, intelligent, and highly trainable.

Originally from Germany, this dog has been recognized as the most intelligent dog breed in expert evaluations and experimental studies. For this reason, the Doberman Pinscher is most sought after as a guard dog, war dog, and personal defense dog.

Many experts are certain that the Doberman Pinscher is a combination of several breeds, like the German Pinscher, the Beauceron, Weimaraner, and the Rottweiler. The American Kennel Club ranks this dog breed as the twelfth most popular dog of 2012 and 2013.

The Doberman Pinscher can have a blue, rust, red, fawn, black, or white coat. The average life expectancy of this dog breed is ten to thirteen years.

The average height of a male dog is sixty-six to seventy-two centimeters, and that of a female dog is sixty-one to sixty-eight centimeters. On the other hand, the weight of a male ranges between forty and forty-five kilograms, and that of a female is between thirty-two and thirty-five kilograms.

6. Shetland Sheepdog

Very similar to Icelandic Sheepdog, the Shetland Sheepdog is responsive, alert, active, reliable, trainable, and intelligent. This herding dog originated from the Shetland Islands of Scotland.

Its original name was Shetland Collie, but the name was changed afterward. It was bred to thrive in the harsh climate of Scotland.

Furthermore, Dr. Stanley Coren confirms that a Shetland sheepdog can learn a new command after five repetitions and obey a command right away 95% of the time. No wonder this dog breed is ranked sixth in dog intelligence out of one hundred thirty-eight breeds.

The Shetland Sheepdog or the Sheltie with coats of black, white, sable, blue merle, merle, and tan has a life expectancy of twelve to thirteen years. An adult weighs between six to twelve kilograms and grows up to a height of thirty-three to forty-one centimeters.

7. Labrador Retriever

Known as the Labrador and nicknamed as Lab, the Labrador Retriever is originally from the United Kingdom and Canada. Its body type is very muscular and strong.

Intelligence is in its genes. It can carry eggs without breaking any of them. Moreover, the Labrador Retriever is also the favorite disability assistant for people with blindness and autism.

Law enforcement agencies use the Labrador Retriever in the detection and screening work. People also prize this dog breed as hunting and sporting dogs.

This dog breed’s coat comes in cute shades of yellow, chocolate, and black. Silver Labs are a new kind that is raising a lot of controversy and curiosity, so there is no section on them.

The average height of a male dog is between fifty-seven to sixty-two centimeters, and that of a female dog is between fifty-five to sixty centimeters. A male can weigh from twenty-nine to thirty-six kilograms, and a female from twenty-five to thirty-two kilograms. It has a life expectancy of ten to fourteen years.

8. Papillon

The Papillon is also known as the Continental Toy Spaniel. It is hard to miss its butterfly ears. It could have originated in France, Spain, and Belgium.

Dr. Stanley Coren ranks the Papillon eighth as the top ten smartest dogs out of one hundred and thirty-eight breeds that he has tested. Being one of the most trainable dogs, this dog breed enjoys performing and exercise.

Breeders recommend obedience training, rally obedience, and dog agility for Papillons. Overall, this breed is a quick learner, alert, energetic, and curious.

The butterfly-eared Papillon can live for as long as fifteen years. An adult can weigh between three to four kilograms. Some of the coat colors common to this dog breed are black, white, fawn, sable, chocolate, and red.

9. Rottweiler

Rottweiler is a German dog. Back in the days, this dog breed would take care of the livestock and pull carts laden with meat to the market. That’s why it is known as Rottweil Metzgerhund, meaning the butcher’s dog.

This trainable dog breed is courageous, alert, confident, obedient, steady, and fearless. Because of its admirable qualities, it is most commonly used as a guard dog, a police dog, and a search-and-rescue dog.

The Rottweiler is eager to work; it observes its environment with acute alertness but stays even-tempered. It can physically influence stubborn animals, such as sheep, to do its bidding. That’s pretty smart indeed!

Since this dog breed is so energetic, it only manages to live for up to ten years. Its coat colors are limited to shades of black, mahogany, and tan.

A male dog can grow as tall as sixty-one to sixty-nine centimeters, and a female dog can grow between fifty-six to sixty-three centimeters. Meanwhile, a male can weigh as much as fifty to sixty kilograms, and a female can weigh from thirty-five to forty-eight kilograms.

10. Australian Cattle Dog

The name gave away its origin. The Australian Cattle Dog may also be known as Cattle Dog. Very trainable, dependable, and reliable, this dog breed used to drive cattle over a long distance.

Temperament-wise, the Australian Cattle Dog is obedient, protective, loyal, reliable, and cautious. It expresses love for structured training and usually succeeds in overcoming challenges.

Through adequate training, this breed has been able to excel other breeds in endurance, intelligence, athleticism, obedience competitions, agility, weight pulling, Schutzhund, and flyball. The Australian Cattle Dog has made its mark as a therapy dog, wildlife species tracker, police dog, and drug detection dog.

The coat of this dog breed may come in shades of blue and red. Its life expectancy is thirteen to fifteen years.

A male weighs about fifteen to sixteen kilograms when fully grown, and a female weighs pretty much the same. However, a male can reach a height of forty-six to fifty-one centimeters, and a female reaches up to forty-three to forty-eight centimeters.

How Smart Is Your Dog?

The relationship between a dog’s trainability and intelligence has already been established. Other than all the factors discussed previously, your dog may give off simple cues in everyday lives that can also indicate signs of high intelligence.

A smart dog not only knows how to follow commands, but it also knows when to look to you for instructions. It knows that there are rules in human society, and specific activities may upset its owner. Hence, to protect the interest of its owner, it looks to him or her for guidance.

It may also remember routes to the park, the vet’s clinic, and other favorite places. Recognizing direction is another sign of extreme intelligence in dogs.

Making you do its bidding is not something a dumb dog can do. If it can predict your reaction to its actions, your dog is super smart. An example is when your dog bumps its head on your hand for scratches.

Most of the top trainable dogs in this article are sharp enough to learn tricks after only a few tries. They can also sense danger before you, so they prevent you from getting into a situation like that. As an example, a bright dog may act cautiously before passing the crosswalk with you.

Not only can clever dogs remember the route to their favorite locations, but also your daily routine. When it sees you packing your bag, it knows that you’re leaving. It also knows what time you will be back.

Some dogs love to escape, and they don’t need your help to figure out which doors are open and which ones are closed. Signs of high intelligence don’t even stop there; some dogs can also recall commands from a year ago!

Instinct Intelligence

How instinctive a dog greatly depends on its breed. Companion dogs understand human emotions and respond to different moods accordingly.

Pointers can point out the location of birds by merely sniffing. Hounds are expert trackers, and guard dogs protect people and properties with everything they have.

Adaptive Intelligence

Adaptive intelligence can manifest differently in dogs, and it is not according to its breed. Some of the examples of adaptive intelligence are solving new problems and learning from the environment.

Working And Obedience Intelligence

Working and obedience intelligence is like school-learning ability. Here the dog demonstrates its ability to follow instructions and carry out tasks properly.

How To Test Your Dog’s Intelligence

Now through a series of mini-tests, you can analyze your dog’s potential in the intelligence department. Expect your dog to be confused when you randomly start doing weird things with it.

You have to keep repeating the tasks until it gets it. Give clues if you must.

The most trainable dogs in our list are all highly intelligent dogs. So this group of dog breeds may naturally score higher than other dog breeds.

Even if your dog scores poorly in the IQ test, you can check out the section afterward, where we discuss how your dog can improve its score.

Toss A Towel

Let your dog smell a towel, then toss it over its head. Count the time it takes your dog to get free by using a stopwatch. If it takes 30 seconds or less to get free, it scores 3 points.

If it takes more than 30 seconds but less than 120 seconds, it scores 2 points. If it takes more than that time frame, or it doesn’t even try to get rid of the towel, your dog needs training.

Plastic Cups Game

Place some treats under a plastic cup and show your dog. Then ask the dog to leave the room for 30 seconds, which is when you will bring two more plastic cups.

The treat is hiding under one of the cups. Call your dog back into the room and ask it to find which cup has the treat. Give it 3 points if it can point at the container that is hiding the treat in the first try.

2 points if it takes 2 minutes to find it. No points if it fails.

Hide Treats Under The Towel

Place some treats on the floor and make sure your dog sees it. Then hide the treats with a towel.

Give your dog 3 points if it can reach the treat in 30 seconds or less. 2 points if it takes between 30 to 60 seconds. It scores a 0 if nothing happens.

What’s Under The Couch

This time leave the treats under the couch where your dog won’t be able to reach the treats with its muzzle. It has to use its paws to get the treats.

4 points if it succeeds within 2 minutes. 3 points if it takes 3 minutes. 2 points if it uses its paws, but fails anyway.

Score Chart

Your dog is an absolute genius if it scores between 10 and 12! It is sufficiently intelligent if it gets a score of 7, 8, or 9. Sorry to say, any points less than that means you need to train your dog appropriately.

How To Improve Your Dog’s IQ

Your dog likely scored less than average in the IQ tests above because it was confused about what it was supposed to do. Repetition can solve this problem.

As you repeat the tests with your dog, it will understand that it is a game and that it has to do something to pass the test. So keep repeating and training your dog with exciting experiments!

Here are some of the ways you can help your dog improve its IQ.

Keep Training

Training is the most effective when it is young. It is harder to teach an older dog compared to a puppy.

You must practice physical manipulation every day to let your dog get used to the adaptation process. Keep teaching new tricks so that its brain can thrive!

Let It Socialize

You must let your dog socialize with people, dogs, and other animals. Let it gain more knowledge about its environment. It will learn by observing other living beings.

For instance, you will often notice a dog that has been living with humans for a long time to start sitting and laying down like humans. It learned by observance.

Expose It To Tests And Problems

If you leave your dog at home and don’t play with it, its IQ won’t expand. You have to play with your dog, use complex toys, and assign real-life problems to it so that it can learn from the experiences.

Take it outdoors and give it tasks so that it feels useful. More importantly, show it what it should do so it can copy you.

Give Praise

Don’t take your dog’s efforts for granted. Your dog is following your commands only because it wants your admiration.

It has no reason to try to pass an IQ test unless it makes its owner happy. Therefore, when you see your dog doing well, praise it.

Take your dog with you on trips and other dog-safe activities. Your dog will learn from the adventure the two of you have together.

Intelligence can be improved. So, don’t give up!

Conclusion

We have no doubt that dogs are exceptionally intelligent, even more so than humans or apes. Dogs have the ability to understand the emotions of other living beings just by sniffing. They can sniff and know if a person has cancer or not.

Countless dogs have contributed in the modern world that we have created. We should not forget that.

Therefore, even if your dog is not doing so well in the IQ test, it is not an accurate demonstration of its true talents. Keep researching and you will find more ways to test your dog’s intelligence.

If your dog is not listed in our top ten most trainable dogs, it is still a genius. You don’t need us to confirm that, you already know.

Brenda Thompson