Stephen: Belgian malinois and border collie among smartest dog breeds

Scientists from the University of Helsinki have discovered which dog breeds are the smartest, based on 1,000 dogs taking 10 different ability tests.

Tests included reading human gestures and independent problem-solving.

Which breeds came out on top? The hovawart came in third, border collies came in second, and the Belgian malinois came in first place as the smartest dog breed.

“Most breeds had their own strengths and weaknesses,” study co-author Saara Junttila said. “For example, the Labrador retriever was very good at reading human gestures, but not so good at spatial problem-solving.”