
Clearly, not as high as most Chihuahua owners would think.Ĭlassified in the “ fair intelligence” category, the Chihuahua was able to learn a new command with just 40 to 80 repetitions. Out of 138 qualified dog breeds, the Chihuahua ranked 125th. Chihuahua Performance in Intelligence TrialsĬhihuahuas ranked in the bottom half of the dog breeds. We believe there’s much more to dog IQ than just obedience and work ethic. The criteria in which Coren used to measure dog intelligence was met with a lot of criticism and skepticism at first – and rightfully so. And because Chihuahuas were one of the 40 most popular breeds, they had plenty of responses. Only dog breeds with at least 100 responses qualified for Coren’s final dog intelligence rankings. A higher success rate means a more obedient and intelligent breed.

Pet smarts near me trial#
The obedience trial judges measured and ultimately ranked how each dog breed performed in an obedience trial (following Coren’s criteria). At the time, this was nearly half the trial judges in North America! Coren’s Dog Intelligence Criteria

The renowned canine psychologist asked 199 obedience trial judges from the Canadian and American Kennel Club to conduct his research using his criteria. And while his methods do have flaws, we think it’s a great starting point. To truly gauge how smart Chihuahuas are, we must first understand how Stanley Coren measured canine intelligence.
