The Worst Dogs for Obedience Training

Per Dr. Stanley Coren’s book The Intelligence of Dogs, the five dogs at the bottom of his list of 110 breeds, as chosen by over 200 professional dog obedience judges were:

106. Borzoi

107. Chow Chow

108. Bulldog

109. Basenji

110. Afghan Hound

Does that mean that these dogs are not intelligent? No. What it means is that, according to the obedience judges who ranked the breeds, these dogs were not as good at obedience training as the dogs ranked above them. They required more repetitions to learn things, they did not pay attention to commands as well, and they were less interested in pleasing their owners.

It should be noted that two of these dogs are sighthounds and one is a sight / scenthound. These dogs have traditionally been bred to hunt on their own without needing guidance from humans. They are often described by their owners as “aloof.” In short, it is part of the nature of these breeds to have an independent nature. It is possible to train these dogs for obedience but it will take some work. The Borzoi and Afghan, while very agile dogs when hunting, can also have some difficulty when doing agility work because of the nature of the obstacles. They may be bored by obedience training.

The Basenji is small and agile but he is can also be independent and aloof.

The Bulldog can have difficulty with obedience training for physical reasons. They are a brachycephalic breed and can have problems with breathing and with the heat. Their posture can also make it difficult for them to do some obedience exercises.

The Chow Chow is also built differently than other dogs, with a very straight front. This, and their heavy coat, can present problems for them when doing obedience work. The Chow Chow can also be an aloof breed that is not very interested in the repetitions involved in training.

These breeds, and others like them, were bred to do certain jobs that required them to work on their own. This made them very independent and capable of thinking for themselves. As a result these dogs may be very intelligent in some ways that you may not find in some of the breeds that are usually considered the most intelligent. The Borzoi and the Afghan Hound can be superb hunters and can anticipate the moves of a rabbit in an open field, for instance. Some of the other hounds, which also scored low in the ratings, have great intelligence when it comes to outwitting the animals they have to hunt. Unfortunately these skills don’t show up when they are scored by obedience judges.

Individuals of these breeds can be very intelligent but they may not be interested in learning obedience lessons. If you have one of these dogs it may be better to find things that your dog does enjoy doing and spend time on those activities.

If working in obedience is important to you then you may want to consider other breeds. Even if you find a good dog in one of these breeds it’s possible that obedience judges may have a bias against them. Or, you may like to try to change some minds about these breeds. Find a good dog and show the world what they can do. But be prepared to work hard and find ways to motivate your dog.

Until next time…………….