Are Dachshunds Smart? – Here’s Why They Rank Low For Dog Intelligence

If you’re planning to bring home a Dachshund, you’ve made a great decision! These German dog breeds are friendly and affectionate, with a little bit of sass. However, potential owners may be wondering just how intelligent these little badger dogs really are.

Dachshunds are average-intelligent dogs, according to canine psychologist, Stanley Coren. In fact, the breed is the 92nd smartest dog breed for “working & obedience intelligence.” However, this low rank is likely due to the Dachshund’s stubborn nature. On the other hand, Dachshunds are intuitive hunters, suggesting they excel with instinctive intelligence.

Though Dachshunds are considered “average” in dog intelligence, there are many reasons why they’re a lot smarter than people give them credit for. While they perform poorly in one aspect of dog intelligence, they tend to excel in other areas.

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How We Measure a Dachshund’s Intelligence

The list of smartest dog breeds was developed by Stanley Coren, a researcher, pHD, and prominent canine psychologist. However, the biggest criticism was that his list measured just one component of dog intelligence, that is, obedience & working intelligence.

Coren contacted all the North American obedience trial judges from the Canadian and American Kennel Club to ask for help in measuring dog intelligence. To his surprise, nearly 200 obedience trial judges had agreed to participate.

He asked the obedience judges to assess and rank various dog breeds based on the criteria that he developed (which measured obedience and working dog intelligence).

Coren’s Dog Intelligence Criteria

To fully understand why Dachshunds ranked so low in Coren’s dog intelligence rankings, we must first understand the criteria used by Coren. While they were initially met with a lot of criticism, it makes a lot of sense for obedience and working.

His trials were based on the following:

1. How many repetitions it took for a dog breed to learn a new, unknown command. As you may have guessed, fewer repetitions meant a smarter dog.
2. The success rate in which a dog breed will obey a known command on the first attempt. Breeds with a higher success rate ranked better on the dog intelligence list.

Coren made sure that only dog breeds with at least 100 responses qualified for his final dog intelligence ranking list. As a result, only 138 different dogs qualified. Because of how popular Dachshunds were at the time, they had no problem qualifying.

In addition, only breeds recognized by the AKC or CKC were allowed to participate in the trials. This means no mixed dog breeds or rarer international breeds, either. Dachshunds are recognized by both kennel clubs, so they had a chance to participate.

How the Dachshund Performed

Based on Coren’s criteria, the Dachshund was the 92nd best performing dog breed. Because there were 138 dog breeds in total, this placed these dogs in the “average intelligent” class. But what exactly does this mean for the Dachshund?

This meant that the average Dachshund was able to understand and learn a new command with 25 to 40 repetitions. That said, it may take a whole afternoon to teach a Dachshund a command – though it depends on the complexity.

On the other hand, a Dachshund is able to successfully obey a known command on the first attempt with only a 50% or better success rate. Not too bad at all. However, this is still considered “average” among dogs that took part in the obedience trials.

For reference, many other popular dog breeds are in the same intelligence class as the Dachshund. The Aussie, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Husky, Great Dane, Havanese, Boxer are all “average” dogs. So, there’s nothing wrong with being average.

Dachshunds vs. The Smartest Dogs

There’s nothing wrong with being average. Nonetheless, there’s still a sizable gap between average and the world’s smartest. Now that we have a good understanding of what an average dog is capable of, how do Dachshunds compare to the most intelligent dogs?

Dog breeds in the bright dogs group are able to learn a new command with just 5 to 15 repetitions. In addition, bright dogs are able to obey a known command on the first try with an 85% or better success rate. 

For reference, other dogs in the bright dogs category include: Corgis, Cocker Spaniel, Brittany and the Pomeranian.

The top 10 smartest dogs are on another level. They’re able to learn a new command with less than 5 repetitions! Plus, the top 10 smartest dogs are able to obey a known command with a 95% or better success rate. 

The dog breeds in the top 10 category include the Rottweiler, Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Poodle and the Border Collie (at the number 1 spot). 

Why Dachshunds Rank Low in Dog Intelligence

One of the biggest complaints we hear from Dachshund owners is that they’re little, stubborn dogs. Sure, maybe not all Dachshunds are stubborn, but it’s more common than you think. 

The problem with a stubborn Dachshund is that they’re not always willing to cooperate in obedience training. Unlike the Border Collie, they won’t do it just for the sake of “working.”

And because Stanley Coren’s intelligence trials are heavily based on obedience, we can understand why Dachshunds would perform poorly.

Just because your Dachshund doesn’t obey your command on the first try doesn’t mean they don’t know what you’re asking. It’s very possible that they’re just too stubborn to give in to what you want.

One experienced dog foster parent tells us:

I’ve fostered tons of dogs in my lifetime, but none as stubborn as the Dachshund.

– Uhhhlaneuh (Reddit User)

Some Dachshunds will do what they want. Others may obey, but it’s not necessarily because the owner gave a command. If they feel like it, they’ll do it. It really depends on the individual dog.

However when it comes to Dachshunds, the key is to shower them with a lot of affection and love. If you love your Dachshund unconditionally, they’ll begin to start opening up and cooperating.

This won’t happen overnight and will require some patience with your dog. Always train with positive reinforcement, as it works (by far) the best with Dachshunds. 

There are certainly some limitations to the way Coren designed his trials. And although we think it’s a good place to start, it certainly doesn’t truly measure a dog’s intelligence. 

2 Reasons Why Dachshunds Are Really Smart

Real owners will tell you that Dachshunds are fantastic at communicating with humans. These dogs understand their owners very well and are unusually good at telling them what they want. 

But when it comes to measuring true dog IQ, there are two other important components: instinctive and adaptive intelligence. Even Stanley Coren will admit that these two components of dog IQ exist.

I would argue these dimensions are even more important than obedience and working intelligence, which were used for Coren’s trials. The unfortunate thing is that these other two types of intelligence are very difficult to measure on an objective level.

The “Hunters’ Intelligence” in Dachshunds

Instinctive intelligence refers to the ability or special skill that the dog was bred with. Most dog breeds that you see today weren’t always companion dogs. In fact, true companion dogs in the past were rare. Most of them had a role or job in society.

For example, Corgis were bred to be herding dogs. Thus, their instinctive intelligence is herding. Or take the Dobermans, who were bred to guard and protect. Similarly, Labradors were bred to retrieve, hence their natural ability to retrieve their ball or toy when thrown.

But how is this a type of dog intelligence? Let’s consider the herding dog. The ability to push and drive livestock towards different directions requires this special type of intelligence.

These dogs know exactly where to go to move animals in their desired direction. They’ll cut them off and chase them from different angles to achieve this. All this requires very little intervention from humans. It is instincts.

Dachshunds were born with this natural ability to track and hunt, and require little to no human training.

Similarly, Dachshunds were bred to be badger hunters. In fact, they were one of the fiercest and most aggressive hunters at one point in time. Their instinctive intelligence is the ability to track down badgers with their noses and flush them out of their burrows.

Knowing how to track badgers requires intelligence. But strategizing how to sneak up on, trap, and flush out badgers (or other small game) requires extremely high instinctive intelligence.

Dachshunds are so good at hunting badgers that the American Kennel Club tried to rebrand them as “badger dogs” at one point. That being said, the world’s smallest hunting dogs have extremely high instinctive intelligence.

The Dachshund’s Adaptive Intelligence

The final dimension of dog intelligence is adaptive intelligence. This type of smartness refers to a dog’s ability to learn for itself. Is the dog good at solving problems? Do they learn from past mistakes? These are all key questions when identifying adaptive IQ in dogs.

Instinctive intelligence in roughly the same for all individual dogs within a breed. However, adaptive intelligence can vary within a dog breed. The good news is that Dachshunds generally score well in this department.

For example, Dachshunds are capable of understanding a huge vocabulary, which is why they’re so adept in the communication department.

A Reddit user tells us exactly what we mean. He posted:

I could tell he wanted something… So I ran through in escalating order of things he likes to see if that’s what he wanted. When I went to “water” he lost his mind and ran to his bowl and sure enough, he just ran out of water.

This Dachshund made sure that the owners knew exactly what he wanted. Learning how to communicate with the owner through non-verbal actions is a clear sign of adaptive intelligence. What a super smart dog indeed!

Another Doxie owner (and The Smart Canine reader) explains to us:

Bella, our doxie is not great with obedience. But things she does like bringing us the remote when she wants to watch TV makes us think she’s super smart. And yes, she loves staring at the TV.

– Cindy Y. (Dachshund owner)

Once again, Cindy’s Dachshund learned to associate physical items with a consequent action or result. This was not taught by the owners. Rather, the Dachshund made the association by learning herself. This is adaptive intelligence in dogs at its finest.

Of course, these are just two examples of high adaptive intelligence with Dachshunds. However, there are plenty more. Doxies do these type of things all the time – just ask any owner!

Is Your Dachshund Smart?

To get a better ideal of how smart Dachshunds are, we asked real Dachshund owners what they thought about their dog’s intelligence.

To do this, we surveyed the popular Dachshund sub reddit and other dog forums for responses to this question. Here’s what the Dachshund owners had to say.

Real Owner Answers:

1. Jvfricke says Yes: “This might just be because I talk to [my Dachshund] a lot (I live alone, he’s basically my roommate) but he has a huge vocabulary and I’ve become very good at reading his reactions so that I know he hears most of what I say.”

2. Thathockeychick23 says No: “These dogs are very tough to train. Trust me, I have a mini dachshund. We have to have someone come in and train him cause obedience school did not do anything for him.”

3. Perplexed89 says Yes: “My Frodo-Dodo dachshund is the best bud I’ve ever had. So smart and loyal. Never leaves my side.”

4. Maloohree says Yes: “My doxie talks all the time. She does this little howl when she wants her toys out of the toy bin or when she wants them brought to her on the couch. She will howl when I walk in the door. Also when she wants food, water or to go outside.”

5. Ioakuas says Mixed: “I’ve had two doxies in my life… and of the two, one was very intelligent and the other was colossally stupid.”

6. Kjohnson says No: “I just don’t think these dogs are a very smart breed. Ours is dumber than a rock. He’s almost 4 and still has accidents in the house, even after we give him plenty of outside time. He’s a brat too!”

7. Calmiche says Yes: “Mine has quite a few words she recognizes. Including; Walk, Outside, Treat, Food, Water, Shower, Bed Time and several names of her favorite toys. She’ll actually go and find specific toys if I name them, which is interesting.”

8. Lish says Yes: “Dachshunds are very smart dogs. Dachshunds can be very stubborn, but very loving dogs.”

9. Joannaduplessess says Yes: “Dachshunds are in no way dumb. They can be stubborn and strong willed, but it’s because they like to do things on their own time. They learn very well when you least expect it.”

10. Anonymous says No: “I bought 2 mini dachshunds last year.I never could get them potty trained.I would take the outside,and they would wait until we came back into the house to use the bathroom.They also like to tear up everything in my house.”

Are Dachshunds For Me?

It’s important that when you choose a dog breed, you don’t decide based on an “expert” calling one dog breed intelligent.

Dogs really don’t need to be that smart. Most dog breeds, including the Dachshund, are more than capable of giving you what you need. 

Instead of asking how smart Dachshunds are, you should be asking “does a Dachshund’s personality or fit mine? It’s more important that Dachshunds are compatible with you and your family.

With that said, Dachshunds are one of the most loving breeds you can find. They will be mischievous at times, but it’s all part of their charm. They’re the ultimate lap dog. And if you still feel like Dachshunds are right for you, then you should absolutely get one! 

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Do you own a Dachshund? What makes you think your Dachshund is smart or dumb? Leave a comment in the section below!

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