Are Pugs Intelligent?

In the Stanley Coren testing, pugs ranked 108 out of 136 breeds. This put them in a category that is considered ‘average intelligence for dogs. However, this testing style requires obedience, so stubborn dogs will rank lower, and pugs are known to be stubborn. 

In a nutshell, the Stanley Coren testing looks at how many repetitions of a new command a dog has to be shown before it will perform the command consistently. It also looks at how frequently a dog will obey a command that they already know.

Pugs were found to obey known commands only about 30% of the time – showing their stubbornness! They were also shown to need to be shown a new command 40-80 times before they would perform the ask when instructed. This is why they ranked low on the intelligence scale, as ‘smart’ dogs will obey commands after fewer repetitions of an instruction, and will obey known commands more consistently.

As you can tell, both of these forms of testing intelligence require obedience. In my opinion, this means that if you had two dogs who were equally intelligent in terms of what they could understand and do, but one was more stubborn while the other was more obedient, the more obedient dog would test as more intelligent than the stubborn dog.

Now, there isn’t really an easy way to test dog intelligence without involving obedience. How can you test their knowledge if they won’t perform what they know, right? I understand why obedience can’t easily be differentiated from a lack of knowledge or ability…but, I do think it is worth considering when analyzing a dog’s intelligence rating.

Another source of dog intelligence ranking,the  Smartest Dogs Breed list according to DogBreedsList.info, ranks pugs in 59th place out of 79 dog breeds.

When researching, I found opposing views on whether pugs have high or low instinctual intelligence. Instinctual intelligence is based on what a dog is bred for, and how well it naturally performs it’s intended behaviors or tasks.

Some say that pugs have low instinctual intelligence because they weren’t bred for a specific task like hunting…so they just don’t have the ability to flex (or not flex) an instinctual intelligence.

Others argue that pugs have high instinctual intelligence. Pugs were bred to be companions so some argue that being a naturally good human companion is a pug’s instinctual intelligence – and that they are very good at. They are little lovebugs!

A Pug Owner’s Thoughts On Pug Intelligence

In my experience with my two pugs, they weren’t easy to train. They were a bit lazy, frankly. However, I never felt like either of my pugs had low intelligence. They were more just stubborn!

I agree with the idea that pugs have roughly average intelligence among dog breeds. While 108 out of 136 breeds sounds low, some of the breeds around their rank include Boston Terriers, Siberian Huskies, Great Danes, Greyhounds, Dachshunds, Shiba inus and Australian Shepherds. While none of those dog breeds are the first ones I think of whe thinking of particularly intelligent dog breeds, none of them come to mind when I think of dumb dogs, either.

I believe that a big part of why people see pugs as a stupid dog is because of their appearance, and the way they are represented in popular culture. They have big eyes that are often crossed, which some take as being a sign of low intelligence.

Cartoons or other forms of media often portray pugs with exaggerated eyes and looking extra goofy. I won’t pretend that pugs don’t have a really unique look that many will read as silly or goofy or weird. I just don’t think their appearance has anything to do with their intelligence level.

Examples Of Pug Intelligence

Pugs are extraordinarily expressive compared to other dogs, in my opinion.

I never felt like I had to guess how my pugs were feeling. This is just my opinion of course, but I felt that both of my pugs could express excitement, playfulness, sadness, hurt, disgust, irritation, contentment, pleasure/happiness, fear, hesitation, longing or desire, tiredess, and jealousy.

My family had a variety of different dogs of different breeds throughout my childhood. Most of them only expressed themselves through barking, whining or whimpering. When I first got my pugs, I was shocked at how many more noises they made! They would exhale sharply when frustrated, groan/grunt when annoyed, and make this repetitive hum-like sound when particularly content…almost like they were purring!

They also have very expressive faces and eyes. I could see excitement, hesitation, fear and boredom in their expressions.

My pug Frank seemed to be a bit more intelligent than my other pug (Beans) was. If allowed, Frank would do things like fuss with a closed package of dog treats until he managed to get a hole in the bag and get a treat out.

Both of my pugs clearly understood common phrases that we’d say to them. They didn’t like going to the vet, but they loved visiting my mother in law. When we would start getting them ready to leave the house, we could tell them “it’s okay, we’re just going to see Grandma” to keep them calm.

In response, they wouldn’t act nervous the way they would when we were going to the vet, and would be excited instead. They clearly seemed to understand where we were going if we told them this.

Frank hated having his nails trimmed, and if he saw me get out our dog nail clippers he’d walk away from me because he knew I’d try to cut his nails soon.

When Beans would be getting her nails cut, Frank would cry almost as loud as he would when we were cutting his nails…even though she handled it pretty well! He clearly understood that we were trimming her nails, and he knew he didn’t like his being done so he’d get upset on her behalf!

When it was dog bath day, whenever I started bathing one dog, the other would try to go hide because they knew they were next.

For the most part, we didn’t give our dogs human food. However, my boyfriend Ryan had a ritual of letting them have a piece of cheese if he were eating block cheese and crackers.

The pugs wouldn’t beg or seem to even be hoping to eat what we were eating when they saw us eating almost anything else…but they would wait very expectantly when Ryan ate cheese. They knew that was a food they had some chance of getting a taste of!

Our pugs wouldn’t bark at the mailman or UPS vehicles (or workers) but would bark if a new/unknown vehicle or person pulled into our driveway.

Frank was a bit of a neat-freak I suppose..in one way, at least. If the dogs own hair got into their water dish, Frank wouldn’t want to drink from the bowl anymore. To communicate this to us, he’d sit by the water bowl and wimper/cry until we refreshed the water.

Frank had a basic awareness of the time of day. How did we discover this? We used to feed them dinner around 9pm. Frank would sit in the kitchen by his food bowl by 830 or 845. Most of the time, anyway. He’d temporarily be thrown off when the clocks changed in the fall, he’d wait for dinner almost an hour too early! This made me realize that he was aware of how it got dark outside around dinner time (during he summer, at least).

Whenever me or Ryan were sick, depressed or otherwise not feeling our best, our pugs would both be extra-clingy. They seemed to be aware of our emotions.

If you have a pug, I’d love to hear your thoughts on their intelligence! Do you think they are smarter than the tests give them credit for? What signs of intelligence have you seen in your pug? 

Sources: TheSmartCanine & DogBreedsList.info.