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I think some breeds are, at least in terms of practical working intelligence. Though most of that might come down to temperament and obedience--is a beagle really stupider than a German Shepherd Dog because you can't teach him to sniff for drugs, or is he just too ADHD to care?

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Uh, they use beagles for sniffing for all kinds of things: drugs, bombs, even termites.

That said, German Shepherds are an interesting case because, as I understand it, their breed standard is actually a behavioral standard: they have to be able to perform a certain level of obedience, tracking, and bite work (think big leather gloves) to get papers.

People used to train pigs to hunt truffles, but more recently beagles have been the go-to animal as they tend not to eat the prized catch.

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