I currently own a pug who is much brighter than any of the golden retrievers I have owned  We have to spell out words around our pug such as hungry leash or outside  She also fetches her leash on command growls on command sits stays fetches a toy by name ect  Pugs really are people pleasers and are very interested in their owners  Does that really make them bright  I dont know but ours is certainly easy to train and communicate with