Solve This Dog Show Logical Reasoning Puzzle

Okay, here’s a new logical reasoning puzzle. See if you can figure it out on your own. If you can’t, don’t worry. The answer is below. So grab a pencil and paper, and good luck!

(1) Five dogs are appearing in a dog show. (2) The Chihuahua appears first. (3) The Golden Retriever comes out right after the Great Dane. (4) The Poodle and the Golden Retriever both come before the Dachshund. (5) The Poodle comes out before the Great Dane. In what order do the dogs appear?

Here’s how to use process of elimination to solve it:

Grab a piece of paper and a pencil with an eraser. Draw five empty boxes with the numbers 1-5 marked above them. Why 5? We know from reading the first sentence of the puzzle that there are five dogs, so these boxes represent the order of each dog.

Now read the second sentence. We know that the Chihuahua comes out first. So mark Chihuahua in Box 1.

Let’s move on to the third sentence. We know the Golden Retriever comes right after the Great Dane so the Great Dane can not be last in Box 5. And we know that box 1 is already taken. That means the Great Dane could be in either Box 2, 3, or 4. And the Golden Retriever can only be in Box 3, 4, or 5 because if it was in Box 2, it would be after the Chihuahua instead of the Great Dane. For now, write Great Dane in Box 2, 3, and 4 and write Golden Retriever in Box 3, 4, and 5. we will use process of elimination to cross out the wrong ones.

Sentence 4 tells us that the Golden Retriever and the Poodle come before the Dachshund. Hold on. That means that the Golden Retriever can’t be in Box 5 because the Dachshund comes after it. Since the Golden Retriever can’t be in Box, 5 then the Great Dane can’t be in Box 4, so cross those 2 out.

Since the Dachshund comes after the Golden Retriever and the Poodle, that means the Dachshund could be in Box 4 or 5, so write Dachshund in those 2 boxes. And the Poodle could be in any box before the Dachshund (except Box 1 because Chihuahua is there). So, write Poodle in Boxes 2,3, and 4. Whew! This is getting tough, but stick with it! It will all work out in the end.

Now for the final clue, sentence 5! The Poodle comes out before the Great Dane. That means the Great Dane can not be in Box 2 because the Chihuahua is in Box 1, not the Poodle. So cross out Great Dane in Box 2. Take a look. The Great Dane can only be in Box 3. Cross out everything else in Box 3 and circle Great Dane.  And since the Golden Retriever is after the Great Dane, it has to be in Box 4! When you cross out all the other dogs that don’t belong in Boxes 3 and 4, you can see that Box 5 belongs to the Dachshund, and Box 2 belongs to the Poodle!

Here’s the answer from left to right: Chihuahua, Poodle, Great Dane, Golden Retriever, and Dachshund. We did it!

Do you like these kinds of puzzles? Leave a Comment to say what you think!