I’ll start.
My then gf and I had a chihuahua that just happened to be the most tiny and most diva and most clever little dog I’ve ever met. Tiny, incredibly cute, extreme ego and confidence, a terrible piercing bark and had some wild mood swings on top. He’d go from cuddly to nuclear warfare in a second of something displeased him. He was the eldest and the leader of his little pack and he kept all of them wrapped right around his paw running a little dogmatic terror state. But he took his responsibilities seriously and was always up in front if there was a threat to them. Be it an angry German shepherd or a double parked electric scooter. Nobody messed with his pack - except for him, obviously.
Our little beast was very well aware of his cuteness, and his craving for adoration knew no end. He’d be walking down the street next to me, obviously refusing to yield for anyone, and as we pass some café tables, he’d throw himself flat on the ground, legs pointing in all directions. We called it that he did a doormat. The intent was to throw us under the bus as his keepers so that he’d maximize the aahs and oohs and attention went compliments from the people sitting in the café.
But this is just the backstory. He was vain, and we knew he was clever, but also of this is still learned behaviour with a previously verified outcome.
No, what really set it apart was that one time we were at home, the entire couch occupied by humans, dogs, and generally not him in particular. He was strutting around, being grumpy that others had taken his rightful seat, and nobody would disappear into nothingness for his approval. Not an uncommon thing, but he has plenty of other comfy spaces to be, communal and his very own. We know if we lift him up now, he’ll try force some other dog down just because he wants space for himself, and we weren’t having it. The other dogs were there first today and it’s their right as much, so tough luck bud.
After some time, I notice him staring into the lights off bedroom. He looks at me, turns back to the bedroom and just keeps staring at it. I tell my gf that he is staring into the void and it seems to be staring back at him. We watch him as he keeps staring at nothing.
By now he is an old dog and has already shown signs of deterioration. I ask him what’s up and he shows some signs of anxiety, tail down, tapping feet, mild whimper. I call for him, there’s nothing there, come to daddy. No response. We figure he’s lost it now, the creeping senility we’ve suspected is real.
So I keep talking to him, calming him, approach to turn on the lights and show him around that there is nothing there. He stands eagerly waiting, full focus on me as I come closer. Then - tail high, he runs as fast his tiny legs can carry his body, to the seat where I was sitting, barking at my gf to be picked up into the couch.
And it dawns on me. It was all a ruse! He came up with the clever plan to lure me away from his desired spot. If he acts anxious I’ll get worried and get up, freeing up a vacancy on the couch, and then it’s a fair race who gets it first. His smug posture standing in my seat was what gave it away. He was not anxious at all, he was not afraid, that I’m not anthropomorphizing but that he knew exactly what he was doing.
A multi step sequential plan with a clear goal in mind that he came up with from no be prior training. If that is not intelligence, I don’t know what is.
My pig is a trip. Smartest animal I’ve ever been around.
He had never seen the front-porch gate removed nor had I ever seen him test it. He knew it was a block he couldn’t resolve.
Removed the hose clamps that hold it to the pintles. Pig walked up took a look, stuck his nose under it, lifted the gate and cruised right out, just like he’d done it 100 times.
I feel like I would have to point out how the clamps work to a non-mechanically inclined human. Homeboy didn’t study it at length. He noticed what was different and instantly understood the implication.
Our Golden taught himself medical alerts. My wife broke her ankle when he was 6 months old, and the little glue puppy who followed me when I gave her meds started to let her know ahead of time that she would need meds, and even proactively bring her pill bottles.
Some refinement let him proactively stop mom from overdoing it, so he’s been instrumental in her recovery and PT.
Then like six months ago he started giving me pain alerts from no where when I was feeling ok. But invariably, every time he did, 30-60 minutes later I would get a headache. So now I just listen to him and my bad headaches have dropped to almost zero, because I’ll take some coffee and NSAIDs when he alerts.
He also broadly gets the concept of “pills make people feel better in a little bit”. He’ll stop alerting for about 20 minutes if you take pills (or pantomime taking pills because you’re busy or something). Then if you faked him out he’ll alert again in 20-30 minutes lol.
He’s one of the smartest dogs I’ve ever met in the “cause and effect generalizes to X” sort of way. (He also is super confident and pretty sure that the world is made of sunshine, rainbows, and friends so is conversely really dumb in risk assessment, like will fall off the bed because he’s sure he’ll be caught kind of way)
We had a dog who was brilliant in almost every area. For example, he liked to watch television. Late at night he would go downstairs and turn on the TV. We only discovered it by accident, because he would also turn if off if he heard us coming. One night I walked in on him with his nose on the off button and the picture (on our old-style TV) still fading.
Once he knew that we knew, he stopped trying to hide it. He would turn it on and off when he wanted. Then he figured out, I assume from watching us, how to use the remote. Finally, he learned how to change channels using the remote. His favorite show turned out to be “The Pet Department” on Animal Planet. I kid you not.
Our Golden will actively watch Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Dragon Prince. Full on watch the TV. (And nature documentaries).
Most other shows he doesn’t really care one way or the other for.
Your sounds like a kindred spirit. Not all dogs understand televisions, but those who do seem to treat them much the same way we do. Most dogs are interested in other animals, so it makes sense that they would like nature shows. It sounds like yours also has a taste for fantasy, which is awesome.
This is very hard to believe… How would he use the remote? The keys are small for a dog.
That was the problem he had when he first tried the remove. After some experimentation, he discovered that his center toenail hit individual buttons without activating any other.
I would never have believed it if I hadn’t watched him doing it.
Not genius tier but my Dolly loves to look out of the window when in the car (she’s fastened to an isofix safety belt on the back seat). Once we get over about 30mph whoever’s driving will close her window as it gets really noisy. Occasionally we will forget to open her window when we come to a 30 zone again so she has learned to open her window by herself.
Alternative headline: OP outsmarted by elderly chihuahua in his own home.
Chihuahua 1 House ape 0
Some friends have a pet crow who learned on his own to stand at the exterior of the window above the front door and shit on scammers and CPS agents while screaming gardyloo.
Just the other day my dog lost track of his frisbee in the water. It barely floats so it must be hard for him to see. He swam around in circles for a while looking for it. My wife started cheering when he would swim towards it, then go “oh! no. no. no” when he was swimming away from it. He essentially worked out hotter/colder on the spot in order to find his frisbee.
I was walking behind two dogs and their owner. I was walking faster than them and one of the dogs looked at me and proceeded to persistently move the other dog to the side so that I could pass. It was absolutely clear it knew what it was doing :)
My dog wasn’t allowed in my brother’s room, but he loved my brother. One time, after he was kicked out, he tried slowly walking in backwards. I guess he thought we couldn’t tell what he was doing if he did it backwards.
