[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Intelligence of animals (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 10/19/2012 10:56:37 PM EDT
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Centurion had a great example (found in another thread):
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When my daughter was a baby going around in her walker, she would occasionally tip over in the back yard. My female GSD always followed her around and would ALWAYS bite the edge of the walker and turn it back upright when she saw the baby tip over. She would then drag the walker and baby back to a flat and level place in the yard. Most of the time she would block the baby from going to an uneven area in the yard as she seemed to know that the baby might tip over. GSDs rule. I hope that dog is in heaven now. She deserves to be. |
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Our old Lab Daisy, was terrible about running next door to the Hillbilly neighbors and stealing thier young Kids toys.
Come to find out, she was stealing only the toys the kids dropped into the creek along the property line, and herding the kids away from it. Never would have believed it, if the neighbors hadn't told me themselves when I took a bunch of them back over. They didn't mind the toys dissapearing now and then, because Daisy was a cheap Babysitter and kept thier little retards from drowning. Our Tervuren was a friggin Einstien. Little bastard figured out the Line of sight limitations on his E-containment collar, and developed an egress route using a series of trees, and got loose to terrorize a neighbors Goats. Same pooch figured out the horn in my Jeep. If He got bored waiting for me, he would get busy pushing the damn horn like a little Kid, THAT got embarrassing. Fences, gates, and doors had to be locked or he would figure them out within days. |
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I have had a few GSDs over the years, and I am enjoying the puppy stage of another. Karma is @ 1 year old, and she is learning fairly well for her age. She actually opens doors in the house to rooms she wants to be in, she lets her self out to go potty. All I have to do is get her to close the door when she comes back in. I am going to hang a strap to the inside of the door to the fenced back, and instruct the children to pull the strap to shut the door, Karma will catch on (hopefully). She is VERY protective over my 3 and 4 yo daughters and my Wife (no pics you pervs) and she actually can be seen doing rounds to check on them while they sleep.
She is learning her commands by hand signal. The only thing that I want her to do is not bark like a lunatic when someone comes to the door. I swear Karma is smarter that many of the humans that I know. |
I have a boxer you cant keep locked up...will figure out most locks and latches. At the vet's office he hangs out with the ladies up front because he escapes the kennels.
If his collar comes off will keep track of it until a human shows up to put it back on. Once..I must have dropped my cell phone in the backyard and didn't realize it...until my boxer brought it to me after he found it....or maybe he borrowed it..not for sure... 
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My current GSD, Blitzen is a grumpy old man at almost 13 years old.
When I brought in a heeler pup two years ago, of course the pup wanted to play, and would obnoxiously nip and harass the "old man" who just likes to lay around in his retirement. One day while we watched as the pup went through his relentless aggravation, Blitzen got up from his spot, found a toy and feigned interest in it until the pup noticed. Then he'd carry the toy away from his spot and drop it, where the pup took over with the toy. Blitzen would return to his spot and back to his rest, while the pup's interest was in the toy. This move was repeated when ever the pup started bugging Blitz. Blitzen will also intently watch your rod tip while you fish, and bark when you get a bite. I could go on and on about the clever things he did/does. The GSD of my youth, Chopper, would intervene when my brother and I would fight, by gently nipping whoever was on top, until whoever was on bottom could regain a neutral position. He also on more than one occasion, stole my mother's stick out of her hand while she was whupping our asses. He would run off with her "whupping" stick, leaving her cursing. 
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Not really an intelligence thing but my grandad had a dog that would gently grab any visitors by the wrist and walk/lead them to the front door of the house. He was a bit intimidating if you didn't know what he was doing .........was a big brown dog of some sort named Bruce |
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Stormy learned that the buttons on the arm rest in the car opens the window for that door so she always tries to open the window when she is in the car.
We never knew Theodog knew how to open the back door until his favorite dog friend Buddy the beagle came over and he walked up, opened the back door and went out to play. That is the only time he will let his self out. |
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Our GSD would walk up to the chainlink gate, nose the latch open and walk out.
She could jump the fence if she was really motivated, the gate was just easier. To try to stop her, we put a lock on the gate. She quickly figured out if you pulled the retaining bar out of the ground, both gates would swing open, thus defeating the lock. We then twisted a length of wire in a figure 8 between the gates. To open the gate you had to remove one of the pipe caps and slip the wire off. Took her about a day to figure out how to pop the cap off, lift the wire, pull the pin out and waltz right out the gate. She also figured out doorknobs. Every doorknob at my parent's house have tooth prints in them. <–––––– These little shits have the intelligence level of lesser primates. He (Harley) would sit on the floor and study places he wanted to go but wasn't allowed. You could just tell he was thinking. A few places in our house were "Ferret no go zones" like counters and shelves. He would open the bottom kitchen drawer, climb in, flip over and push open the next drawer (but not all the way) He repeated that process until all the drawers were open then climb back down from inside the cabinet and walk up the open drawers like they were a flight of stairs. Harley also figured out that he could open a cabinet with a sliding glass door, knock a few boxes out, turn a few others so they stuck out just the right amount (too far and they would fall) and use them to climb atop the cabinet. This once resulted in our kitchen floor being covered with broken glass and red wine. He ALMOST became the starting point of a fur coat that day |
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Our Tervuren was a friggin Einstien. Little bastard figured out the Line of sight limitations on his E-containment collar, and developed an egress route using a series of trees, and got loose to terrorize a neighbors Goats.
Same pooch figured out the horn in my Jeep. If He got bored waiting for me, he would get busy pushing the damn horn like a little Kid, THAT got embarrassing. Fences, gates, and doors had to be locked or he would figure them out within days. The bit about the horn was funny as heck. Made my day. |
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If you spend a significant amount of time around animals, you will discover that they possess a significant amount of intelligence, far more than people realize and give them credit for. What they lack is a verbose means of communications with their human caretakers. |
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Quoted:
If you spend a significant amount of time around animals, you will discover that they possess a significant amount of intelligence, far more than people realize and give them credit for. What they lack is a verbose means of communications with their human caretakers. So very true. |
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Hiking in the mountains of San Bernardino one afternoon, I came across a family, father, mother, 3 young 'uns, and their dag. The interesting thing is that the dag did NOT start yapping... he just let out a low "Woof," and did it again till the father acknowleged him. He kept his distance the entire time I was talking to them: he took his guard duties seriously. I told the dad that if he could teach that one lesson to other dogs, he could make a fortune.
eta Quoted:
Funny. My son's boxer/bulldog mix is the dumbest animal in the known universe. Has it ever occurred to you that he's probably smart enough to figure out how to get you to do everything he wants done? My sister had a horse like that once. It'd open the latch on the stall door (leaving the other horses nickering enviously at her) and go to the orchard to eat apples, till we got them picked up. I figured out that if I wanted to get a rope around her, I'd have to feed her apples. SHE figured out that if she wanted an apple, she only needed to get out of her stall. |
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Yes, I love all of the dogs I've owned. They astound me with their problem solving skills and their empathy, but let's not get silly.
Anthropomorphize |
| Had a cat that figured out how to open the doors in the house; she'd jump up, wrap both paws around the knob and swing back and forth until she got 'em open. It was a riot to see.. We were in an old farmhouse at the time and three times I heard rattlin' coming from out back and there she'd be sitting on the top back step straing down a rattlesnake two steps down. Just as calm as could be. And twice she got sprayed down by skunks, just dripping. Of course she wasn't coming anywhere near the door. And both times the next day she was clean, no stank whatsoever. No idea how she managed that. |
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Quoted:
Had a cat that figured out how to open the doors in the house; she'd jump up, wrap both paws around the knob and swing back and forth until she got 'em open. It was a riot to see.. We were in an old farmhouse at the time and three times I heard rattlin' coming from out back and there she'd be sitting on the top back step straing down a rattlesnake two steps down. Just as calm as could be. And twice she got sprayed down by skunks, just dripping. Of course she wasn't coming anywhere near the door. And both times the next day she was clean, no stank whatsoever. No idea how she managed that. Heh. You just reminded me of GSD I used to watch for a friend when they were on vacation. They insisted that I spend the night at their house while dog sitting, they had three cats as well. Kick all of the animals out of the room come bedtime, and within minutes you'd hear the dog mouth the door knob to the bedroom then start chasing cats until he grabbed one. You see, he could turn the knob to unlatch the door, but couldn't figure out how to open it from there, so he'd just grab a cat to finish the job for him. 
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We had an old Holstein dairy cow that was diabolically clever.
Just one example: She had horns and somehow deduced that her left horn could be threaded just so between the gate bars, and that if she gave just the right flick of her head in a twisting motion, she could open the latch. I noticed her studying the system and closely watching how we opened that gate, and I just happened to see her try to duplicate that motion, over and over, until she succeeded. No way was it coincidence or chance-she reasoned it all out. I was astonished. |
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Quoted: Our GSD would walk up to the chainlink gate, nose the latch open and walk out. She could jump the fence if she was really motivated, the gate was just easier. To try to stop her, we put a lock on the gate. She quickly figured out if you pulled the retaining bar out of the ground, both gates would swing open, thus defeating the lock. We then twisted a length of wire in a figure 8 between the gates. To open the gate you had to remove one of the pipe caps and slip the wire off. Took her about a day to figure out how to pop the cap off, lift the wire, pull the pin out and waltz right out the gate. She also figured out doorknobs. Every doorknob at my parent's house have tooth prints in them. <–––––– These little shits have the intelligence level of lesser primates. He (Harley) would sit on the floor and study places he wanted to go but wasn't allowed. You could just tell he was thinking. A few places in our house were "Ferret no go zones" like counters and shelves. He would open the bottom kitchen drawer, climb in, flip over and push open the next drawer (but not all the way) He repeated that process until all the drawers were open then climb back down from inside the cabinet and walk up the open drawers like they were a flight of stairs. Harley also figured out that he could open a cabinet with a sliding glass door, knock a few boxes out, turn a few others so they stuck out just the right amount (too far and they would fall) and use them to climb atop the cabinet. This once resulted in our kitchen floor being covered with broken glass and red wine. He ALMOST became the starting point of a fur coat that day I've seen this with different animals. Surprised the hell out of me at the ingenuity. Since I'd never thought of it |
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Worse than a chicken? I doubt it.
Although not on the level of other animals chickens, at least the bantams I had, were smart in their own way. They seem to have a small vocabulary of sounds based on the situation. "Big bird overhead" or " Look I found food" to call over chicks to a juicy slug. Lost three one night when a raccoon got in their house.Old rooster survived but both his spurs had come off. I miss my batams.  Damn Racoons
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Quoted: Not really an intelligence thing but my grandad had a dog that would gently grab any visitors by the wrist and walk/lead them to the front door of the house. He was a bit intimidating if you didn't know what he was doing .........was a big brown dog of some sort named BruceI went over to a coworkers house one time to buy a gun he had for sell. I pull into the drive way and here is a huge Golden Lab laying on the hood of a Honda Civic like he was a cat. I get out of my truck and the Lab jumps down off of the car hood and comes over and gently puts his mouth around my wrist. Which I admit did freak me out, but I wasn't exactly in a position to resist. The dog walked me to the door, and I knocked, as soon as the man answered the door the dog turned me loose and jumped back up on the car to nap. The guy lived far out in the country and worked 2nd shift, so the dog was just keeping the wife and kids safe while his master was away. |
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My damn BlackLab watched me pull the kid out of the ornamental pond a couple times. Once, I had to tip him over and pour the water out so he could start breathing again. I hated that fucking chewing assed dog. I had planned on shooting her, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. One day I looked out the window, and that dog was bent like a question mark around that boy... between him and the pond. He was doing his level best to drown, but she wasn't going to allow it. I decided that she was worth keeping at that point. My current dog, a worthless damn beagle bitch, turns in to Cujo when another dog barks at the boys. |
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I was thinking about this thread. I lived in a small town and belonged to the Vol Fire dept. After the first year Tosha our first dog (Lab/ Elkhound)would come over and wake me up 1 minuter before the pager would go off, or she would come over and bark at me. She also had it timed just right. She would sneak out the back door and go up to the fire station and get there before the doors would close. She then laid down by my stuff until we got back. Then I would hear from the Fire Chief. GRIZZ GET YOUR DAMN DOG OUT OF THE WAY. I never figured out what tipped her off when the pager would go off.
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My Golden bailey knows how to open doors even if they are dead bolted. if we are sleeping he opens the door goes out closes the door, comes back in and closes the door behind him. when he sees a deposit slip sitting by the door he waits by the truck door cause he knows the lady at the bank is going to give him a snack. when he wants to sneak out of the yard he waits behind a bush near the gate and when a truck goes out the gate he sneaks out, then he jumps the neighbors low fence and waits by the gate to our yard looking like I forgot him at the neighbors. he knows the days of the week and the routine for the day. he be headed to heaven soon and I am going to miss that bugger |
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When I first got my Terrier she had a habit of running off whenever she got the chance. I've trained her since then and she knows where home is. She still has been able to break out an explore the neighborhood, but the girls down the street know her and have kept her in their yard until I got home. But there have been two times that she has gotten out and headed around the block and down the street to my parents house (!) Its about a 1/2 mile, across two nieghborhood streets and past a school yard. Both times its been between 20~30 minuets from when she was left in the backyard and my father called me to tell me my dag was at his house,, So, she's not out wandering around, but pretty much heading to my parents, which we have walked together many times.  |
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We never house trained our dog.
When we got him at the SPCA he was dirty, filthy, disguisting and appeared to have been chained outside due to the amount of filth and matted hair around his neck They said his name was Buddy, but he answered to Casey. This dog was unrecognizable. We bathed him twice and I combed and cut his hair over a period of two evenings without ever making him look bad. He stayed in the house from day one and has been at our side for 9-1/2 years. He stays shy of kids and hates bicycles. 
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My Dobie would wipe her feet on the doormat and ring the bell when she wanted to come inside. When she wanted to go out she would sit and stare at the doorknob like to burn a hole in it. She was a very friendly dog, but there was one time at a neighborhood pig-roast when she wouldn't let this one guy near me, wherever he went she was between him and me, turned out he was wanted for murder, but the dude seemed nice enough to everyone but her. She once took a 300lb sow down by the ear for heading towards a kid too aggressively. She adopted small animals, kittens and such, good dog. Have a whippet now, 5 mo old, no signs of intelligence whatsoever.
I had a cat that decided he didn't like one of my girlfriends, he climbed up on her chest while she was asleep and put one of his canines up each nostril and growled at her. He had better taste in women than I did as it turned out. |
My GSD is like an alarm clock for daily routine for myself, if i fall asleep on the couch he will wake me up to go to bed, if i forget to set the alarm, he wakes me up every day mon-friday at the same time, hes knows saturdays and sundays too.
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Quoted:
My Golden bailey knows how to open doors even if they are dead bolted. if we are sleeping he opens the door goes out closes the door, comes back in and closes the door behind him. when he sees a deposit slip sitting by the door he waits by the truck door cause he knows the lady at the bank is going to give him a snack. when he wants to sneak out of the yard he waits behind a bush near the gate and when a truck goes out the gate he sneaks out, then he jumps the neighbors low fence and waits by the gate to our yard looking like I forgot him at the neighbors. he knows the days of the week and the routine for the day. he be headed to heaven soon and I am going to miss that bugger My Golden Kringle left 3 weeks ago and it still tears me up. |