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Our pets are so precious to us, they are far more than just animals that we look after and have around for company. They become our best friends, and part of the family. Although it’s very easy to bond emotionally with our pets, sharing a cuddle or playing games together will do that, being on the same wavelength intellectually is less common.
Sure, you can train your dog, hamster or rat to be obedient, (cats too, but that may prove to be a little more difficult!) but what we have here are true geniuses, unique personalities that go far beyond what we would imagine from an animal!
This list, compiled by Bored Panda, is about those times when animals have surprised us with their intelligence. When people were able to understand just what their pets were thinking, and communicate with them on a higher level! Scroll down to check them out for yourself, and feel free to share your own articulate animals stories in the comments below!
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#1
This is a completely true story. Weird, but true, and shows a really impressive level of intelligence in my cat. It happened when I was a teenager.
I’m sitting on the couch, and my cat walks into the room and starts meowing loudly, but not coming to me. So I stand up and go toward him, and he starts walking away, so I follow. He leads me, meowing the whole way and looking back to make sure I’m following, to the bathroom. Weird, right? Just wait.
So we’re in the bathroom, and he hops up on the toilet and, get this, he PEES IN IT. I was floored. One, he peed in the toilet. Like a person. He’d never done that before. It’s impressive that he knew what a toilet was for. But two, he brought me there to show me. Why? This is where the real intelligence comes into it.
Well, he stops peeing and turns to look into the toilet and then looks at me. So I look in the toilet. It’s full of blood. He had a terrible kidney infection (as the vet later confirmed), and this is how he told me.
Think of all the things he had to understand to do this!! He had to know he was sick and in which part of his body the infection was. He had to know that the bathroom was the place where I deal with the part of my body that matches up with his sick part. He had to know what a toilet was for and how to use it. And he knew that if I understood the problem, I’d be able to fix it.
Seriously, that cat was incredible.
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#2
We used to have a cockatoo, as well as some cats and dogs.
We were teaching the dogs some tricks, and the cockatoo was just doing his bird thing. Every day, the same routine: get some treats, call the dogs, sit, stay, lay down, roll over, get a treat, etc.
One night we were watching TV and hear the cockatoo call the dog by name. "Sit. Stay. Lay down. Roll over. Good Boy". We heard something hit the floor, and then he called out the next dog's name.
Walked into the kitchen to find the cockatoo in the spot we always stand, giving orders to the dogs (who were obeying!), and then pulling treats out of the cup and dropping them on the floor. This went on for some time.
Dogs now liked the cockatoo, and would let him ride on their backs. Cockatoo would call them, tell them to lay down, would climb on, and ride around like a king.
The dogs knew what's up, would walk to the kitchen, and stand by the counter. Cockatoo would hop up and drop them a treat, say "good boy", and hop back on.
Funniest thing I've ever seen in my life.
#3
My cat yawned, so I stuck a finger in his mouth. He sort of stared at my curiously as he shut his mouth, but didn't bite down hard. A few minutes later, he's sitting on my chest and I yawn. He proceeds to put his whole paw in my mouth.
#4
I am diabetic and one night I fell on my carpet from weakness and disorientation. My beloved dog, who now rests in Heaven, brought my emergency kit from my bathroom counter so I could take my medication.
Just writing this post brought tears to my eyes.
I will always remember you Bumper.
#5
When was I was young my family moved a long distance with two pets, a cat and a dog. My mom said that cats can try to run off to find home after a move so we had a cat collar with a long leash to hold her while we were unloading the trailers. I heard my Australian Shepherd bark twice on the back porch. Abby NEVER barked unless something was serious. I ran back there and my cat had run around a chair many times and then jumped off the chair with not enough room on leash to be on ground and was hanging there choking. When I rounded the corner Abby was trying to chew through the leash. Best dog ever. Both cat and dog lived long happy lives.
#6
I witnessed this with my uncle's dog. My uncle was lying on the couch and she was lying on his feet and legs. He let out a huge fart which was aimed directly at her face. She lifted her head and glared at him and he started laughing. She got up and walked away in disgust. A few minutes later she came back, jumped up on his chest, stuck her butt in his face and farted on him and walked away. I laughed so hard I cried and gave her so many treats.
#7
First Christmas we had our cat she saw us handing out presents and opening them and abruptly ran off. About twenty minutes later she comes back with a dead bird and dropped it in the present pile. It's uh definitely the thought that counts?
#8
I had a dog that got hit by a car. He ended up losing his front leg. This dog was a big pupper. Easily 80 pounds. Once he came home, I could not carry him, but my husband could. The dog HATED going potty in the house, so he quickly learned to walk outside with me. Three weeks in, he was walking and jumping down the steps UNLESS his daddy was home. Then he couldn't move. Just sit and whine and cry pathetically until daddy carried him.
He got busted one day when he didn't hear his dad's car pull up. Launched himself down the 3 porch steps, realized his dad was right there and fell over hard, crying. But it was too late, the gig was up.
However, he continued this type of 'I'm too weak' behavior - but only with my husband - for the next 10 years until he died of old age.
Mike Spotts 6 years ago
While recovering from a nasty bout of shingles on my right eve and forehead, I experienced my first attack of postherpetic neuralgia. In my bathrobe in the bedroom, A heat wave ran across my forehead. The pain was so intense and unexpected, I fell to the floor and curled up in a fetal position. My cat walked to my side and put one paw on my shoulders as to ease the pain and confusion.
#9
I had the best dog ever. One night I was fast asleep and he was gently "biting" my hand just enough to wake me up. Once I woke up he started tugging on it as if to say, follow me. It was so weird. SO I follow him and he leads me to the side door or my house, sits facing the door and barks ever so silently. I then realize someone is outside picking the lock. I called 911. It was a drunk guy, no idea what his intentions were once he got in, but my dog for some reason managed to get him arrested. He probably would have been scared away had my dog just barked, but for some reason the old boy wanted to alert me quietly.
#10
When I was an infant, I was in my crib next to my parents bed. I somehow got twisted up and started suffocating in my blanket. This cat jumped on my mom's face until she woke up, then jumped into my crib. Had it not been for her, I would have died.
#11
My golden retriever leaves a shoe on the bed, without fail, for my wife or I to find if we are both gone at the same time. My theory is that she did it once, and we came home, so now she does it every time we leave to ensure that we come back. Like a doggy superstition.
After doing this for years, my wife had to leave the state for a week. My first day back from work, there was a shoe on the bed. Normal. After my second day back (wife is still gone), there were three shoes on the bed. After my third day returning from work alone, every shoe and boot in the house was laid out on the bed and couches, and all of my wife's dirty socks were in a bowl.
It may not be the smartest thing she's ever done, but it really made me think about how she thinks.
#12
When I was a kid, we had two dogs: a Pyrenean Shepherd, and a Labrador Retriever. The Retriever was a goofy idiot, but the Shepherd was smart.
One day, the Retriever gets loose (we had to tie him up in the yard because he kept chasing things and running away), and the Shepherd runs after him. We never even realized what had happened until we saw the Shepherd coming back with the Retriever, holding the would-be runaway's leash in his mouth, and leading him back to the house.
Must have been a weird sight for the neighbors.
#13
I have a blood parrot, smartest fish I've ever had. His tank contains half sand and half white pebbles. However he's very particular with where and how the floor of his environment looks like. For example, he'll move plants towards certain places if he doesn't like how the ground looks beneath them. He'll place pebbles on the sand part, and make a sand pile in the pebbles area. But it isn't random, if you remove a pebble from a little pile, he'll notice it and place another one. If you destort a little sand pile, he'll build more ontop of the remains. He'll spend about three days carving out a small hole just to see his reflection at the bottom of the tank. If you lightly dusty the empty space with sand, he'll come swimming out of his 'house,' collect the misplaced sand in his mouth and literally throw it at you against the aquarium glass. He's a very grumpy fish, but his personality is amazing!
Natasha Forchione 6 years ago
Fish are very smart, I had a goldfish that was with me for 16 years. On his last day, I am convinced that he waited for me to get home to say goodbye. I went in and found him on the bottom of the tank. I looked at him and said "oh no are you sick??" Every day, when I got home, I would put my finger against the aquarium and he would go to it and shake his fin very excitedly. This last time he did it, but very slowly and he just kept looking at me and then swam back to the bottom. I stared at him for a bit and got sad and quickly went to get fish mediation and was about to starting cleaning the aquarium, but when I returned he was laying on his side on top of one of the rocks that was in the aquarium. I stayed with him until he passed, so sad. :(
#14
If all of the spots on the couch were taken, my dog would scratch the door to go out and when someone gets up he would take their spot.
#15
My dog cries until I pretend to put makeup on him. Any time I'm in the bathroom getting ready, he cries and stands up on his hind legs until I put the brush close to his face and tell him he's pretty. Weird narcissistic dog.
He likes to match me in degrees of makeup too. If I just put on the basics, he's content with a couple pretend brush strokes. If I'm going out, he makes noises until I use all the brushes and some pretend mascara and pretend lipstick. Then I tell him how pretty he looks and he goes right in to his crate and lays down.
#16
My cat (about 4 months old at the time) hadn't come back for at least 2 days and I looked for her everywhere. I was getting worried since she never really left for more then a couple of hours. I guess my Labrador sensed how worried I was and realized it was because of the cat. So he decided to run out the door, while I wasn't playing attention. (He also knows how to open doors.) I didn't realize till later and I thought I had lost both of them. When around 8pm I heard meowing coming from outside. When I looked outside I saw my lab holding my kitten by the head.
#17
We had a dog that liked to roam the neighborhood too much so we installed one of those wireless fences that give a shock from a collar when you cross it. The law requires it to beep and give a warning before the shock to train the dog to stop, which is good. But she figured out that if she got near it then it would start beeping. So she went to where the beeping started and laid down. Then just lay there until the beeping stopped and she knew the battery was drained and too weak to shock her so she would just walk across.
#18
Not current pet but a dog I had as a teenager.
Dog jumps up on the couch
"No, you're not allowed on the couch, go lie in your bed"
Dog leaves the room. A moment later he returns with his bed and throws it on the couch. Gets back up on the couch in his bed and stares at me.
"... Fair enough..."
#19
My chickens held a funeral.
In our flock of maybe ten bantams, there was one elderly, respected hen. Even the brash rooster, who would spend most of his time chasing other chickens away from 'his' feed, meekly made space for Grey Girl when she slowly made her way over to the chicken feed. She was mother and grandmother to many of them, and you could tell how much they esteemed her.
One morning, I open the chicken coop as usual, but not a chook was to be seen. Normally they'd be all running out to find the night's bounty of bugs, but not this morning. I walk inside the pen to see what's up.
There is a circle of chickens. An actual circle, with Grey Girl's body right in the middle. All the chooks are making this weird wailing sound, which I had never heard before. I am in no doubt they were mourning the passing of their elder mother.
What's more, the body was lying outside the shed where she would have been roosting. There is a good chance that she was actually pulled out of the claustrophobic, poo-filled shed and placed in the open space by the chickens, so they could pay their respects.
After about half an hour the chooks all wandered off and I buried the body. And I never saw that behaviour again.
Eunice Probert 6 years ago
I have two hens. They really are a lot smarter than people give them credit for.
#20
I had a German shepherd when I was little that would run around our backyard and frantically (but very gently) remove any toads he found from the yard when he saw us getting ready to mow the lawn. He was the sweetest guy.
#21
My neighbor is a zoo-keeper and he loves working with the chimpanzees and the otters.
Story about the chimp: he was closing up this one male chimps sleeping cage for the night, and then realised he'd lost his keychain. He saw the chimp holding them, and asked to get them back. Chimp refused. He then said "here, I will give you a banana for the keys!" Chimp then proceeded to unhook ONE key from the key chain and hand it back to him. 18 bananas later, and the keys were returned. This chimp is quite famous in Scandinavia - he was rejected from his mom as a newborn and was raised with the zoo-keepers family until he was re-introduced to the flock around a year later. There's books and TV-series (from the 70s) about him.
#22
My dog understands Christmas.
As in, he will sit where the tree goes throughout November. Once the tree is up, he'll lie beside it crying. Once there are presents, he'll paw at them and carry them to us because he wants to open them. On Christmas he starts trying to wake everyone up around 5 and begins howling around 7.
And I kid you not, he will open his presents like a 5 or 6 year old and excitedly run around with a toy or treat for a minute before looking for the next present. One year we had less than 5 things for him to open, so he stole a present from me.
JillVille 6 years ago
That's so cute! My dog gets a monthly toy subscription box. He knows when it comes and knows the postie who brings it. Those days, that dog is an ANGEL, acting all sweet and lovey, just waiting patiently to be given the new toys. So funny because most other days he's a brat!
#23
One of my cats learned how to turn the internet off. I mean, he realized everbody goes crazy when he goes behind the TV stand and messes up with the wires.
So when we're not paying enough attention to him (usually if we're on our phones or the computer), he just unplugs the router. I don't think he knows how much power he has.
#24
My old pit bull just knew when I was suicidal and came for cuddles. Just would sit there whilst I cried into her fur and patiently wait it out then lick me and stay longer.
Amanda Gotte 6 years ago
My cattle dog knows when my anxiety or depression get really bad and won't leave my side the rest of the day. Normally, he's very independent and doesn't want to cuddle except maybe at bedtime.
#25
Every morning for breakfast I always eat fruit and that weekend there was a farmers market selling fruit for cheap so I bought a TON. I couldn't fit them in the fridge so I left a few bags on the side in the dining room (reachable distance)
I shit you not, I woke up and was surprised to see an apple next to me. Over the next few days, my dog would get up in the morning, go in the bag, and get a fruit to put next to me on the bed. He proceeded to do this for the next two weeks until we ran out.
#26
I snuck downstairs and watched my small dog delicately push the chairs and a couple cardboard boxes around into an specific orientation, then wildly parkour across the objects in order to get to my dinner sitting on the table. He also carefully moved the fork out of the way using his claws so that it wouldn't make any noise. I notified him of my presence right before he started eating and he just froze and then looked really guilty. In addition, when I have a panic attack, my dog will sometimes bring me his favorite stuffed animal because I assume he thinks it will comfort me like it comforts him.
#27
My dog is super sneaky. He's not allowed on the furniture, and never ever tries to get up on the couch or bed unless we invite him. One day I was taking a shower and had forgotten a body wash I had just purchased, so I left the shower running and ran out to my room to grab it really fast. I found him on the couch happily rolling around on his back. As soon as he realized I was there he froze for a moment, jumped off the couch and ran to his bed. That's when I realized the little jerk waits for me to get in the shower to get on the furniture and knows to listen for me to turn the shower off so he knows when to stop!
Nadine Ducca 6 years ago
Hahahaha! My cats do something similar and we caught them once. We left to go to the supermarket, but the moment we left the building we realized we had forgotten something so we went back in. Well, we caught two of our cats frozen in surprise on top of the kitchen counter, lol. They knew we were leaving, so they expected us to be gone for a while, haha.
#28
My dogs, Arrow and Beau ran off into the woods one day when I wasn't paying attention. Arrow had a leash on. Beau came back alone hours later. I asked "Beau, where is Arrow? where is he? He led me through the woods to the edge of someone else's property and started screwing around, so I figured, "ah, too much to expect from him"
I went back home. Another hour or so passed, I was getting pretty worried, I tried asking Beau again. Again, he led me through the woods, same path he took before, this time I followed him onto the stranger's land, went over a hill top and there was Arrow, his leash wrapped around a young pine tree and he was sitting in the sun, panting.
Arrow could have literally died from heat stroke stuck out in the sun. Beau understood what I asked, I didn't believe him the first time. He led me back a second time. and helped me find Arrow.
#29
I had a cat, a good friend, a long long time ago whom I still miss. He was a big tabby with awesome tan/orange stripes. I would climb up to the roof sometimes to avoid my housemates and relax and stare at the moon. One night I climbed up there, and he was up there. He saw me and seemed to get very happily excited to see me. He ran to one edge of the roof, looked down, then looked at me. Then, he ran to another edge, looked down, looked at me. He did that at every edge. I figured out what he was doing. At the last one, I said, "ok. Thank you for showing me. Don't worry. I won't go too far and fall off." He looked very satisfied, walked to me, and laid on my chest, and we watched the moon together.
#30
My dog Bailey (Lab/Husky) and her BFF Tess (Boxer) were in our backyard playing around. Tess, being a total idiot as usual, decided to go exploring in the back (all forest, hills, creeks and such) and takes off. Not wanting to lose both dogs, my daughters called Bailey to stay.
They tried calling Tess for 10 minutes before they found me to come help. I came and tried the same for a few minutes. Once I realized that there were no sights or sounds of Tess, I turned to Bailey, and said, "Bailz, where's Tess?"
We played this game with Bailey regularly. She would find anyone in our family if you asked her to. So I sent her off into the forest looking for Tess. No hesitation on Bailey's part.
Another 10 minutes go by. Sun is going down. Forest is quiet. We start calling for Bailey to return. Sure as shit, not 2 minutes later, they both come back. It was from some distance too as we could hear them crashing through the bush a ways off.
Bailey knew she done good. Acted like she just cured cancer. Many cookies were had.
#31
I live in the country. Someone dumped a dog on me. She is a tiny little long legged thing. Anyway, my wife and I went through all the steps to make sure she wasn't just lost. Facebook, vets and animal shelters etc. No one ever claimed her so she lives here. (2 years now)
About 6 weeks after she arrived we bought a camper. A small walk in trailer rig. We were loading up for the first trip and the little dog was suddenly no where to be found. My wife found her hiding in a box of supplies in the camper. Somehow that dog knew we were leaving for a while and was trying not to get left behind.
#32
I had a cat that learned how to open the fridge, and then my dog started begging my cat for food. And then the cat started getting into the fridge just to feed the dog.
I patiently await the day where my pets decide to overthrow me and have me fixed. I'm not fighting it, that'll only make it worse in the long run.
#33
My gentle giant of a newfoundland did that growl once.
We were on a road trip and I had to pee. Accidently picked a gas station in a bad part of town but I had to go. Left the dog in the car and while I went in i got asked for money to which I responded I don't have any on me. Had the following conversation on the way out.
Him: "I'll walk you to your car so you can find your money"
Me: "no"
Him (while following me): "it's no big deal I can wait for you to find it"
I'm freaking out now trying to figure out of I can get into the car and lock the door fast enough. Come back to see my newfoundland - the gentlest dog ever baring get big ass teeth and doing the once in a lifetime growl through a cracked window.
The guy SPRINTED away. Then We drove through a McDonald's and got her a whole cheese burger (which she never gets)
#34
One of my cats back when I was a kid, Thomas, got a urinary tract infection somehow. We would've never known because he's both an indoor and outdoor cat and usually went outside to relieve himself.
One day he jumped up into the bathroom sink, pushed the plunger down to stop the water leaving the basin, and pissed in it. Afterward he stood over it crying until someone came and saw the bloody urine in the bowl.
He found a way to directly tell us "Yo, something's wrong with me."
He could also open doors on his own.
#35
While I was out, my dog pulled a piece of paper out of the trash and pooped on it so that he wouldn't poop on the floor.
#36
We lived in an apartment complex that didn't allow pets. Unfortunately the people who frequently drove into the complex and dumped unwanted cats & dogs weren't aware that residents weren't allowed to have pets. One evening, there was an orange tabby crying piteously in the yard behind our building just 25 yards from one of the busiest roads in our city. The neighbor across the breezeway said that she saw him tossed out of a car that morning. I was worried that he would get creamed on the road and spent two hours sitting in the grass next to him with a bowl of ground hamburger to earn his trust. I had no idea what I was going to do with him after that, I just didn't want to see him starve or get run over.
After a few weeks we worked out a living arrangement - he stayed in the apartment during the day with food and water and a bed and then went outside at night. We had to keep his presence hidden so that the apartment management wouldn't fine us or evict us. We couldn't keep cat food bowls outside or a litter box inside (the staff collected garbage, so they'd know if I was dumping used cat litter). Due to his effervescent personality we started calling him Jonsey, the Shithead (Aliens reference). We were working on a solution house him permanently, but it was going to be a few more months before we could either get him into a rescue or move to a new residence that allowed pets.
One night, during a round of terrible thunderstorms and heavy rain Jonsey was less than thrilled to head outside and we weren't hot on the idea either. So he curled up in the corner of the couch and we headed to bed. The following morning I woke up and stumbled for the coffee maker. My husband asked me if the reason I was so tired was because I was up late cleaning up after the cat. I had no idea what he was talking about. He told me to look in the kitchen sink. There was a dishrag lying in the bottom of the sink and when I moved it there was cat poop in the drain. It took me few seconds to figure out what I was looking at and what it meant. To my husband it looked as if I had cleaned up cat poop and, in disgust had just thrown it in the sink to deal with it in the morning. What had actually happened was that Jonsey needed to use the bathroom and, instead of using any of my many houseplants, the corner, or just about anywhere else, he had chosen the absolute best alternative to a litter box available to him - the empty kitchen sink. He'd done his business and courteously covered it over with the dishtowel I always kept draped over the neck of the faucet. He earned a forever home with us and we moved to a house a few months after that.
#37
My chocolate lab woke me up one night barking in my face. I was really mad because he does that. When i got up to see what was up I soon realized I was having a massive Heart Attack. He saved my life. Thanks Luke.
#38
I had taken my german shepherd out for a hike in an abandoned conservation area. It was a hot day, there was a creek with a deep pool, so I decided to strip nekkid and go for a swim. The dog and I splashed around a bit, then we got out, I pulled on my clothes, and carried on down the trail.
My dog, however, wouldn't follow. She was starting at something in the grass. I called, she looked up at me and then looked back at the grass. I went over to see what was so enthralling... turns out my car keys had fallen out of my pocket and she wasn't budging until I picked them up.
#39
I had a pair of gold fish that grew to be quite large. Their names were nemo and toad. When nemo was dying toad did everything in his power to "revive" him. Including swimming alongside him and under him to boost him up and giving up larger potions of the food. After the nemo passed away toad got super depressed. He wouldn't eat at all and spent all day moving the little pebbles at the bottom of the fish tank from one side of the tank to the next. he died not long after
#40
When I was in high school, my cat P.C. (short for personal computer which was my Dad’s idea) woke my Dad up in the middle of the night by knocking herself into my parents’ door and meowing very loudly. My Dad began to follow her downstairs not knowing why and she stopped at the air vent in the kitchen. My Dad immediately turned off the air. Turns out something caught on fire in the vent and the smoke detector hadn’t picked it up yet.
Final score:
98points
CtrlAltDelete 6 years ago
She saved you from dying by fire and saved your ears from the smoke detector ;)
#41
Our late Italian Greyhound Elon got baths every week due to “THE STENCH” (his nickname was “The Stink”). One time, we were both sick with sinus infections and it had been about two weeks since Elon had gotten his bath. We were sitting on the sofa watching TV as a family, and Elon gets up off the couch and trots down the hall. This happened often, so we didn’t move. We then heard his nails on a different surface than we’d ever heard previously. Perplexed, his Dad and I went down the hall to find him standing in the bathtub staring at us like, “People I can smell myself. It’s time.”
#42
We had pot belly pigs when we were little because my brother and I were allergic to cats and dogs. Smart little f*ckers. My brother and I would always yell "MOM! MOM!", so one day my mom left for a couple days and the pigs got upset. One of them started squealing and then opening it's mouth so it sounded like "MMMMMAMAMA". Then the other one started doing it. So we had two pigs in the house screaming for mama. It was creepy as f*ck.
#43
There was a fire in my building once. My old kitty yelled at me until I followed her into a low corner of the bedroom. The air there was much clearer and I hid there with her until I was rescued by the firemen. She saved me that day. She's gone now, but she was my best friend for 18 years.
#44
On the few days I get to sleep in, if my cat decides his breakfast is too late he has learned to wake me up for it.
early on, I apparently learned to sleep through his MRROOOOOOOWs by the bedside; as time went by, I learned to roll over & ignore him when he’d bat at me with his paws…
…so he’s learned to get me up the one way I can’t sleep through: he’ll take a single claw & drag it very gently over my eyelid. it doesn’t hurt at all, but I’m hard-pressed to think of a more peculiar feeling.
Nadine Ducca 6 years ago
Yes, my Siamese cat wakes me up by purring in my face, gently brushing the tips of her whiskers against my nose and cheeks (it really itches!), and booping me with her cold wet nose. lol No claws yet, whew!
#45
My youngest son, a two time cancer winner, was recovering from a particularly ugly round of methotrexate. He was home recovering and my Pomeranian, who was always at my heel,wouldn’t leave his side. I was curious but not concerned and continued my morning chores. I was in the next room when Ping came in like Lassie and barked until I came to see. He returns to my sons side and began to shiver. My son was playing xbox, and seemed ok. I turned to go back to my chores and Ping let out a howl I didn’t think he was capable of and as I turned my son was seizing, full grand mal seizures that I recall clearly 11 years later. I was just in time to keep him from hitting head first on the hardwood floors. We just put my little Ping down last month. He was my best friend for 17 years, and my sons hero forever. We miss you Ping.
#46
My cat sleeps with me in bed. She knows how to hit the snooze button on my alarm clock. She learned from watching my wife. And both of them go back to sleep
#47
I was at the park with my dog and started talking to another dog owner. He got bored and decided to leave without me. As soon as I realised I ran out of the park to find him walking down the street toward my house, the road was pretty busy so I nearly shat myself and started sprinting down the street after him.
I saw him look both ways, wait for the traffic to stop for him and then cross the road.
By the time I caught up to him he had already crossed and was just having a casual stroll home.
About two weeks ago, just before we had to have him put down, I went to pick him up from the vets. They said he had improved overnight, the moment they said he could go home he jumped off my lap and went straight to the door. He kept looking back at me as if to tell me to hurry up.
He was a brilliant dog.
#48
I've had dogs all my life but the 3 I have now are all very special to me. They're seriously smart. They'll turn on the outside hose when they get thirsty on a hot day(even though they have ice water inside) but they'll also get the bathroom door open when you're taking a shower and turn the shower off when they think you've been showering for too long.
They're very smart but very scary. When my SO and I were walking around after we got done setting the tent up at a family camping trip(my SOs family) I went to go take a leak. So I took two of our German Shepherds to the bathroom with me and left her with one. She can handle them all of course but with deer and squirrels and stuff you just don't know. I trust them to listen to her but why take a chance.
So while I'm in the bathroom and my two dogs are hanging around outside I hear a distant but very angry and aggressive bark. Now, my dogs are very well trained and don't bark for no reason unless told to. I hear one of my two let out a "wtf?" bark and another distant bark from my SOs dog.
At that point my dogs start going crazy so I'm like what the f**k might as well let them go. I let them go and they just barrel over to where I left my SO, I'm talking full run and barking. Of course I pick my pace up and I get a look at the situation. It's three guys cornering in on my lady. Only thing holding them off was the dog she had.
I have to tell my SO to let her dog go right as my two get to her. All the dogs pounced at what seemed like exactly the same time and they all end up on the ground.
But after that my dogs just take a seat right on top of the three guys. They don't even try to fight the dogs off at that point. Ten seconds later after I called the dogs off I figure out why. All three dogs have bitten almost through one of each guys arms.
It's smart not to f**k with someone with a dog, or worse multiple dogs.
#49
I work at a pet store, and a big part of the job is listening to people talk about how great their average-ass pets are. But man, every now and then you get a good one. We have a family that owns a couple of African Grey parrots. When the kids were teenagers, the parents went out of town for the weekend, specifying there should be no parties whatsoever in their absence. Naturally the kids throw the party, and manage to clean up brilliantly. They almost got away with it until at dinner the night the parents returned, the Greys started making this whole new range of sounds including the sound of a beer pop tab opening, and the sounds of ping pong balls hitting plastic cups and the floor. Busted by birds.
therealpixie 6 years ago
I knew a macaw once who would make a noise like the electric can opener. When the cats showed up he would giggle like a movie villain.
#50
I have pet rats. One of them broke a tooth, and the infection spread to her brain (the teeth go all the way up above the brain). I had her on antibiotics, but she was a bit "tilted" to one side. When they were out on a table, I noticed her falling over near the edge of the table, and was afraid that she would fall.
However, before I have time to react and move, another of my rats walk up to her, takes a firm but careful grip around the base of her tail and pulls her away from the edge of the table.
Now, I know one should be careful in placing human thoughts in animal heads, but usually, a rat "biting" another rat's tail is a surefire way to start a fight, and I can't see any other reason to do it except that she saw ahead, noticed the potential problem, figured out what to do to solve it and implemented that solution.
#51
When I was a stupid kid, I was eating warhead hard candies. Instead of eating them like a normal person, I was squeezing one end and shooting it into my mouth. Well, I squeezed too hard and it got lodged in my throat. I made it to the back door (my dad was in the garage) before I collapsed. My cat ran out, and started swatting at my dad and got him to follow her. That was scary.
#52
My cat has figured out how to turn on my heated mattress pad. Its just a little foot pedal near the headboard. With out fail I come home everyday to it cranked and her cuddled down near the foot of my bed, where the coils double.
In the winter I sometimes wake up hot as hell and realize she's turned it on while I was sleeping.
#53
I had a genius ferret. All of my ferrets were smarter than you might expect, but Mia was ridiculous. I have tons of stories, but here’s my favourite.
My roommates and I used to hangout in a TV room that had door way with no door (entranceway?). Since I wanted the ferret to be able to run around while we were there, I put a baby gate across the exit. Took her ten seconds to climb it, of course.
I then wrapped the gate in carpet runner, so she couldn’t scale it. She tried for a long time, but could find anything to get a grip on. Three of us are all kind of marveling at her commitment.
She stops trying to climb, and just freezes for a minute, her eyes panning around the room like she’s concocting a scheme, and then she starts eyeballing a shoebox on the other side of the room. Eyes up on the gate, back to the box, back to the gate. My buddy says “No f*cking way. You think she’s figured it out?”
She walks over to the box and starts sliding it across the floor, stopping every foot or so and checking her progress. Finally gets to the gate, hops on the box and jumps up and grabs the top of the gate. Whoop she’s up and over and dancing down the hallway.
#54
I have two horses, Red, and Mickey.
They are yarded next to each other, and there is enough of a gap in the fence that a clever horse may work out that they can just manage to pinch the others hay through it.
Red took it a step further and realised that if he could steal Mickey's hay, Mickey could steal his...
So he waits until Mickey is distracted by his bucket feed, and then Red takes his own hay from his own feeder and deposits it across the yard, where it's safe.
He then goes back and takes Mickey's hay and deposits it where it is safe.
Then Red eats his hard feed and two lots of hay.
We had to move all the hay feeders.
#55
I once tried to put my roommate's dog in his kennel. Sweet dog--he obeyed me and went inside without a fuss, then looked at me like, "okay, now what?" I closed the door, put the latch down, and told him to stay in there like a good boy. He gave me this look that said "are you serious with this?" Without missing a beat, he calmly lifted the latch with his nose and walked out of the kennel.
#56
When I was raising my chicks and they were about adolescent age, my one hen died suddenly. I got home and her brother was having a fit in the coop, then when I pulled her out to go bury her he just sat and watched completely silent. I picked him up to return him to the coop, and he just closed his eyes, settled down, and sat completely silent in my arms for about an hour. It broke my heart. I never knew chickens could mourn until then.
#57
I have a three month old pup who got dirt in her eye one day. Th eye kept tearing up and she held it partilly shut for a few hours. During that time I felt really bad for her and handed out a lot of treats. Since then, when I am eating, she begs by winking that eye with a tiny whimper. Her wink is nonstop. If she's called by someone else in the home she looks at them with perfect eyes. I get the "broken eye" Once she gets the goods -fully working eyes.
#58
She saved my life. I was sleeping, and started going into a diabetic seizure. My SO at the time was a very heavy sleeper (her dog). She jumped on the bed, whining and barking until my SO woke up. Ambulance was called, life was saved.
#59
Dogs are awesome. I had a gentle giant growing up and once a guy drove up the road at double the legal speed in a narrow, twisted medieval street near a school, almost hitting both my dad and my dog.
My dad loudly yelled "asshole" and gestured at the car, and the guy, proving he was even more an asshole than previously thought, stopped his car, got out and did a few steps to threaten my dad.
My dog gently sat down, managed to make his fur double in size, and did the kind of growl you only hear dogs do once or twice in their lifetime, the kind that says "You better not make one more step". My dad did not even have the time to think of an answer before the guy did a full U turn and got back in his car to drive away.
My dad had a hard time telling us the story because he was laughing so much at the face the guy made.
Also, seeing it's about being intelligent, my old dog understood how to open silently the doors where the treats where and close them back, but never did it when someone was around. We had to film him.
He also figured out once that every now and then, some old ladies would gather up in the house next door which was owned by the municipality to host club events. He knew when they would come somehow and would climb the garden wall to get some biscuits from them. I miss him.
#60
We have smooth wood floors that can be kind of slippery in socks. One night I took a corner too fast, slipped, and went down hard. I wasn't hurt, just sorta stunned so I just stayed on the floor for a second (I was belly-side down, but propped up on my elbow). When I didn't get up right away, my dog leapt over the couch to get to me, wiggled her body under mine then stood up, so that she was kind of lifting my body up on hers. I'm not sure if it was at all her intention, but I like to think she was trying to help me. As soon as I got up on my own, she proceeded to tackle me and frantically lick my face in celebration. :)
#61
Carries his bone to you and pushes it into your hand. Then he starts chewing the other end of it while you hold it. When you try to pull on the bone to maybe start a tug-of-war game with him, he stops chewing and gives you a look like, "What the heck? Just hold it. You're the one with opposable thumbs."
#62
We had one remarkably intelligent pet rat. There was a number of intelligent things he did, but here are some highlights.
His much larger older brother was keeping him away from one of the food dishes on the first level. He chews a hole in the bottom of a box on the top level and moves it down to the first level. He manages to move the box, with him inside it, and the hole he chewed perfectly aligned with the food dish. He camped his box right over the bowl, with him in it, blocking his brother out, where he could eat in peace.
He was the master of manipulating his environment. Inside their cage was a number of levels and boxes. He would push them around, nest them, or chew them to get wherever he wanted to go. It was like watching someone playing a video game where they had to arrange boxes to get where they wanted. It was all the more impressive given he had limited mobility from his rear legs, and more than compensated in this way.
We would put puzzles filled with treats in their cage to give them something to solve. Without fail he was always the one to solve them, no matter how many layers we would put on them.
He had a few tumors removed over the course of his life. Without fail he always seemed to remove his stitches a day or so before he was scheduled to go back in for removal. Provided he could reach them. Everyone else would either leave them be or immediately try to remove them.
No matter where you would put food blocks, he would carefully pick them up and place them in designated food bowls.
He was extremely vocal in the way some dogs, like huskies are. Unlike others he would modulate his squeaks to try and communicate.
RIP Felix, you brilliant little rat.
#63
The smartest thing I've seen my cat do is referee when my girlfriend's kitten was trying to fight her older cat. We were initially terrified because my cat was found as a stray and you can tell that he's had his ass kicked in a few fights back in the day.
When we adopted him, when he'd hear the other cats start playfighting, he'd rush out to be there too. He weighed about twice as much as the next biggest cat, and we knew almost nothing about his personality at the time, so of course this filled us with terror. Well, we followed him out into the next room, and he had just managed to perch himself on the coffee table, above the action, and was just watching.
When the older cat switched from playing to getting genuinely exasperated with the kitten, he tagged in so the other cat could get away. For months he would do this, so we figured he may have helped raise kittens when he was stray.
Anyway, his personality is great, and he's a sweet dumb boy and the best lap cat you could ask for. The vet at the shelter thought he would want to be an outside cat, but once we got him home it was very plain that that was not the case. I could leave the door open all day and he wouldn't go anywhere; this cat has no interest in being outdoors again.
#64
My dog knows my caller ID. I sometimes need to call home from my cell, and our home phone "speaks" the incoming call's caller ID. The only time my dog ever howls is when I call and the answering machine says my ID. She's done it when my mom is off somewhere else in the house and can't hear the phone ringing. She doesn't do it for any other phone call, even if I'm not home. I also tried calling while I'm still home to see if I can get her to howl, but she just looks at me like I'm an idiot.
My dog also has two bowls: one for food and one for water. Whenever I give her some crushed ice to lick in the water bowl, she'll pick up chunks of the ice and put them in the food bowl instead. Apparently, solids = food bowl, even if said solids turn into water.
Rafaella Bueno 6 years ago
My dad has a different ringer sound set for my number on his cellphone, which my dog also recognizes and goes crazy over. She goes to my dad and asks to talk to me (she asks us for things by placing her paw on us), my dad puts the phone close to her so she can hear and I talk to her for a bit. She gets really upset when I call and don't talk to her too.
#65
I had a yabbie in my freshwater tank that is a genius. I one day watched him gather some food pellets into his cave, wait for the fish today eat the rest then a few minutes later place them in front of the cave entrance, then attacked and ate a fish that came to eat the pellets.
He stockpiled his meal to later bait an even better meal. That f*cker is in his own tank now.
Master Markus 6 years ago
Apparently a yabby is a kind of crayfish, just mentioning in case someone else needed to look it up.
#66
I have a parrot. We have a black cat called shadow and he comes when we say his name. One day I hear Oliver (my parrot) saying "Shadow! Shadow!" while he's in the kitchen on the stool. I look outside and shadow is at the door begging to be let in.
Also once I accidentally woke Oliver up and he started grumbling, "sh*t sh*t sh*t!"
Isabel Care 6 years ago
Our Persian cat could silently summon me from my attic room to let her back in when my dad had let her out and forgotten to let her in again. She could also get me to collect grass for her and request nip before I was even home from work (her influence was about half a mile) Would find her sitting by nip drawer or "grass" plate once I got in already knowing what she wanted. Have I been bred to be a perfect cat slave?
#67
My dog Roger will start barking at the front door as if someone is there. My other dog Flash will immediately join him. There is no one at the front door, Roger just wanted to take Flash's spot on the bed and all the pets.
#68
My roommate's dog. We were taking care of another dog for a few days and he was staying at our house. They got along well enough, but visitor dog kept trying to play and resident dog never wanted to. One evening, resident dog walks in to the living room to find visitor dog is in her favorite spot on the couch. She immediately barks, drops into a play bow, and starts jumping around to play with him. Visitor dog gets super excited that she finally wants to play and abandons the couch. Resident dog drops the playacting and reclaims her rightful throne.
#69
My former boss had a parking lot clean-up and lawn maintenance business. He would send his two collies out around the parking lots collecting trash, and they'd bring it back to his truck. They loved it. It was amazing to see.
#70
Not my current dog, but the family dog we got when I was a teenager. I came home and went to my room and she's just barking for no reason. Not furiously, but an unfamiliar cadence and enough to be annoying. I finally come out of my room to see what she wants. I look out the window and see my car trunk lid hadn't latched all the way and was wide open. Not that I had much of value in there, but as a broke college student in a neighborhood where anything not nailed down gets stolen, I thought it was pretty awesome of her. She got extra treats and pets that day.
I_is_hoomin_I_swer 6 years ago
“Hooman,,, you. Have neglected,, to shut the back.,, of teh portable kennel,,.. you must fix this,, issue..,,”
#71
When my son was a baby, he was teething really bad. Constantly running a fever and cranky. we gave him lots of the tylenol suspension drops. One morning I had the baby wedged in the recliner while I was looking for something. Of course he was crying. Our dog, looked at the baby, ran upstairs, came back down a few seconds later with the tylenol, dropped it in the recliner where it rolled to the baby. Then the dog turned to me and barked until I picked it up.
#72
I put a pot of water on the stove and while waiting for it to boil I went and got involved in something else and forgot about it.
After a while my siamese kitten came in and started meowing at me, in a very insistent way. I figured she just wanted attention so I gave her a few pets and just kept doing my thing.
She kept meowing and started poking her claws into my ankles, not drawing blood but definitely enough to get my attention. She ran to the door and looked back meowing, so I followed her. She led me to the kitchen where the pot was starting to smoke because all of the water had boiled off.
You know she got her favorite wet food and so many snuggles.
Final score:
48points
#73
Husband used to have a large cat who, if his breakfast was "late", would live the toilet seat up a few inches with his head then let go . BAM-bam-bam-m-m-m
Magpie 6 years ago
Had a cat that woke me up , because Daylight savings had come in, and he thought I should be up. - he didn't need food or anything. He was good about weekends. But public holidays he would try to make me get up. But using the usual purring in my face, licking my face. Running up and down from my feet to my face over and over.
#74
My cat figured out how to fill up my bathtub. He learned how to close the drain and would turn the water handle and would just sit there and watch the tub slowly fill up. It took me weeks to figure out what was going on.
#75
About the otters, one summer an otter escaped from their enclosure, and was seen around the zoo/amusement park, swimming around people who had hired rowing and pedal boats. He'd go up to guests to beg for snacks, etc. All summer the guards tried to catch him, but he learned to recognise their uniforms, and stayed away. They finally succeeded in catching him when the guards dressed in civvies.
#76
My first cat ended up going through renal failure which caused him to urinate a lot. I would clean his box every day but sometimes I would get home from work late and he didn't like that. He started using the toilet all on his own. I caught him one afternoon while cleaning the house. I was sweeping the hallway and as I passed the bathroom I heard the sound of peeing in the toilet. As I continued sweeping past the door it dawned on me that my husband was at work, leaving me home alone. So now I'm slightly disturbed and I slowly back up, broom in hand, and peer around the door jam into the bathroom. My cat is sitting on the toilet urinating and giving me a look that screams he wants some privacy. I was in so much shock I just gave him his privacy and went back to sweeping. After that day he refused to use his box anymore and in the final months of his life I actually had to go out and by him a trainer potty so he wouldn't have to jump up on the toilet anymore. The lady at Walmart thought I was playing a prank on her when I told her what I needed the potty for.
Chris Wilkinson 6 years ago
We had a cat that would use the toilet as well. Never flushed though.
#77
Early in the morning, I open our sliding glass door to let my dog out. She stands there staring at me as I tell her to go to the bathroom and motion outside. After a 10 second staring contest I attempt to lead her outside by first going out myself. I then proceed to walk into the sliding screen door I failed to open and knock it off the rails. That was when I knew my dog was smarter than me.
#78
My cat knows that old grocery bags are what I scoop his crap into, so when I slip up and forget to clean his litter box he drags one in there to let me know.
Ashiah Rainwing 6 years ago
They are sincerely going to make a deal if you let the litter box go too long.
#79
I had a very smart and wonderful golden retriever, Emma.
She would sometimes try trading one of her gross rawhide chews for something we were holding if she wanted it--she once dropped her toy in my dad's lap, nudged it towards him, and started "speaking" (not like a bark, more like dog complaining) while nodding at the apple he held.
She would also distract our book smart but not street smart other golden if she wanted the toy the other dog had. She'd take a random toy, go up to one of us and make a big deal, jumping and barking and playing with us with the toy. Then when book smart dog dropped her toy and ran to see what all the fuss was about, Emma would immediately leave us and grab book smart's toy and run off with it.
One time she found a hurt dove and brought it to us in her mouth, holding it so gently.
#80
Back when I was a kid, my family had an incredibly intelligent Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She had somehow managed to learn several dozen different words, to the point where we could tell her to go find certain people, to wait for us in certain rooms, or to pick out specific items from her collection of about fifteen different toys. This dog would even obey remarkably detailed commands combining those elements, like "Go get your hedgehog, then bring it to Dad in his office."
Suffice to say, she was a damned remarkable pet.
Now, this dog's favorite toy was a little stuffed animal that was vaguely shaped like a human, which we referred to as her "baby." She would wrestle with it, tote it around the house, and keep it right next to her whenever the family would gather to watch a movie or something. After a year or so of such adventures, though, the toy started to get a little bit worn out, so my mother decided to replace it. In an effort to "surprise" the dog, she discreetly put the old baby in the garbage, then stood in the middle of the living room with the new one behind her back.
"Kayodee!" my mother called. (The dog's name was "KOD," though we pronounced every letter.) "Kayodee, come here!" As expected, the dog came bounding into the room, a happy spring in her step. "Where's your baby? Go get your baby!"
Everyone expected the dog to approach the corner where her toys were kept, discover the item was missing, then mount a search for it. She'd done similar things in the past, after all, with "Hide-and-Seek" being one of the many games she seemingly enjoyed... but rather than behaving as anticipated, KOD trotted over to the trash compactor and started pressing on its foot pedal with her paws. She wasn't heavy enough to get the thing open, but the intention was clear enough.
In the end, KOD wound up with two babies.
#81
I had a fat cat who was once a barn cat. She was a great mouser (lived in a sketchy apartment on a first floor.. had mice, to figure). One day my hamster escaped. When I noticed I didn't even bother looking for him. As far as I was concerned, he was dead.
Cue fat cat meowing from the kitchen. Just meowing, meowing, meowing. I go to see what's up and she has my hamster, cornered, and is meowing at me, like "hey man, is this yours?"
Faith Stroup 6 years ago
Why would you not even attempt? That just sounds pretty cruel to me...
#82
Not a zoo, but an exotic animal sanctuary. We have a Timber Wolf that loves to steal things from people. She has taken dozens of things from our volunteers. Scrub brushes, hair ties, walkie-talkies, cleaner bottles, water bottles, eyeglasses, you name it. My favorite though, is one day she managed to get a hold of a girl's bra strap and would not let go. She wasn't pulling her around or anything, she was just sitting there with the bra-strap in her mouth. It was one of her favorite volunteers so I imagine she didn't want her to go anywhere. We had to pay her a chicken quarter to change her mind.
#83
My step dad was a serious alcoholic (still is) however before he met myself and my mother he has this beautiful Staffie.
Multiple people confirmed that if he was in the bar and the dog was worried. It could get out of the house. Onto a bus and to the main strip. It would then go in every bar one by one looking for him. If he didn't find him, he would go back to one specific bar and sit on a chair and wait for him.
#84
My dog likes to sleep in the kitchen. Most nights I am up late on my desktop working which is near the kitchen. When he gets annoyed at the light he goes behind the curtain to make a blindfold that covers his eyes.
#85
Was putting up a new fence when it started to rain bad. Went inside, called the dog and he had my phone that I forgot on top of the new post
#86
Our cat hears the mailman delivering the mail through the letter slot in the door. He races to it, grabs each piece in his teeth, and then drags them - one by one - to the chair where I'm sitting.
If a piece of mail is too heavy for him to move, he just sits at my feet, MEOWING, looking back and forth between the letter slot and me.
Ashiah Rainwing 6 years ago
My cat brings me "things"...plastic bag with screws, piece of mail, catalog, sock, screw driver, etc. Now we have mice in the house, so when I hear the "kitten call", he's got a mouse for me. I no longer get random gifts, now that we have real mice.
#87
Our border collie/weimaraner mix knocks on the door when she wants to go outside or come inside. We never taught her to do this, she just started doing it on her own and I guess she picked up that when she does it we open the door for her.
She can also be given left/right/forward/back/dig directions. We will hide something in the yard and she'll find it. She knows it's a game and will run a ways, look back, we will shout the direction and she takes off the way we tell her. It usually only takes a few minutes for her to find the prize.
#88
Cat would not let me go to sleep and insisted I follow her to the kitchen. We had just gotten a new stove with a glass cooktop and didn't realize one of the burners was still on very low. Thanks, kitty.
#89
My Corgi helps hold open inside doors for my 3 legged dog (named Wobbles) we adopted when he realized Wobbles couldn't follow him due to the doors shutting behind him.
#90
We have 5 cats and a pomeranian puppy. Our youngest cat (only a year old but already 12 pounds)(not fat just a big cat) LOVES to play soccer with the puppy they will spend hours batting a ball back and forth. So at night the puppy goes into her kennel to sleep. Well, lately the cat has been helping the dog escape so that they can play ball. (Its a soft sided kennel that the dog chew a hole thru on one side so the cat scoots the kennel away from the wall so the dog can climb out)
My cat Leo also has turned on the water faucet, learned to open the pantry door, flips his bowl over when he thinks the water isn't clean enough, turns the propane stove on(...that was a huge problem lol had to get a new stove cause of him) and he seems to know when a panic attack is setting in and comes and cuddles with me till it's over.
He also opens drawers, and loves to hide in them. Thought I lost him for a whole day till I found him blissfully sleeping in my underwear drawer.
He also would hide in the bathroom drawers and cabinets, wait till I got in the shower then come out and jump in the shower with me.
Our old sheltie used to open doors, he would frequently open the pantry door, pull a jar of peanut butter off the shelf then chew the lid off and eat ALL the peanut butter.(guess who bought a lock for their pantry?) He also learned that when my mom told us to put socks and shoes on (either spoken or in sign language) that meant we were leaving so he'd go to his kennel.
He also knew how to lock, and unlock that kennel. When we would leave he would unlock it and get into the trash then when he heard us pulling into the garage he would run back upstairs, into the kennel and lock the door back. Took us ages to figure this out.
We also adopted a second sheltie..who...ok he was like 50+pounds not a small dog yeah? He for some reason thought he was a cat. He would jump onto the table, counter top, bed, dresser, anything he could. He was a weird dog.
Final score:
36points
#91
My bunnies have recently learnt the " fake illness" trick. But they do it for treats. Essentially bunnies should eat constantly and If they stop eating it's a really bad sign. Death can follow shortly. . So whenever they don't immediately start on their breakfast i get concerned and usually spend some time watching them constantly from a distance . If after an hour or two I haven't seen them eat I try to ply them with treats. They turn their nose up till in desperation I plonk a few handfuls of treats in their bowls. I retreat to see what happens, both of them attack the bowl with gusto. Twice this month already they've pulled this stunt. Of course after they've eaten the treats they then return to normal food as if nothing happened.
Never put bunnies on a diet. It brings out their devious side.
#92
I had a hamster that we kept in a fishtank, with a mesh wire ceiling.
He reorganized his cage so that the wheel was close to one of the walls, and he'd squeeze himself between the wall and the wheel and run up the wall. We thought it was hilarious.
Well, apparently it was practice. One night he finally succeeded in his plan, which was to propel himaelf over the top of the wheel, catch his claws in the wire mesh, and chew a hole through the top, and escape.
#93
My cat has this thing about drinking water from a bowl. She would always tip it over lick it off the floor.
We got tired of stepping on a wet floor in socks on the daily so we wedged the water bowl between two heavier objects so that she couldn't tip it over.
She realized she could get a running start to jump onto a rolling office chair to create enough force to move the bowl enough to spill it onto the floor.
I feel like she has a pretty good grasp on simple physics and using tools to get her way.
#94
I used to have this 5-6 foot iguana and let it roam the house because it was badass.
It would chill in the bay window and catch sunlight all day. One day he climbed the back door and clawed his way out of the screen.
I found him perched ontop of our garage, he changed his skin to almost pure black and was flared up as big as he could get trying to gather all the sun he could.
I guess he saw that garage everytime he was basking in the sun and decided one day he wanted to be on top of it.
#95
We had a dog called Suki, probably the smartest dog we've ever had. I had a kitten at the time, Sam, who was trying to climb into a box. She managed to get her paws onto the edge and lost her footing, hanging from her front paws. Suki watches Sam awhile with interest. Realising Sam was stuck, Suki casually walks over, puts her muzzle under Sam and flicks her head, flipping Sam to safety on top of the box. Rescue completed, she saunters away like she hadn't done anything extraordinary.
#96
My friend's pet.
I was sitting on the couch with a buddy while said friend was making some food, and while we were talking, her dog started to eat food from its bowl.
When he got out of food, he tried to press the button that opens the lid of the device, that releases more food to the bowl. He didn't make it. I started laughing and said "What a stupid dog...". The dog imediately stopped and stared at me. I stopped laughing. The dog kept staring, pissed. After solid 10 seconds, the dog walked away on the opposite direction. After a few steps, the dog stopped, turned his head and stared at me for 5 more seconds. Then left.
I got scared.
#97
Was in the middle of packing to move and one of us forgot to close the hamster cage. Hammy gets out and is running around. Cat notices hammy and makes this loud strange meow that wakes us up and alerts us to the loose hamster.
Pretty decent of that cat to not eat the hamster.
#98
We've got two dogs. One of the dogs has frequent seizures, the medicine only helps so much.
The other dog can sense them before they'll happen. She'll warn us like 10-30 sec before we'll even notice. I know there are dogs trained to do this with humans but the other dog isn't trained whatsoever.
#99
I'm pretty bad at keeping track of my 3ds game cartridges. Lucky for me, my cat isn't. I once lost my copy of pokemon x, nearly destroyed my room trying to find it. A week later, I'm outside exercising and my cat walks up to me, drops the missing game cartridge at my feet and then just walks off like it's no big deal.
#100
One time my dog had trouble chewing through a new bone...so she brought it to her water bowl and dropped it in and then went back to chew it a few mins later when it was soft. Most intelligent thing I've ever seen an animal do.
#101
We had a pair of Dobermans. They both loved to lay in the sunbeam in the living room. The male was very smart...the female very sweet. She would be laying there, enjoying the warmth of the sun. He would come to one of us sitting on the couch and put his head in our lap for a pet. He would look back over his shoulder at her to make sure she saw that he was getting a pet. Immediately she would jealously run over and add her head to our lap for her own pet. As soon as she did, he would run over and steal her place in the sun. She never did learn.
Final score:
29points
#102
I had left my dog home alone for about an hour. It was the middle of winter and my family were very poor and didn't have oil or very good insulation in some parts of the house. So I got back and I found my dog with every single blanket in the house on my bed and he was in the very center of all of them.
#103
There are two dog-parks near my home and my dog preferred one over the other, but the preferred one is a bit further away.
One day I was walking her and when she realised I was taking her to the closer one, she suddenly started to limp. I stopped to check her paws. Finding nothing wrong, I continued, and the limp miraculously disappeared once I started heading the way she wanted to go.
#104
Every morning when I wake up, I step outside for a smoke and let my dog out to handle his business in the yard. He's usually done by the time I am.
One day, he was sniffing something really interesting and he was not ready to come back in yet. I forced him inside and he seemed pretty pissed about it.
As soon as we walk through the door, he runs ahead of me around the corner and in to my bedroom. As soon as I get to my room, he's waiting for me. We lock eyes, he lifts his leg, and pisses all over the side of my bed while maintaining eye contact.
#105
My little lovebird used to turn on the sink by himself and take a bath, and also loved the Wu-tang Clan. Specifically Raekwon, he would literally dance to it, bobbing and weaving his head in perfect rythm while lifting his legs opposite of where his head was turned.
#106
Flatmate arrived home with fast food. Went upstairs.
Dog then barked at the door, flatmate went downstairs to check the door. Dog ate the food.
I heard the blood curdling screams from my downstair bedroom.
One of many, many stories of my Jack Russells ability to calculate, anticipate, and obtain the reward.
#107
Ages ago he had hurt his tail and had to get part of it cut off. He had to take antibiotics for a while, which he hated. First I hid them in the end of a banana, and he'd bit the end off. But, he quit eating banana entirely to avoid the pill. So I tried other foods. Long story how we got to spaghettios, but I had the pill hidden in a little plate of spaghettios. He examined them closely, and nudged them, then found the pill. I was waiting to see if he's refuse it, but instead he gave me the most hateful glare. Then he shoved a paw into the spaghettios and swiped very hard backwards, causing most of the spaghettios to spatter against the back of his cage. Then he puffed up and shook his head at me and continued glaring to make sure I understood that hiding the pill in spaghettios was absolutely not acceptable.
#108
The front of the bottom of our TV cabinet is glass and has a magnetic latch, so if you press it, it makes a sort of clicking sound. My cat will rub his paw pads rapidly up and down the glass, making it click in and out of position at like 15 clicks a friggin second. Drives me crazy, and he only does it in the early morning when he feels I should be getting up for food and cuddles. So, like, 4 am.
#109
My former horse was a big escape artist, so we put him in a small electrified pen. He was barefoot, so he figured out that if he stood in the sandy soil and just barely touched his whiskers to the electric fence, it would ground out. And then he could jump or bust out without getting shocked. He understood electricity a lot better than I do!
#110
My friends cat would lay on the dryer and turn it on all day while they were at work... found out after a $500 electrical bill.
#111
I have a very fluffy white sizzle chicken named Sizzle! All the other chickens bully her and pull out her feathers so we end up keeping her inside in a cage. When ever I take her outside she will follow me around but if I get to close to the mean chickens she will run over to where it is safe and jump up and down and basically scream until I come to. She will also bawk really loud if we are being to loud for no reason to alert someone and get us to calm down. To add onto that she is best friends with my black fluffy cat name stormy and at night if Sizzle it is cold (My house is very cold in the winter my heating is not very good) he will sleep by her cage and curl up around it and some times even drag a light blanket over top to make sure she is warm.
Final score:
27points
#112
I watched a chicken teach another chicken how to get out of the coop.
My parents have chickens and my dad built their coop himself. For the first six months or so they found new ways to escape into the yard until my dad sealed up all the escape routes.
Tipsy, the boss chicken, was hanging out in the corner of the coop, and once she saw that two of the three other chickens were in the house, she rustled her feathers to get the third chicken, Digsy, to look at her. Then she hopped up onto a branch and wiggled through s gap in the wire.
Then, she got back INTO the coop and looked at Digsy with that little side eye thing chickens do until Digsy tried it herself, then followed her out into the yard. I let them have that one, and until dad patched the hole a week later I only saw Tipsy and Digsy out in the yard, not the other two.
Bored Birgit 6 years ago
Would like to know the names of the other two - Tipsy, Digsy, and who? ;-)
#113
My yabbie used to arrange plastic rocks in different colour combinations every day; one day it may be one pile for each colour, and the next all the blue and yellow on one side of the tank and the pink and green on the other, etc.
He was probably really bored.
#114
Had a cat that used to go #1 and #2 on the toilet. We had him in Arizona then moved to Nebraska during the winter. We didn't have a litter box and it was way too cold outside for him. One day I went into the bathroom to see him perched and meowing at me like I was intruding his space. Smart little bastard.
#115
We used to keep my childhood dog in the garage while we were at school. She once found an old garage door opener, figured out how it worked, and buried it in an old dead potted plant in the garage... when we left for the day she would nose around in the dead plant till the door opened and go play with the neighbor's dog.. in their living room, because she also figured out hot to open their sliding door and let herself in.
Edit: Finding out was actually just luck. I had a half day from school. She had been getting out pretty much every day and we had no idea how the door was getting opened. I was walking up the driveway, the door opened and I saw her coming from over in that direction. Her nose had dirt on it and there was dirt on the ground, wasn't too hard to piece together once this happened.
#116
My dog went to follow me outside. Stuck his paw out to see how bad it was raining then immediately went and sat on his couch.
#117
When I was going through a really bad spell with depression my dog used to come in to bedroom and check I was okay. He would lay his head down on the bed just standing watching me. He could also open every door in the house save for the front door, and one night he was out a walk with my dad off the lead in a field when my dad lost sight of him. He somehow made his was to my grandparents house. We think someone may have tried to steal him as he had managed to wriggle out of his collar.
#118
My blood parrot would greet everyone who walked in the front door. It wasn’t a ‘feed me’ thing, because he didn’t do it when you walked past randomly it was just when you were coming home. Super smart little dude, and a dedicated decorator also- the fake plants all had certain spots and if you moved them an inch he would notice immediately and drag them with his mouth back to their special spots.
#119
My cat gets really ashamed when he hacks up a hairball. He will sit there looking very sad until its cleaned up. Well one day I was at work when he threw one up, and since there was nobody in the house to clean it up for him, he tried to clean/cover it up it on his own. He found one of my dirty socks I kicked off the day before, unrolled it, and then neatly placed it over the hairball. I still ended up stepping in it though...
#120
My dog is afraid of the smoke alarm.
After a while he discovered the toaster could set the alarm off if toast burned. So he became scared of the toaster.
Eventually he figured out the noise the bread bag made as it preceded the toaster noise, so he became scared of that.
Eventually he figured out the kettle turning in usually accompanied the bread bag noise, so he became scared of that.
Now we have just reached the point that he has figured out the time of day we go into the kitchen to turn on the kettle and open the bread bag, so he has scheduled his fear to that.
I am always blown away how he has been able to figure all this out. Not sure if it is really that smart but it impresses me
#121
My dad had a cockatoo that would mimick the can opener noise and would yell "C'MERE BOYS!" and the dogs would come running into the kitchen expecting dinner.
That's how I learned about 'the boy who cried wolf' and Pavlov's bell.
#122
One of my pet rats was kinda smart. When they would walk around on my bed, they were able to step onto the windowsill. I used to have blinds in front of my window, and the little cord hung over it down to the ground. At the end of the cord there was this little weight.
So my pet rat tried to lift the cord upward, but when of course it kept falling back down because of the little weight. He thought for a minute, and then lifted the cord again, put his front paw on the cord, gripped another part of the cord with his teeth, lifted it upward a little further, put his paw on top of it, etc. He managed to get the rest of the cord and little weight on the windowsill. He did that every day after that.
I thought that was pretty smart.
Also, I used to have 2 rats that could spin around their axis on command. They knew they would get a snack if they did that. So whenever I opened a bag of potato chips (for myself!) They started spinning around like 10 times hoping they would get some. I never give my rats chips, for the record.
#123
One of my dogs would walk next to me without a leash and no matter what he would never bark or leave. All I did was give him attention and take good care of him, he learned all this stuff by observing my behavior. When one of my dogs died he would cry at night and one day I laid on the floor and slept next to him, he started crying even more until one day he became silent again.
#124
I used to have a border collie/German Shepherd mix named ash. We had a 6 foot chain link fence with about an acre-sized backyard for him to roam freely. One day, we couldn’t find him and an hour later he was back in the yard. As his escapes happened more often, I decided to watch him from the window. He would stick his front paws in the fence, pull himself up so his lower legs went in the fence, then put his front paws on top of the fence and climb over it like a goddamn human. He could do it from the other side as well and never hurt himself doing it. I was so impressed I wasn’t even mad at him when he continued doing it for the remainder of his life. He was the smartest animal I ever had.
#125
Probably my emu. He greets me in the staff car park every morning and we have coffee together.
#126
My samoyed knows he can use his nose to turn off my Xbox and get my attention. He always gets a drink of water before going on a walk. He also knows he can sneak more food off of a platter left too close to the edge of the table, if he slowly takes nibbles when nobody is watching, instead of knocking down the whole tray.
#127
We were looking after a friends dog. We came home from work in the evening with a huge pile of dirt by the front door. The dog (unlike every other time we came home) was lying on the couch looking very guilty about something (you know the look). It took us forever to figure out where the dirt came from. We had an old flower pot downstairs on a shelf. The pot had been emptied by the front door and the pot returned to the shelf like nothing had happened.
#128
My friends St. Bernard is about 6 months old.
She's somehow figured out how to lead people to what she wants. She will come up to you and, very gently, grab your hand with her mouth and pull you to where she wants something from.
I was visiting the other day and she took me to the door to let her out back. Later, she took me into the kitchen and kicked her empty water bowl at me.
He has no idea where she learned this, just started doing it one day.
#129
This rescue dog’s behavior is very interesting. Donnie began arranging his toys into complex shapes like triangles, half moons, and parallel lines. Additionally, the toys are often sorted into groups (like all frogs, or all monkeys). He also will put them all face up, or all facedown, or with their little paws touching each other. Animal behaviorists have filmed his behavior and are studying it. They believe Donnie has a real understanding of spatial relationships and some believe he is indeed communicating and creating through artistic expression. Other people have theorized a ghost is instructing Donnie on the arrangement of his toys, or that he is obeying psychic commands from somebody
#130
Our family's border collie would ring the doorbell when he wanted to come in. He was never trained to do it. My dad figures he had learned it from my childhood friends coming over to invite me out to play.
#131
He was a muscly tabby. He knew how to one up me when we played cat games and hid on each side of the long long couch I had. He waited til I would look away for less than a second, and then he would run across the top of the couch and attack my head, claws retracted. So fast! Then he would walk like a lion all proud of himself.
#132
Turns out when the litter box had been used a couple times but not cleaned out, the cats would use the toilet instead. Never did get them to flush though.
#133
My dogs know the name of every person in the household (5 people). You can hand any one of them anything and say a name, and they go running off to find that person.
#134
My cat liked to be in the bathroom with me when I was taking a shower, but halfway through she'd always want to leave. I would leave the door closed but not latched so she could pull it open with her paw. One time I threw my clothes on the floor in front of the door, making it too heavy for her to pull open. I went to open it for her (not having gotten in the shower yet), but before I could, she put her paw on the clothes, pulled them out of the way, and then pulled the door open.
Final score:
18points
#135
During my teens I had a cat and a dog. The dog door that led outside had a door that we could close and lock with a latch. The cat learned how to not only shut the door but lock it as well. So she started locking the dog outside when he went out.
He was a cowardly dog, so really she just had to sit inside in front of the door and he'd be too nervous to come back in.
#136
We used to have this dog when I was younger, she learned how to open our fridge and she would eat almost everything in it. It got so bad that my mom had to buy a child proof lock for our fridge, she ran a daycare so it was always funny when parents asked about it and she had to explain it was for our dog and not the daycare kids.
#137
Obligatory "not a zookeeper" but a volunteer at a rehab place and definitely the turkey vulture. He likes biting things. He greets you at the door every day and loves your shoes and his leash and a Kong. He is like a puppy but in vulture form.
#139
Theo (my dog) really loves hunting. When he sees an animal he will chase it and try to kill it. Sometimes he thinks a log or bag is an animal he could kills and he runs up to it. As soon as he realizes his mistake he does a double take then quickly pretends that he was chasing something else and that he NEVER thought this was an animal! Really cute and funny to see.
Final score:
4points
What do you think ?
Magdalina777 6 years ago
As a kid I lived in a block of flats and the entrance to the house(now replaced with a metal door with a code/key lock) was a simple wooden door, chipped at the bottom corner. Our neighbors had a dog and cat they didn't seem to care for much, but they cared for each other instead:) They'd always sleep together, walk everywhere together and the dog, feeling himself stronger and responsible, would always appear to look after the cat. For instance he'd always open that wooden for her(by grabbing at the chipped corner with his paw) and hold it til she came in(she wasn't strong enough to do that so would have to wait for a human to open it otherwise), then enter himself. A true gentleman :)
JMQ 6 years ago
This is the kind of content I expect from BP. Interesting, amusing and (as far as we know) real.
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Magdalina777 6 years ago
As a kid I lived in a block of flats and the entrance to the house(now replaced with a metal door with a code/key lock) was a simple wooden door, chipped at the bottom corner. Our neighbors had a dog and cat they didn't seem to care for much, but they cared for each other instead:) They'd always sleep together, walk everywhere together and the dog, feeling himself stronger and responsible, would always appear to look after the cat. For instance he'd always open that wooden for her(by grabbing at the chipped corner with his paw) and hold it til she came in(she wasn't strong enough to do that so would have to wait for a human to open it otherwise), then enter himself. A true gentleman :)
JMQ 6 years ago
This is the kind of content I expect from BP. Interesting, amusing and (as far as we know) real.
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