Bella's had me fooled all these years!

980 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by tirluc, Aug 22, 2012

BellaPup

Discussion Starter · Aug 22, 2012 (Edited)

Now I am convinced that Bella is ten times smarter than she lets on.

There was a half-gallon of water sitting on the porch (in a plastic milk container) that I keep handy so I can soak Bella down a little when it becomes too hot outside. She insists on laying in the sun on the hottest of days.

The other day my neighbor and I were sitting on the porch...it was pretty warm out. Bella comes up on the porch, grabs the container by the handle (with her teeth of course), very carefully brings it over to the steps, then very carefully sets it down to get a better grip on it before going down the stairs. She picks it back up and brings it down into the grass. She tried to set it down carefully again, but since the lawn was uneven it ended up tipping over. This very sad expression came about her face when she looked up at us. We were just sitting there staring at her in disbelief…lol. It was like she had done it a million times before.

After I stopped laughing, I got up and poured the rest of the water on her. I swear I could hear her sigh with relief “aaaaaaaahhhhh….that’s much better”. She could have and would have done it herself if she had thumbs…I just know it.

I think our dogs let us think they are the “less intelligent” species. Just have to figure out why. For their amusement? Do they joke about our Human IQ’s while at daycare? “you shoulda been there, Norm. I swear that chick doesn’t have any working brain cells”..LOL

Has your dog(s) done anything that just makes you go "wow...what the....?!"

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Shell

· #2 · Aug 22, 2012

Chester's been staying at my parents' house this past week due to his eye injury and giant cone of shame. My dad likes Chester and has taken care of him when I went on vacation last year but has never tried any sort of training with him. Chester's well trained and smart, but he's very stubborn and hard to train new things if he doesn't see the point of the new task (he still won't fetch- just stares at me like "Why'd you throw it if you wanted it?")

So... he has to get two different eye ointments a total of 5 times per day. Dang dog, without any prompting, learned that when my dad picked up the eye meds tube to walk over, rest his chin on my dad's palm and tilt his head up. Sit perfectly still and then immediately to go the door because my dad rewarded him with going briefly outside after being so good about the meds. I swear it is like Chester understands the meds are there to help him. He had to be called over only the very first time he got the eye meds.

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mcdavis

· #3 · Aug 22, 2012

When my parents were housetraining Hamish they gave him a doggie choc treat when he pee'd outside, so he started a routine of drinking water, going outside to pee then getting his treat. He did this about 10 times, then we heard a banging noise from the kitchen - he'd taken his now empty water bowl over to the sink area and was banging it against the cupboard to tell us he needed more because no water = no peeing = no treat!.

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Amaryllis

· #4 · Aug 22, 2012

I don't think they're laughing at us, I think they've figured out that the dumber we think they are, the less we expect of them. Clever, lazy puppies!

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Avery

· #5 · Aug 22, 2012

Amaryllis said:
I don't think they're laughing at us, I think they've figured out that the dumber we think they are, the less we expect of them. Clever, lazy puppies!

Exactly! If they let on how smart they are, they'd have to do so much more work.

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Shell

· #6 · Aug 22, 2012

Amaryllis said:
I don't think they're laughing at us, I think they've figured out that the dumber we think they are, the less we expect of them. Clever, lazy puppies!

So they are like the spouse that "accidentally" breaks the dishes when washing up? Or shrinks the clothes in the dryer? Very smart creatures for sure then

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dagwall

· #7 · Aug 22, 2012

Shell said:
Chester's been staying at my parents' house this past week due to his eye injury and giant cone of shame. My dad likes Chester and has taken care of him when I went on vacation last year but has never tried any sort of training with him. Chester's well trained and smart, but he's very stubborn and hard to train new things if he doesn't see the point of the new task (he still won't fetch- just stares at me like "Why'd you throw it if you wanted it?")

So... he has to get two different eye ointments a total of 5 times per day. Dang dog, without any prompting, learned that when my dad picked up the eye meds tube to walk over, rest his chin on my dad's palm and tilt his head up. Sit perfectly still and then immediately to go the door because my dad rewarded him with going briefly outside after being so good about the meds. I swear it is like Chester understands the meds are there to help him. He had to be called over only the very first time he got the eye meds.

Haha I'm jealous. Jubel has needed eye drops for infections about 5 times now and it's still a pain to administer them. I have to hold a treat between my fingers in one hand and position it just right so the eye I need to treat is positioned for a drop... Even then I have to aim for the corner of his eye with his head tilted slightly up so the drop will roll into the eye rather than out. He knows it's coming and has the eye to be treated closed, the other is still open haha. He's winking at me. Not the most effective dosing method but it does get the job done in the end. If he saw me grab the drops and presented himself for treatment I'd be floored.

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Amaryllis

· #8 · Aug 22, 2012

Shell said:
So they are like the spouse that "accidentally" breaks the dishes when washing up? Or shrinks the clothes in the dryer? Very smart creatures for sure then

I have deep suspicions about my husband and laundry. I mean, the man can read wiring diagrams, why can't he figure out how much detergent to put in?

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mcdavis

· #9 · Aug 22, 2012

Shell said:
So they are like the spouse that "accidentally" breaks the dishes when washing up? Or shrinks the clothes in the dryer? Very smart creatures for sure then

My Dad always used to tell my husband that the best way to avoid household chores was to do them badly!!

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Abbylynn

· #10 · Aug 22, 2012

BellaPup - That is just too awesome! I have always said that I do not care what science says about the canine intelligence ... that they are smarter than any one gives them credit for ... and I stand steadfast on this opinion!

So far Leeo was the one to make me just say "No Way!" ... the day he actually came over and sat down in front of me and said "Ouuuut!" I thought it was a fluke! It wasn't. He asked to go outside this way the rest of his life.

.... or the day Leeo jumped up and hit the door handle ... the lever kind ... and opened the door to go out on the front deck! Lol! .... Leeo was just full of "No Ways!"

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tirluc

· #11 · Aug 22, 2012

my kids do things all the time that i say "now, how the #@!! did you know to do that?" you'd think after 15 yrs of Border Collies, i'd be used to it....never underestimate them, they'll outsmart you every time

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