Intelligent pets

At one point we had two greyhounds and one collie, who had abeen left tied to a lamppost outside Tesco for 24hrs before we took him. He knew the difference between the suitcases we took on holiday in this country, where the dogs would come, and our ‘abroad’ cases where they would go into kennels. The greyhound ps didn’t, and would get excited regardless.When it was obvious to him they were going into kennels he would look st the others with an expression that clearly said” you haven’t got a clue have you...” ?

What a great thread! I have laughed out and been touched by the compassion these dogs and cats show. My last dog died 11 years ago and I occasionally dog sit for friends when they travel, so I get my 'fix' of doggy love.

My friend's dog would race her to 'answer' the phone - when we all had landlines and an instrument with a receiver - and would knock the receiver off and 'talk'. My parent's cat would open doors - they had large circular china doorknobs and he would jump up and put his paws round the doorknob, wriggle until the door opened and then swing into the room and drop gracefully. Our notoriously greedy Labrador could open the fridge with one flick of the paw, and select a snack. That little game was stopped as soon as we caught her doing it.

I had many dogs over the years, but still miss a rescue dog. He was a Parsons Jack Russel and spent early years with young people who taught him to beg for his food. I soon stopped him doing that. He was a naughty escapologist. Several times he escaped. He was microchipped so always came back. I taught him to wink at me, but it backfired when I had a couple visit me, and I was accused of winking at the husband because my dog was sat on his lap. She did not believe a dog could wink. Never saw them again

I forgot to mention that my border collie ignored most TV programs but loved "One man and his dog," the program about sheep herding by collies. She used to watch it intently. Once when the sheep ran to the left of the screen and disappeared she ran to the side of the TV and looked to see if they were coming out... maybe that wasn't so intelligent after all.

My late brother and his wife took their golden spaniel on holiday with them. They were in a camper with a tent top. After making it secure, or so they thought, they nipped to the local shop to get some milk. When they returned the little dog was sitting at the gate to the site, waiting for them to come back for her.

I had a cat who regularly knocked an egg off the holder then patted it along the worktop till it fell off and smashed on the floor giving him a tasty treat.
The same cat guddled fish out of a neighbour’s pond on more than one occasion, strangely enough he never seemed to hunt for mice.

We had a border collie that was uncannily clever. We always kept the car keys in a certain place. If the dog was shut up in another room, no matter how quiet you were, she always knew if you picked up those keys but only barked if you were actually going out. We tested it many times even to putting a coat on, but she never got it wrong.

My husband and I always walked our two dogs up the lane to a field where we walked around and let the dogs play together. One morning I decided to wash my hair instead of going on the walk. My husband went off with the dogs while I washed my hair. A few minutes later I was towelling my hair and I heard barking outside. I opened the window to see my younger dog looking up and me and barking as if to say "Come out! You are missing a lovely walk!"

I don't think that I have ever had an intelligent pet. They have all been lovable nitwits.

Our neighbour took her dog to the park and lost him. After searching for ages she went back to her car. To her surprise he was waiting there!

One of my cats tries to answer the phone.

Lovely stories! I have a rescue dog from Greece who is as smart as paint, but the loveliest thing he’s done is taught himself to smile when one of the family comes home. I guess he’s learned to copy us when we’re pleased to see each other, as he never does it any other time, but only when one of us comes through the door and he rushes to welcome them. It’s very sweet.

I've never had a clever cat, only independent minded types.

My dogs have all been great members of the family. Willing to learn to do some things to please me. They all know exactly where we are on regular car journeys. Our lovely old rescue would sleep for the 200 mile journey to Nannie's house then wakeup and sit up as soon as we turned the roundabout before the left turn to her house

This is a lovely thread, a real reflection of the joy the animals we share our lives with bring.

Our dog is very intelligent being a security dog trained to find people and keep his master safe

My message should have been addressed to Hetty

That could only be done by aJR

Our little australian shepherd Jersey knows the sounds of our visitors vehicles, especially our youngest son's. For a few years he had both an old jeep and a motorcycle. Whenever I was walking her and an older model jeep or that brand of motorcycle drove by, her ears went up and she got excited.

She goes mad barking at the vacuum cleaner, and knows our morning routine, waiting eagerly at the broom closet for it to come out of it's lair so she can destroy it.

We had a cat who would climb the fence and meow just below my son's bedroom window, and he swears she was calling his name.

About 20 years ago we had a male cat named Rusty.
For the longest time we couldn't figure out why we never had notification that we had a new message on the telephone. The phone had a built in answering feature to leave a message. When there was an unheard message the button would be flashing red.
One day I was home but outside and when I came in I saw Rusty pushing the flashing red light to listen to the message.

When I was a little girl our Heinz 57 dog used to walk down to the newsagent every morning, collect the paper and bring it home.

My old auntie lived in the Kielder forest and had a black labrador. Can't remember his name. ?Rex?
One day she told him she was going to get the bus to visit her friend, a few miles away.
When she got off the bus, there was Rex
Maybe apocryphal.
Our border collie used to talk to me - like Sadie -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6TUSfU7nlc&pbjreload=101

We lived in a quiet residential area. If we went out on foot through the area, the cat would follow us - it was disconcerting the first few times. Eventually we'd look round and he would have disappeared. However, on our way home we would find him waiting just at the point where we'd lost him and he'd follow us the rest of the way home.

My grandad used go breed greyhounds for racing. His favourite, Maisie, would go down and get on the bus that took them to the track. Luckily the driver knew her.

I had a tortoiseshell cat called Dinah. She was the runt of the litter I think and was rather small. She occasionally got cystitis and used to let me know by jumping into the bath and peeing down the plug hole so that I would see the blood. That's what i call clever.

These are lovely and funny stories!

Our two Russian Blue rescue cats are both as thick as bricks. RB’s are supposed to be a ‘natural’ breed of cat, in that they exist in nature, they haven’t been bred that way. I cannot possibly imagine how our two could have survived on the Russian Steppes, as they are completely helpless. Otoh, they have Dh trained to cater to their every whim, so maybe they’re not as dumb as they seem.

My mum tells the story of the dog her family had when she was young. He used to get on the bus with her father to go to work, then get off when he did. He would say goodbye to the dog, the dog would go to a nearby butcher and get a titbit of some sort then catch the next bus home and be back before my mum went to school!