Don’t let their cuteness fool you — dogs and cats are extremely intelligent animals!
This goes beyond knowing how to sit, bark (or meow) on command, or lie down. Some dogs and cats possess the smarts to allow them to do amazing things like jump over a fence like a human, alert their owners to life-threatening issues in a house, and even save their owner’s life.
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Read on as pet owners share the most intelligent moments from their pets!
The runaway
When this Redditor was a kid, they had two dogs: a Pyrenean Shepherd and a Labrador Retriever. The first was smart, while the ladder, well, was goofy. When the lab ran away one day, the family didn’t realize until the Shepherd came back holding the runaway dog by its leash!
The thief
“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 childproof 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.” -u/ Willsy15
The escapee
This Redditor used to have a border collie/German shepherd mix AKA a smart dog breed! After the dog kept getting out of their yard, the Redditor decided to watch them from the window. They would stare in amazement as the dog 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 human.
The rescue kitty
“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.” – u/ basepair86
The medic
A dog truly is man’s best friend. When this Redditor’s grandmother fell while at home, their dog ran all around the place looking for another person. When he didn’t find anyone, he lay down and sat with her until she found the strength to stand up again. So sweet.
The alarm clock
“My cat is a sadist. She has learned my work/school schedule and if I’m not getting up in the morning, she will step on the button of my CPAP machine, causing me took choke and wake up. If I have a panic attack, she meows until I pick her up and pet her, until I calm down.” – u/ MilleGirl
The warning
Discovering your dog or cat has puked on the floor is one of the worst surprises an owner can find. So this Redditor is extremely lucky that his German Shepherd lets him know he’s about to vomit and needs to be let out by nudging his owner’s legs, licking his lips, and then running to the back door. Oh, if only our cat had this skill!
The water bowl
“My cat uses her claw to make her water bowl ring like a bell. I’m apparently the servent being called to refresh the water.” -u/ Toyotabedzrocksc
The hairball
No one likes hairballs, including cats. When this Redditor’s cat threw up one, there was no one there to clean it up. So the ashamed cat tried to cover it up on his own by unrolling a dirty sock and placing it over the hairball. “I still ended up stepping in it though…”
The slap
“I don’t know about intelligent but it was rude: I was sitting at the kitchen table using my laptop and singing. My cat came from across the house, hopped up on the table, and slapped me across the face.” -u/ King_margot
The street crossing
What did the dog do before it crossed the road? Since it’s not a chicken, we don’t know the answer to that joke. BUT this one dog would look both ways before crossing the street. When they saw a car coming, they backed off and only crossed after the car had passed.
The loose hamster
“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.” – u/ Cripnite
The helping hand
This Redditor lives in a home with really smooth wood floors. When they went around a corner too fast one night and slipped, they laid down stunned on the floor for a while. Their dog ended up trying to rescue them by wiggling her body underneath her owner and then standing up, almost as if she was lifting her owner’s body up on hers.
The heart attack
“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.” – u/ babybirb
The awakening
While getting woken up in the middle of the night by your dog is annoying, sometimes it’s necessary. This Redditor’s dog woke up his owner in the middle of the night and looked deeply into their eyes to let them know that they really had to use the washroom. When they took the dog out, it had the biggest poop they had ever seen him take.
The house fire
“My cat hid under a comforter when my house caught on fire when I wasn’t home. It saved his life because the layers of the comforter acted as an air filter and saved him from dying of smoke inhalation.” – u/ BohoBri
The older brother
When this Redditor was trying to teach their husky the command “paw,” they weren’t getting it. After about five minutes of watching, their lab mix came over and puts his paw in their owner’s hand to show his brother how it’s done.
The border collie
“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.” – u/ KinkedThinking
The trip to grandma’s house
“My dog got out of yard one time when we weren’t home. He went to my parents house that’s about a half a mile away and started scratching on the door for my dad.” – u/ prit125
H/T: Reddit
