Look, every pet parent believes that their baby is the smartest in the world no matter what, and, every once and a while, they do something genuinely INTELLIGENT to prove it.
Well this week Reddit user Gnostic28 asked, "What’s the smartest thing you’ve seen your pet do?" and it 100% confirmed what we already knew: All of our pets are geniuses and deserve the world.
Here are just a few tales (or, should I say, TAILS) of some brilliantly good boys and girls:
1. This police pup:
"Our cat likes to jump on the counter and our dog is always looking for a job, so he's observed us yelling at the cat to get off. Nowadays, the dog will notice when the cat is preparing to jump on the counter and he will intervene to shoo him for us and, if he catches the cat already on the counter, he will come get us and bring us over so we can get the cat off the counter."
2. This faultless faker:
"My cattle dog was chasing the cat and, when I stopped him, he pretended that he had a hurt paw so he didn’t get in trouble. I was panicking and he looked very pleased and tried pretending the OTHER paw was also hurt while putting full weight on his first 'hurt' one."
3. This buddy comedy:
"My cat knocks packaged food items off the countertop, waits for the dog to tear them open, and then moves in for the prize."
4. This teamwork (making the dreamwork):
"We used to have a basset hound with an iron stomach. To keep her out of the trash, we put the can up on a step stool so she couldn't reach it, but somehow she kept getting in the trash and we couldn't figure out how. That is, until one day when we caught the cat getting on the window sill near the trash and knocking it over for the dog."
5. This genuine genius:
"We had one cat that was scary smart. He used to open the kitchen cabinets and sit inside the pans, so my husband bought a pack of baby proofing latches. The cat sat and watched while my husband installed the first one and tested it. Then, while maintaining eye contact, the cat reached over and flicked open the baby-proofed cabinet door on the first try."
6. This noise-maker:
"My cat used to get up early and would want my parents to get up to feed her right away. She would jump on the dresser and basically threaten to knock stuff over. First, she'd start with my dad's watch and inch it closer to the edge until it fell, then she would go to my mom's jewelry box and start inching that closer to the edge. They always got up before she pushed the jewelry box."
7. This lazy rebel:
"I had a pet rat named Rudi that was equal parts smart and lazy. He always moved his food bowl around until it sat just under the hem of his hammock. He would then proceed to lay in said hammock, letting his head hang over the edge into the food bowl, so he could eat while lying down."
8. This snuggle monster:
"I had a pet rat named Ramona who was too smart for her own good. More than once she broke out of her cage from the top hatch to come find us to get snuggles. The kicker was that she would CLOSE the hatch behind her, so the other three rats I had couldn't get out. She knew they would take away from her snuggle time."
9. This treat-seeker:
"My dog's favorite toy is this snowman-shaped toy that you fill with treats and it drops the treats the more they play with it. Basically, one day he figured out the more it bounced, the more likely treats were going to come out. In the middle of the night, my husband woke up because of a loud constant pounding noise. The dog was running to the top of the stairs, dropping this toy down the steps, then running down and collecting all the treats that had fallen out. On repeat."
10. This excited traveler:
"My parents were about to leave to pick me up, and my mom was telling my dad, “Well, I don’t know where her (my dog’s) harness is so she can’t go with us.” My dog then proceeded to go FIND HER OWN HARNESS and carry it to my mom so she could go. We've never been able to get her to do it again."
11. This sunbathing beauty:
"Our cat knows how to raise the roller shade on his favorite window for 'sunbathing.' He puts his paw in the ring and raises the shade to the desired height, but never lets it go right to the top."
12. This cat doctor:
"One morning my cat just started fussing over my mom. Later when my mom sat down on the sofa, the cat got into her lap, which was bizarre because the cat literally only ever sat in my dad's lap. We were so confused.
Then, out of nowhere, my mom's heart started beating at over 200 B.P.M. She suffers from recurring episodes of tachycardia, which she has to go to hospital for. When she got home, the cat had calmed down, and we all realized that the cat had seen it coming! We have no clue how."
13. This brilliant begger:
"My wife and I have two dogs. Whenever we are eating and they detect the slightest chance of them getting some food, our female dog will go up to the door and let out a bark. The male dog will then go to the door, thinking that someone is there, and the female dog will come back to us and beg. It's almost as if she's saying, 'I promise I won't tell the other idiot you gave me food!'"
14. This babysitter:
"Every time our baby starts crying, my husky gently rocks his cradle back and forth to calm him, he even manages to calm him better than me!"
15. This cat catcher:
"One day when I was bringing in the groceries, I didn't close the door and my (indoor) cat ran outside. Well, my dog saw this happen, ran outside, chased the cat down the street, grabbed him by the head, and brought him back home."
16. This pair of purrrfection:
"My cat routinely comes to me and paws at my leg to get my attention, then leads me to the medicine cabinet where I keep my migraine meds, because she can tell when I'm developing a migraine. She's never wrong.
My other cat, well, he's Siamese, and I swear he's trying to speak English half the time. He doesn't just yowl when he wants the water dishes refilled, he makes a solid attempt to say 'water.' Every so often, he'll make a long speech, and be very disappointed when us humans don't understand him."
17. And finally, this sweet savior:
"I suffer from night terrors and my cat is the only being capable of waking me up. He does this by laying down on my chest, extending both his paws to the back of my neck, and kneeding my skin gently, but rough enough for me to wake up. He always purrs loudly into my left ear — only ever the left ear. He’s definitely not a lap/chest cat and never stays for long after; just long enough for me to calm down.
I know you’ll never read this, because you are a cat, but thanks for being there in those dreadful moments, Dave."
So, can your brilliant baby top these stories? What's the smartest thing YOUR pet has ever done? Share in the comments below!
Some thread entries have been edited for length or clarity. H/T Reddit.