How smart do you think dogs are?

There are debates over how intelligent dogs really are, I've always figured they were somewhat intelligent but the thing is they never listen, they get told not to do something, they still do no matter how many times they're corrected.

Well, a couple of weeks back, one of my sister's dogs got a new rope toy and he loves having it tossed so he can go fetch it. When you pick it up he'll start jumping to get it right away; so I picked it up to throw it, and he jumped on me, and his long nails gave me a 3 inch cut in my leg. I mean to say I lost it with him for a second, I yelled at him and spanked him a couple of times, not hard but it got his attention, and I got up to clean the blood off and bandage it, took four bandages to cover it all.

It wasn't anything new because he'd scratched me before because he got too excited and jumped on me, but he had never drawn blood befoe, especially not like that. And I think he knew he was in trouble that time because when I sat down again, he calmly laid down at my feet with the rope toy and just chewed on it. And the next day, he wanted to play but he did not jump on me when I picked it up; it's like when he has a tennis ball, he puts it down at my feet instead of just I'm trying to get it out of his mouth while he's growling at me. And he still hasn't jumped on me again, which is not like him because he's always doing that, but I think that time he knew he'd done something wrong even though he didn't mean to.


Has anybody else had an experience with their dog like this?

I had a dog that was EXTREMELY stubborn and dominant. She was 5yrs old when I got her and not housebroken. She knew I wouldnt let her back in the house until she urinated. So she would squat and pretend to pee, then when she came inside, she would pee right by the front door and stare at me.

The same dog would throw her knot around the room, make it land on a table with food on it, then grab a bag of chips or whatever, off the table and run and hide with it. She also used to put her paw on the door of the toaster oven and my bagels would slide out onto the floor. I was in the house alone and couldnt figure out why my bagels were disappearing from the toaster oven until I video taped her.

Somehow she also knew that my mom had a knee problem, and the only time she wouldnt run would be around my mom. Twas the smartest dog i ever knew

Supernova wrote:There are debates over how intelligent dogs really are, I've always figured they were somewhat intelligent but the thing is they never listen, they get told not to do something, they still do no matter how many times they're corrected.

Well, a couple of weeks back, one of my sister's dogs got a new rope toy and he loves having it tossed so he can go fetch it. When you pick it up he'll start jumping to get it right away; so I picked it up to throw it, and he jumped on me, and his long nails gave me a 3 inch cut in my leg. I mean to say I lost it with him for a second, I yelled at him and spanked him a couple of times, not hard but it got his attention, and I got up to clean the blood off and bandage it, took four bandages to cover it all.

It wasn't anything new because he'd scratched me before because he got too excited and jumped on me, but he had never drawn blood befoe, especially not like that. And I think he knew he was in trouble that time because when I sat down again, he calmly laid down at my feet with the rope toy and just chewed on it. And the next day, he wanted to play but he did not jump on me when I picked it up; it's like when he has a tennis ball, he puts it down at my feet instead of just I'm trying to get it out of his mouth while he's growling at me. And he still hasn't jumped on me again, which is not like him because he's always doing that, but I think that time he knew he'd done something wrong even though he didn't mean to.


Has anybody else had an experience with their dog like this?

It sounds like your story contradicts your suggestion about dogs never listening no matter how many times you tell them. Apparently, your dog is listens now!

You hear some stories of dogs doing very smart things. Then you witness a dog doing something incredibly stupid. The conclusion? Dogs can be both very smart and also very dumb.

captainbryce wrote:It sounds like your story contradicts your suggestion about dogs never listening no matter how many times you tell them. Apparently, your dog is listens now!

That's the thing, he's scratched me before, never changes, this time however, he seemed to really pick up that he'd done something wrong, and I don't get it.

Forgiveness Man wrote:You hear some stories of dogs doing very smart things. Then you witness a dog doing something incredibly stupid. The conclusion? Dogs can be both very smart and also very dumb.

Personally, my dog is really dumb in the fact that she doesn't always listen when I tell to go outside or come back in the house. But she's really smart in the fact that when I say "Where's your bed??" she runs right to the spot where her bed is so I can pick her up.

I think dogs have very smart instincts that come out in peculiar instances. But I've seen some stupid dogs too.