My dog makes me shake my head again.

[The Jungle 1]

Harper and I went out for the morning walk. He decided we were going to the woods, so we went. We are walking and he stops to intently smell a spot. I need to keep an eye on this because one of two things will happen. He will drop a shoulder and roll in it or start eating something. Instead he stops smelling and looks up into the trees. The buzzards are in the tree. He was smelling buzzard squirt. I went over to look.
Did he smell the squirt and know it was buzzard squirt? Is him looking up cognitive thought?
Did he hear the buzzards?
Did he smell the buzzards?
When I looked up they were just sitting there. No movement. I have never had a dog that knows when buzzards and hawks are around. It is kinda weird. When he looks up I know something cool will be up in the tree.
If you grade intelligence by sensory perception then dogs are way smarter than us.

[Irish_Dem]

1. My 8 lb Maltese has the same sense.

If I take her out and she spots something she raises her little left paw, like a hunting dog.
She gets very focused and quiet, staring intently.

Sometimes I can detect what she has spotted, sometimes not.

[iscooterliberally]

2. I was dog sitting for my niece-dog Sadie a couple of months ago.

My brother and his wife were taking a cruise for the week, so my wife and I agreed to let her stay with us. I brought her to work with me every day that week. I work in a small warehouse with a small office. There are no windows. We do have security cameras so I can see right outside our door if anyone comes up. Sadie doesn't make a whole lot of noise and hardly barks at all. She gave a few small growls while I was working at my desk. Every time she growled there was someone walking by outside. I never would have known because I couldn't hear them going by. Sadie knew though. I let my brother and his wife know that if she growls, there's someone or something outside. Sadie is a small pit-bull type dog that was rescued from a field where she had been dumped. It was obvious that she had been bred in the past.

[The Jungle 1]

6. We got a door mat for Christmas

It has a picture of Harper on it and it says : No need to knock I already know you are here.

[iscooterliberally]

7. We have one that says 'Wipe your Paws' on it.

We rescued a black cat a couple of years ago and he used to scratch his paws on it. It was like he could read.

[The Jungle 1]

8. My wife has Harper trained to wipe his feet.

We have a large mat and he will walk back and forth several times to dry his feet. Then he gets a biscuit.
I don't have him trained to do anything. He is my friend and does what he wants. Stay is the only command I have. That is for safety. When we walk in the woods I will say come on let's go this way. Some times he does, some times he does not. Then I go his way.

[MOMFUDSKI]

3. Dogs are beyond smart.

My favorite was a pound hound we adopted at 1-yr old. Looked just like a Gordon Setter. Smartest dog I've ever had. Favorite, too. I still miss her. I could tell stories but I will stop it at SMART.

[Midnight Writer]

4. If I were a Ghost Hunter, I would take dogs into the "haunted house" and watch them.

Every dog I've ever had can "see" ghosts.

[GreenWave]

5. My kitty cat saw me stirring my coffee

When I got back she had inserted her paw and kept stirring!

Who says you can't get good help these days?