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Blue_Tires

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41. When I was a kid I'd observe the family dog for sometimes up to an hour or two

Tue Mar 27, 2012, 04:58 PM

Mar 2012

Because she was playful but stubborn, erratic, disobedient, so our family just kind of dismissed her as "dumb"...
I was always curious on what made her bark, what got certain reactions from her, why she went certain routes or why she sat and slept in certain spots, did she ever feel happy or sad??...It was all a mystery to me then, but as an adult and reading about animal behavior makes me so sad sometimes because it strikes me like lightning -- "OH! That's why she did x,y,z!! THAT'S what she was trying to tell us all those times! This is what I should have done!", etc.

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Minds of their Own - Animals are smarter than you think. [View all] xchrom Mar 2012 OP

Alex was pretty damned amazing arcane1 Mar 2012 #1

Earth abides Godot51 Mar 2012 #14

My dog Chilli talks to me all the time. But I can not understand her. CAPHAVOC Mar 2012 #34

... Scuba Mar 2012 #2

That's really neat. lob1 Mar 2012 #4

Cool article. Thanks! Luminous Animal Mar 2012 #3

Meet Chaser pokerfan Mar 2012 #5

I saw that special! get the red out Mar 2012 #8

Marking for later Lucky Luciano Mar 2012 #6

humans are animals too (nt) varelse Mar 2012 #7

EXACTLY! Moostache Mar 2012 #22

I couldn't have said it better. UnrepentantLiberal Mar 2012 #25

Maybe our successors will varelse Mar 2012 #45

Yup, my parrots ADM me "talk" regularly nadinbrzezinski Mar 2012 #9

I have a sun conure, a cockateil and an african grey Mojorabbit Mar 2012 #11

We used to have a cockatiel nadinbrzezinski Mar 2012 #16

if you were to watch Orcas you'd get the same feel onethatcares Mar 2012 #10

I swear my cat can hear me think Skittles Mar 2012 #12

Mine can read the calendar. hamsterjill Mar 2012 #36

yes, my Riff Raff reads a calendar too! Skittles Mar 2012 #38

Precious!!!!! hamsterjill Mar 2012 #39

Ha! Hawkowl Mar 2012 #46

I tell you Hawkowl Skittles Mar 2012 #47

I have a dog that's half border collie Vattel Mar 2012 #13

Border collies are considered the smartest canine breed. nt tblue37 Mar 2012 #23

Growing up, my mom and I adopted a gorgeous truedelphi Mar 2012 #15

We have an African Grey Parrot, Sammy. xtraxritical Mar 2012 #31

Oh too I have dreamt about a society where the truedelphi Mar 2012 #32

Obviously they're intelligent, no animal has ever voted Repukelican...nt joeybee12 Mar 2012 #17

Are you implying that they have voted for democrats? hootinholler Mar 2012 #20

Probably in Illinois they have. nt. harmonicon Mar 2012 #24

Here is the Amazing Skidboot, some say the smartest dog in the world. crunch60 Mar 2012 #18

Thanks for that, a beautiful story. AnotherDreamWeaver Mar 2012 #29

Love Texas Country Reporter. ceile Mar 2012 #30

What a good dog. Thanks for posting snagglepuss Mar 2012 #37

Does anyone know if it's possible that two parrots can speak and understand each other bloomington-lib Mar 2012 #19

I don't know about parrots, but I read somewhere that chimps who have been taught sign language aint_no_life_nowhere Mar 2012 #21

And we all know where that leads, don't we? bluedigger Mar 2012 #26

Coyotes teach their young to avoid traps. UnrepentantLiberal Mar 2012 #27

no they are not magical thyme Mar 2012 #28

One night, back when my spoue was in school most nights, truedelphi Mar 2012 #33

I think a cat saved my life. They have deep instincts. crunch60 Mar 2012 #40

Wow. Great stories from many here. Kaleko Mar 2012 #42

That is one awesome story. Thanks for telling it to us. truedelphi Mar 2012 #44

And they laugh. jtuck004 Mar 2012 #35

When I was a kid I'd observe the family dog for sometimes up to an hour or two Blue_Tires Mar 2012 #41

It must be terrible to not be able to speak or write English. Trillo Mar 2012 #43

That was delightful! Thank you so much for sharing it here! BeHereNow Mar 2012 #48