Having pets is great. It’s like having a live-in best friend that will never get sick of you. But sometimes it’s easy to forget that they’re not human.
Here are some stories from Redditors whose pets might actually be approaching a level of human intelligence…maybe.
Source at the end of the article. Comments edited for clarity.
My dog, nightly, will get up and paw at the door to be let out. ~75% of the time as soon as I get up she hops into my spot and curls into a dog ball.
NoeJose
Every morning for breakfast I always eat fruit and that weekend there was a farmers market selling fruit for cheap so I bought a TON. I couldn’t fit them in the fridge so I left a few bags on the side in the dining room.
I kid you not, I woke up and was surprised to see an apple next to me. Over the next few days, my dog would get up in the morning, go in the bag, and get a fruit to put next to me on the bed. He proceeded to do this for the next two weeks until we ran out. I thought it was the cutest thing ever but a part of me is like woah.
Meizhenxue
I would do the old trick when my cat yawns to stick my finger in his mouth – dunno why I do it, I guess it’s just funny to see his expression when boom!, suddenly finger.
So the other day he is sitting on my lap, and I yawn, he wakes up and does a stretch, perfectly putting his paw in my mouth – boom! suddenly paw.
Still no idea if by accident or if planned. His smug expression afterwards makes me lean towards the latter.
Reapr
One of my cats learned how to turn the internet off. I mean, he realized everybody goes crazy when he goes behind the TV stand and messes up with the wires.
So when we’re not paying enough attention to him (usually if we’re on our phones or the computer), he just unplugs the router. I don’t think he knows how much power he has.
claustrophobiic
My dog knows my caller ID. I sometimes need to call home from my cell, and our home phone “speaks” the incoming call’s caller ID. The only time my dog ever howls is when I call and the answering machine says my ID. She’s done it when my mom is off somewhere else in the house and can’t hear the phone ringing. She doesn’t do it for any other phone call, even if I’m not home. I also tried calling while I’m still home to see if I can get her to howl, but she just looks at me like I’m an idiot.
ModernenMedizen
My dog has two bowls: one for food and one for water. Whenever I give her some crushed ice to lick in the water bowl, she’ll pick up chunks of the ice and put them in the food bowl instead. Apparently, solids = food bowl, even if said solids turn into water.
ModernenMedizen
My dog understands Christmas.
As in, he will sit where the tree goes throughout November. Once the tree is up, he’ll lie beside it crying. Once there are presents, he’ll paw at them and carry them to us because he wants to open them. On Christmas he starts trying to wake everyone up around 5 and begins howling around 7.
And I kid you not, he will open his presents like a 5 or 6 year old and excitedly run around with a toy or treat for a minute before looking for the next present. One year we had less than 5 things for him to open, so he stole a present from me.
mr-nichtus
One of my dogs knows how to open door handles. The other one can’t even figure out that he’s not supposed to eat rocks. It’s a mixed bag with my pets.
okraebop
My cat figured out how to fill up my bathtub. He learned how to close the drain and would turn the water handle and would just sit there and watch the tub slowly fill up. It took me weeks to figure out what was going on.
Mr-Havera
When I get asked to do some things, I’ll groan jokingly and do the thing anyway.
Now, when I call my dog while she was sleeping or if I accidentally nudge her at the foot of the bed, then she groans with attitude like I would.
Kind of adorable, kind of freaky.
ProN00bMan
When my dad was having a difficult time in life he moved into my apartment. He’s really into sports and mostly deaf so when he enthusiastically cheers for his beloved Detroit Tigers, he doesn’t realize how loud he is.
One early evening while I was asleep (because I work midnights) the Tigers scored or something and my dad loses his mind, which woke me and my cat up. I grumbled and closed my eyes but my cat Mike, was not having it. She walked into the living room and all I hear is my dad go “Oh, sorry. I’ll be quiet.” And then my cat walked back into my room, jumped back on the bed and we both went back to sleep.
KevinsMonster
We had a Dachshund growing up and he could tell when my mom was going to have a seizure. He would start circling her over and over, barking.
Ironically, he ended up with epilepsy himself but it didn’t shorten his lifespan. They helped each other out. He lived 17.5 years! I miss that dog.
utumnx
I had a cat that learned how to open the fridge, and then my dog started begging my cat for food. And then the cat started getting into the fridge just to feed the dog.
I patiently await the day where my pets decide to overthrow me and have me fixed. I’m not fighting it, that’ll only make it worse in the long run.
wererat2000
My birds steal batteries out of electronics. Remotes, beard trimmers, fire alarms, you name it. They don’t do anything with the batteries, just take them out and then laugh at me and dance when I find them.
Pyrhhus
My cats teamed up and got the tub of butter off the kitchen worktop, took it outside, removed the lid and had an all you can eat butter party.
onefortysevenone
We used to keep my childhood dog in the garage while we were at school. She once found an old garage door opener, figured out how it worked, and buried it in an old dead potted plant in the garage…
When we left for the day she would nose around in the dead plant till the door opened and go play with the neighbor’s dog in their living room…because she also figured out how to open their sliding door and let herself in.
Naonack87
One of my cats systematically tests for weaknesses in my door. He jingles my keys on the wall, he KNOWS that that noise gets that door to open. He’s finally managed to unlock the deadbolt with his little paw. If that menace could turn the doorknob he’d be gone.
jennthemermaid
Everyday when my brother and I pull in the driveway from school we can see our dog on my brother’s bed in the window above the garage, where he knows he isn’t allowed to be. When we walk into the house he is laying behind the living room couch and he picks his head up and looks at us like he’s been sleeping there all day.
Elephant5619
They figured out that if they want the toy or bone the other has, to go to the front door and bark like a stranger is walking up to the house. When the other dog shows up to assist in barking, run like hell to get the toy. It’s not just clever but dishonest in the worst kinda way.
colintrax
I had a yabbie in my freshwater tank that is a genius. I one day watched him gather some food pellets into his cave, wait for the fish today eat the rest then a few minutes later place them in front of the cave entrance, then attacked and ate a fish that came to eat the pellets.
He stockpiled his meal to later bait an even better meal. That fish is in his own tank now.
cfb_rolley
My cat learned to say my my parakeet’s name. Marmalade apparently isn’t a difficult name to mimic in cat-speak.
anafunlaxis
My dog is afraid of the smoke alarm.
After a while he discovered the toaster could set the alarm off if toast burned. So he became scared of the toaster.
Eventually he figured out the noise the bread bag made as it preceded the toaster noise, so he became scared of that.
Eventually he figured out the kettle turning on usually accompanied the bread bag noise, so he became scared of that.
Now we have just reached the point that he has figured out the time of day we go into the kitchen to turn on the kettle and open the bread bag, so he has scheduled his fear to that.
I am always blown away how he has been able to figure all this out. Not sure if it is really that smart but it impresses me.
YoureNotAGenius
Watching TV one day and someone rang a door bell on the show. My dog jumped up and ran to the front door. But we have never had a doorbell, so why did he associate the bell with the door? Rewound it and played that bit again… Same thing!
echjul
I have two Russian blue cats that hate each other. One has a crinkle toy that it loves. Long story short: the other cat took her paw and crinkled the toy three times, then walked slowly behind the corner to wait for the other cat to come into the room so she could beat her up.
werd_the_ogrecl
On Christmas eve I was wrapping the cat’s favourite treats because I’m that person.
The 3 boys weren’t too fussed about this but Amber, the princess, wanted the treats now. Of course she’s a cat and has no concept of Christmas so I gave her one of her normal treats and put the presents away.
She was not amused by this.
Now the thing about Amber is that she NEVER came upstairs. She had tiny lil legs that made the journey too long so she commandeered the down stairs instead.
But that night I was woken up by weird cat chirping. I opened my eyes and on the shelf eye level across from me was Amber. I was confused as to why she was up stairs and how she got on my shelf. As I was thinking this, whilst maintaining eye contact she stuck out a paw and swiped one action figure off the shelf. I didn’t react at first so she did another. And another. By the third I realised what she was doing and I said her name in shock. So she hopped off the shelf and left my room like it was nothing.
And that confirmed my suspicions that Amber held grudges. And exacted revenge.
aerohail
Remus usually uses his brains for evil, but he’s remarkably good at knowing when I have nightmares and waking me up, often before I realize that the nightmare is happening. He sleeps right next to me and always has to be touching me with his paw so that he knows when something is up – best cat ever.
He’s also remarkable at knowing when I’m depressed and need to get moving/out of the house/go do something. I’ve got a housemate who’s allergic to cats, so he stays in my bedroom or with me in my office while I’m working and if he notices I’m spending too much time laying in bed, he’ll go scratch and meow at the door and generally making a ruckus to get me up, moving, and working. What’s even neater is he somehow knows the difference between me chilling because I’m on vacation or have the flu or something and won’t bother me then.
Violist03
My white german shepherd lab mix knows how to steal chicken off the counter, lick up any oil, hide the bones, then come back to us with the most devilishly cute smile on her face.
Meesha, you’re super cute but you can be the worst.
thenewicyjiub
I have three dogs. One of them is an avid fetch player, one is lazy and one is a bully. The dog that loves fetch will bring you a ball, drop it on your lap and give you a look until you throw it.
The bully will systematically go out of her way to get the fetch ball and put it in the toy box we have for them, because the fetching dog can’t get into the box without help.
ZJake12