We love our pets — they’re cute, cuddly, offer you unconditional love, and are often smart as absolute hell.
Recently, Reddit user SakutoJefa asked, “Pet owners, what was that moment that made you think ‘wow, I have severely underestimated the intelligence of my pets?'” Not only were the stories adorable and hilarious, but I have to admit I was incredibly impressed by many of these. I think some people’s pets may be smarter than a lot of people I know, TBH! Here’s what everyone had to say:
1. “We have an elevator inside our home since it’s hard for my grandparents to use the stairs. I just found out that my dog knows how to use it too after watching us a few times. 😂 He figured out which buttons take him to which floors, too.”
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2. “My cat learned how to photocopy blank pages to warm up the machine for peak naps.”
Related: Most People Can’t Identify These North American Animals — Let’s See If You Can Name Even 7
3. “A couple of years ago, I got talked into adopting an elderly, arthritic Amazon parrot with chronic sinusitis. He was confined to a cage for a long time and was not well socialized. He only ever said three or four words, but mimicked a variety of other bird sounds. Last summer, my husband went on a short trip, and the parrot barely seemed to notice.”
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“After my husband got back, we settled in with some food to chat about the trip. The bird was perched next to us. During a lull in the conversation, our parrot made a low throat-clearing sound and then, with perfect clarity, asked, ‘Where’d you go?’ We both almost fell out of our chairs, but I’m so glad I had a witness, or I’d spend the rest of my life second-guessing what I’d heard. The bird has never said this, or any other full sentence, since then.”
—u/nrz242
4. “I taught our labrador to shut the back door when she came in from the yard. We’d leave the door just barely unlatched so she could nose it open and come in whenever she wanted. Once she was in, she’d push the door fully shut and go find a human who would have heard the door bang shut so she could get a treat. Then she started shutting the pantry or bathroom door, hoping to claim a treat from someone in another room.”
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5. “My cat gets zoomies at night and likes to pounce around on the bed, even when I’m under the covers. So sometimes she’ll hop all over me but not really acknowledge my presence. One week, I was in bed recovering from hip surgery, and my cat was doing her usual thing, but this time, as she was zooming past, one of her paws grazed my hip. She then stopped, turned back around, and started making biscuits where my surgery incision was.”
“After five minutes, she went about her day. The next day, she hopped on the bed, sat on top of me, and kneaded my hip again, exactly where the doctor had made the incision. I can’t tell if it was sympathy or if she was sending healing vibes. But now I know she’s willing to help if she thinks something’s wrong. Cats definitely don’t get enough credit.”
—u/Cerulean_Zen
6. “My rat, Kate, would regularly escape from her cage, and it was usually so she could sleep in bed with me. I often woke up to her snuggled up by my neck. She also walked on a leash, did twirls, and would give kisses on demand. It’s been 40 years, and my family still talks about her. She was a very good rat.”
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—u/Vanviator
7. “I’ve overslept before and have had my cat wake me up in time to get to work on time. She’ll just sit right next to me and start poking/pawing my nose.”
—u/axiswolfstar
8. “I have two dogs who are six years apart in age. The older one always takes all the toys from the younger one, then plays with them on her own. The younger one eventually learned that if he wanted to play with something, he should first go grab a toy that he didn’t want, she’d come take it from him, then he would grab his favorite. They’d both have what they wanted. “
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—u/732
9. “I once made a sandwich and set it down on the coffee table. My dog was watching me, and then he ran off to the front door barking. I assumed there must have been someone there, so I went to check. My dog ran back towards the living room while I opened the door. No one was there. I went back to the living room to find that my lunch was gone, and my dog was in his bed pretending to be asleep. He was squinting and would shut his eyes when I looked straight at him. Genius, thieving asshole. LOL.”
10. “My parrot once repeated my breakup rant word for word — to my new boyfriend.”
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11. “A while back, we were doing a family movie night with our young-ish kids, and they all ran to their rooms to grab blankies to cozy up for the movie. Our Pyrenees/retriever mix ran to her crate and dragged her blanket to the TV too. It was adorable.”
—u/RootBoy42
12. “I had a pet pig named Potter. His bed and blankets were in the living room by a window. One night, he was sleeping in bed, so I quietly stepped by his bed and closed the curtains. While pulling the curtains closed, I felt a mouth gently close on the back of my ankle. It didn’t hurt at all, but spooked me, so I jumped back and screamed. Potter literally laughed and honked at me, then cuddled back up into his blankets to go to bed. Such a playful guy! I always knew he was super intelligent and emotional, but after that, it really drove it home.”
Cynoclub / Getty Images
—u/singlemomtom
13. “I once heard a loud noise from the back of my house and went to check it out. I thought maybe a raccoon got into the laundry room again, but my cat started aggressively herding me the other way. It turns out, my son had fallen out of bed and hurt himself, and was crying pretty much silently. Kitty got lots of treats that night.”
14. “I worked at a barn once, and there was a mule who figured out how to open gates and latches, and would break into the feed storage at night. He didn’t like getting in trouble for it, so he started letting OTHER horses out, too. The SOB would eat his fill and lock himself back in his paddock by morning, leaving the other horses to take the fall.”
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15. “One of my childhood dogs was a border collie mix who was not allowed on the couch, but would sleep on the couch late at night after everyone had gone to bed. If I came out of my room to get a glass of water, he’d hear me, slide off the couch and onto the floor without acknowledging my presence, pretend to be asleep on the floor, and then make a big show of ‘waking up’ and noticing me. It would’ve been very convincing if I hadn’t seen the whole thing.”
16. “I had a parakeet that loved The Phantom of the Opera. I had the full recording, which is quite long, and whenever I put it on, I would have to play the entire thing, in order, no skipping. I tried turning it off before the end, but he’d start screaming and flapping his wings violently at me. I tried skipping a song here and there, starting in the middle, or playing only one song — it was a no-go. He would completely crash out if he didn’t get to hear the whole thing from beginning to end.”
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—u/becausefrog
17. “Once my dog watched me contort myself trying to scratch a particular spot on my back, then came over and did that nibbly thing with her teeth to scratch the spot on my back that I couldn’t reach. Good dog!”
—u/Pazily
18. “When the cat is doing something wrong and I raise my voice to get her to stop, she will run to the window and pretend she sees a bird outside.”
Arisara_tongdonnoi / Getty Images
19. “My dog loves taking car rides around our suburb with his head out the window. He realized that if he bolted out the door, I would always come fetch him in the car. The little rascal found out the number of blocks he had to run down to guarantee a car ride. Now, every time I fetch him, he waits four blocks down the street and will just sit there with a smug look on his face.”
—u/EeefDoesArt
20. “I always thought our chicken was just a cute little thing, but I never thought she was smart. The other day, I was talking to someone, and I mentioned my chicken by name; she stopped and stared at me in horror. I didn’t know she knew her name.”
Magen Marie Photography / Getty Images
—u/brydeswhale
21. “I was in my baby’s bedroom with my baby and my dog. Realized it had been a while since I’d let the dog out, so I securely left the baby playing for a sec to run downstairs with the dog, who usually trots after me. When I reached the back door, I realized my dog wasn’t following. She’d stopped at the top of the stairs. She. Would. Not. Budge. She just sat there glaring at me like, ‘Ummmm…you forgot the baby.'”
—u/did_you_aye
22. “Our iguana is fully potty-trained. We have a tiny ‘iguana door’ built into our screen door to the outside. She steps outside, does her business, and then walks back in and goes back into her cage. She pretty much taught herself.”
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23. “We had a border collie/husky mix who was beautiful, smart, well-trained, and fabulous with our kids, but she impressed me most with her malicious compliance. She started eating the food our kids would leave on the table. I got mad and told her to stop. She then picked up the bowl with leftover mac and cheese in it, put it on the floor, and ate the food. I couldn’t even be mad; she did exactly what she was told.”
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24. “My cat had a cold once, which included coughing and hyperventilating as symptoms. She got extra special treatment from everyone, including extra snacks for being a good girl at the vet and taking her meds. Now, whenever she feels like she is not getting enough attention, she coughs and makes herself hyperventilate.”
25. “My husky mix watches the roads intently whenever we drive somewhere out of town. If I take a different road to get back home, his head WHIPS around at me as if to say, ‘HEY, YOU MISSED THE TURN BACK THERE!'”
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—u/tauntonlake
“I also have a husky mix who always watches me drive very attentively. I swear if he ever figures out how to get his paws on the car keys, he’s going to be able to drive.”
26. “Our dog has learned my husband’s forgetfulness. He has a tendency to say, ‘Wanna go out?’ but then, when he gets up to grab the harness, he often gets sidetracked with something else. Our dog apparently got sick of his shit and won’t move from her spot until she hears him actually grab the harness, then she trots over.”
—u/ohKilo13
27. And finally, “Once when my dog was a puppy, he threw up a rock and then barked at it.”
Ирина Мещерякова / Getty Images
Ok, so maybe not all pets are smart, LOL.
Have you ever witnessed your pet do something shockingly smart? Tell me about it in the comments or the anonymous form below! Your response may be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed article!
Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.