Comments about ‘Dogs may be a lot smarter than researchers had previously thought’

Like the many other blessings we enjoy, we need to appreciate our pets as pets, and as wonderful service animals. We are thankful that our cats patrol our houses (on a farm) and eliminate most of the little gray creatures that are a nuisance, and carry Hanta Virus. The studies of dog's intelligence, and their helpfulness is beneficial for learning new ways our pets can bless our lives.

We have a small male Poodle that seems to sense when something hurts, either in one of his human family, or one of the other dogs we have. We have an old Boxer with aging joints, and other ailments. Our Poodle, Rusty, will lick the Boxer's hip joints and back for a long time, trying to make him feel better. When I had knee surgery a year ago, he seemed to sense the pain I had and tried to lick my knee. When one of the other dogs wants to go out to potty, they must make some noise or other sign to Rusty, because he starts jumping on us to get our attention, especially when we are asleep. I call him our "caretaker dog", because he seems to have the ability to sense when something needs to be taken care of. I personally believe, from watching the dogs we have had through the years, that they are quite intelligent, and understand things on a higher level than just instinct.